A full 20 Scouts – almost half the troops! – Attended summer camp this year at Oljato in the Central Sierras. They swam in the brisk and refreshing lake, slept in handmade shelters for the Wilderness Survival merit badge, baked apple cobbler over the campfire, gazed at the stars over the lake and had a fantastic time. Combined, they earned more than 60 merit badges and another 20 Firem’n Chits and Totin’ Chips. This year, Troops 64 and 4064 achieved Honor Troop as well, a special award for good scores on camp inspections and writing letters home.

Five Scouts and two adults spent an idyllic day on the Truckee River in July, fly fishing and working through merit badge requirements. Guide Jasper Donley of Tahoe Fly Fishing in South Tahoe taught proper technique for casting, floating and picking a pool for success. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t biting that day but you should have seen the one they almost got – 100 inches at least, if not 200. A record setter for sure. Hot dogs, ham sandwiches, Oreo cookies, a beautiful moon and moderate temperatures made for a perfect two-day trip. The water was cold, though. All five came out of the water with numb toes.

Sometimes simplicity is good. All it takes is a few people and a quiet spot to make a successful campout and that’s what we had at Towle Camp in Foothills Nature Preserve in the Palo Alto hills in August. While most of the troop took a well-deserved break from merit badges, meetings and leadership, three Scouts and two adults decided to keep the momentum going and fit in one more night outdoors. With an easy 20-minute drive from home, burrito bowls for dinner, eggs for breakfast and a quick service project before heading home, this was the easiest, most convenient and seamless campout ever. And you can’t beat the sunset. Towle only allows tent camping, ensuring peace, quiet and serenity.

As is our tradition, a dozen or so members of Cub Scouts Pack 163 and Scouts BSA Troops 64/4064 gathered on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to place flags at gravestones in the Golden Gate National Cemetery. This year’s event included a flag ceremony and speeches, which hadn’t been done since before the pandemic began. Our troop was again assigned to the section closest to I-280, allowing us to pay special attention to the only row in the cemetery that has one, lone gravestone. That row belongs to Paul Majourau, a sergeant in the US Army Air Corps during World War II, who passed away on June 2, 1976. Because he’s the only serviceman who doesn’t have any next-door neighbors, we left two flags with him so Paul knows we’re thinking of him and won’t be lonely.  Our Scouts wave to Paul from the car whenever they pass the cemetery.

We were pleased to pull off a “triple header” Court of Honor on May 18^th, awarding merit badges and rank advancements, bridging the next round of Cub Scouts to our troop, and celebrating an Eagle ceremony. Congratulations to those who earned any of the 33 merit badges and 10 new ranks, to the 10 Webelos who completed their Arrow of Light and crossed the bridge to Scouting BSA, and to Evan Demas for achieving Scouts’ highest honor. Even better, our ace emcees Anna Perone and Indra Bedner pulled it all off in an hour flat – to the minute. They run a tight meeting. That left plenty of time for … cake!

 Building forts is a ton of fun, but building shelters if you’re lost in the wild is serious business. Shelters have to withstand wind, wet and perhaps multiple days. They should have enough foliage to keep the rain out. And a soft bed for sleeping. You can even make a pillow out of boughs or leaves. And so, Troops 64/4064 Scouts paid close attention to a demonstration of shelter techniques then put their learning to good use in constructing mini-shelters for practice. Out of four groups, two created “lean to” style shelters and two made “tripod” ones. All withstood the “kick test.”

For a lucky few, the best and most entertaining requirement for the Emergency Preparedness merit badge is to take part in a practice drill. Troops 64/4064 were fortunate to be included in a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) drill put on by the Woodside Fire Department that included “moulage,” which is makeup that looks real. If you hadn’t known it was practice, nobody would have known that our Scouts’ cuts, burns, bruises, smoke inhalation, and head wounds weren’t the real thing. By pretending to be victims, the seven Scouts who took part learned not only what certain injuries look like when they’re smeared with bloodbut also how professionals treat them.

On a beautiful April day, six Scouts and two parents took off for an epic snow camping adventure at Iron Mountain off Highway 88 near Kirkwood Ski Resort. Using snow shoes, poles, pulks to carry their gear and loads of sunscreen, the gang walked half a mile in from the road, built two snow caves (one for the boys and one for the girls), dug a kitchen and watched a rescue helicopter airlift an injured snowmobiler from a different group. That was an exciting lesson in high-country rescue techniques. All but one of the campers slept in their snow caves – the last one opted for a tent instead. After an early morning wakeup and hearty breakfast, the group walked out again and made a beeline for … hamburgers! Fortunately the snow was soft for digging – but even still, the girls beat the boys in the race to complete their caves.

Here’s the trip report:

We had an awesome time last weekend in the snow! After 4.5-ish hours, we successfully finished our snow caves and slept in them.
Here are some things we learned:
-Bring AT LEAST three pairs of socks because snow is wet (who knew?!)
-An extra sleeping bag is definitely good for not freezing
-Snowmobiles are dangerous (someone at another campsite had to get helicoptered out…)
-If you plan on stockpiling Oreos, don’t leave them in plain sight for other Scouts to “borrow”
Some good ideas we had were:
-Even if you boil the water, run it through a filter (the girls patrol found a dead worm in the Jetboil)
-Don’t put gear in the snow cave during the day or it will get soaked
-Don’t let the boys make Oreo and Nutella sandwiches for lunch (which they did anyway)

Six Scouts and three parents had an awesome campout at Portola Redwoods State Park on April 1^st and 2^nd. On a mostly cloud-free but damp day amongst the big trees, they did a 14-mile hike with over 2000 feet in elevation gain in six hours that included climbing over at least 20 trees. Among other things they learned are that downed trees slow the pace of a hike a lot and that snacks are super important for keeping energy levels up. Knowing how to whip up a quick bowl of warm soup was one of the important skills the leaders taught. They also started the hiking merit badge.

Troops 64/4064 held their annual Winter Court of Honor on Thursday, Dec 8^th at Valley Presbyterian Church. We awarded 77 merit badges, 24 rank advancements, one Eagle Palm award, six 50-milers, and one Eagle recognition (pending a formal Court of Honor soon). Ranks included seven Scout, six Tenderfoot, four Second Class, three First Class, one Star, two Life and one Eagle. The list of merit badges ranged from Canoeing (they capsized the boat but still got the badge) to Wilderness Survival (many important lessons learned in that one, including don’t build your shelter near a bog!). The most popular merit badges were Swimming, with 10 who passed, Snorkeling and Environmental Science at six apiece, then Kayaking, Motorboating and Climbing, each one passed by five  Scouts.

Five Scouts braved near freezing temperatures to earn their Climbing merit badge at Castle Rock State Park in November. Each one completed three ascents on rock so cold that their fingers could barely grasp the handholds, did three belays, three rappels, and answered questions about first aid, gear safety, proper storage of ropes, knots, verbal and hand signals, and numbering systems. That followed two days of training, climbing and belay testing at the Planet Granite indoor climbing gym in Belmont. Troops 64/4064 will be back on the rock in the Spring, hopefully in warmer weather.

Lessons learned from a rainy campout: Some tents don’t hold up against rain very well + Starting a fire in the rain is hard + Water resistant isn’t waterproof + Bring two cans of propane, just in case + Don’t forget to rope your fly + It is confusing if everyone brings just one ingredient for a meal + Remember coffee beans, not just the french press + It’s nice going with the Cub Scouts because they bring the kitchen sink. Great campout, despite the rain.

The annual Pinnacles campout on the last weekend of September/first weekend of October has been a Cub Scouts Pack 163 tradition in Portola Valley for generations – one that the older Scouts missed after they “graduated” to the “big kids” troop. But the era of longing for the “good old days” of Cub Scouts are over. Welcome to Troop 64/4064’s newest tradition: The combined Cub Scouts/Scouts BSA annual Pinnacles campout. As if the energy level weren’t high enough with 100+ Cub Scouts and their parents plus siblings… Add in another 20 older kids from the Scouts BSA troop plus a few of their elders, all excited to revisit with old friends, and the fun factor goes up. Hikes ranged from 2.5 miles to 5.5 and 8+. Hamburgers vanished by the dozens, pancakes by the hundreds and syrup by the gallons. Never mind the hot chocolate. Along the way, a few attendees advanced through the Scout and Tenderfoot ranks while others chose to just have fun. Because that’s what it’s about.

We held our first annual back-to-scouting picnic on Sept. 7 and welcomed the troop back in grand style with ribs, barbecued chicken, chili, beans, pasta, cookies and games. While the Scouts held their first meeting and did ice-breaker games for new members, the adults held a parent orientation and volunteer recruitment drive. Everyone appreciated the camaraderie and the orientation – as well as the food – so the welcome-back-barbecue will return next fall, for sure. As the old Scouting maxim goes, “Do it once and it’s a tradition. Do it twice and it’s an annual tradition.”