Laguna Snow Hike

Due to a busy month, we day hike planned rather than an overnight.  So we headed up to Mt. Laguna.  We got lucky and it happened to be the day after they got some snow.  Not much, only 1-3 inches, but it was enough to brake our long troop snow-less streak.  The hike started at Burnt Rancheria, headed north on th PCT then back down along Los Huecos road.  When we arrived, the air temp was 25 and we finished, it was 38 but everyone was well dressed and did great.  We also stopped in at the legendary Laguna Mountain Sports and Supply.

Colorado River Trek

We had our bi-annual Colorado River canoe trek this past weekend.  We did the Reverse Needles Topok Gorge itinerary in order to make the return drive a little earlier in the day.  I got to Park Moabi before everyone else and grabbed a spot.  The campground was much more crowded than last time, maybe work is getting out about Veterans Day canoeing.  The float through the gorge was awesome.  We made a stop this time at the sand dunes which was very cool.  We also found some caves near Castle Rock that we could canoe into.  After the drive back to camp, we had a great burger and corncob dinner.
The Sunday float out of Needles was fun but a bit tedious.  It was nice to finish early and get back home in time for dinner though.

Birthday Weekend

• Great dinner at Tripel in Playa Del Rey with parents and the family (including Jaya).
• Mark's group went on the Agua Tibia loop.  It was a brutal 24 mile, 4500 foot gain slog.  Great views were had from the top ridge but the price was high.  A couple of us tried to get to Eagle Crag but could not the way up from the trail as it was super steep.

AppSecCali 2017

See you there!

Two Local Fires

One fire is bad enough, but two is quite suspicious.

La Jolla Beach Hike

I joined up with a local hiking group for a neat hike from La Jolla Shores up to Torrey Pines State Park and back.  It was along the beach most of the way so pretty flat.  However, the tides were a bit higher than expected so we got pretty wet on the way out.  Perfect weather made for a great 11 mile hike.

Fiesta Island Webelos Event

The troop hosted some Webelos scouts at Fiesta Island for some boating, geocaching and campfire activities.  We rented a bunch of canoes and kayaks and most everyone had a great time on the water.  We then hit some geocaches nearby on the island.  The highlight of the event was the dinner and campfire.  The patrols each made a Dutch oven meal and the Sr. patrol made some dessert.  The ovens were completely cleaned out!  We finished the day with a great campfire right on the water.  Fiesta Island is always a great time!

Eagle Board of Review

I recently had the privilege of sitting on some Eagle boards of review.  It was refreshing to see such upstanding young men.  Gives one hope for the future of scouting and the country.

Desert Backpack

As part of SDIC HALT Specialist, a group of us did a desert and navigation skills weekend in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  We drove in and stopped at a bunch of interesting spots then drove through Split Mt. into Fish Creek wash.  After a few miles, we parked one car and shuttled up to our starting point.  We then spent the next day and a half navigating through badlands.  It was a great time and I learned a ton about navigation.

Badlands

Whale Peak in the Distance

Lost?

My First Horned Lizard!

Bengt's Eagle Project

Bengt had a big work weekend for his Eagle project.  He built and installed 8 horseshoe pits at San Dieguito Regional Park.  It was a lot of work but we had plenty of help from the troop.

Fry Creek Campout

The first campout of the season for T774 was up at Fry Creek in the Palomar Mountains.  We drove up at night and had to scout out sites in the dark.  The terrain was very sloped so good tent locations were hard to find.  Saturday was spent mainly on advancement and we did cooking, knots, lashing and orienteering.  The older scouts did some scouting in the nearby hills.  It was warm but there was plenty of big oaks to give us nice shade.  I did a quick hike on the Fry Creek Trail.  It was pretty nice but some spots were heavy with poison oak.

Fry Creek Patrol Boxes

Some History Books

Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy by Ian Toll
Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr
The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
Blood and Thunder: The Epic Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides
Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. Hoffman

C. Keith Wilbur Books

I ran through the canon of C. Keith Wilbur books at the library:

• Pirates and Patriots of the Revolution
• Civil War Medicine
• Tall Ships of the World
• The New England Indians
• The Revolutionary Soldier
• Woodland Indians
• Home Building and Woodworking in Colonial America

One Down, One To Go

We dropped Jaya off at LMU this past weekend.  It has been a great 18 years having her around and watching her grow into an awesome young woman.  She has wanted to be independent since should could walk and now is her chance.  Good luck, Jaya!

Whelan Hall

Dorm Room

Weekend Activities

• Hiked the newly opened Annie's Canyon trail in San Elijo Lagoon.  It was pretty cool for a urban hike.
• Ended my tenure as head usher at St. A's. - quite sad.
• Did some bodysurfing but the water is getting cold again :(

2016 Sierra Trek

This year's high adventure trek was in the Eastern Sierras.  The route was a loop out of Horseshoe Meadows going over Cottonwood Pass to Rock Creek and then back over New Army Pass.
We headed up a couple days early to get acclimated.  We drove to Lone Pine and got a spot at the Tuttle Creek Campground a bit uphill from town.  It was a pretty near camp but still hot.  We had dinner at the pizza place.
Next day, we broke camp and headed back to town for lunch.  Then we spent some time at Manzanar which was pretty amazing.  Our plan was to get Subway and head up to the trailhead to camp for the night.  However, the Horseshoe Fire started right as we were driving up the road.  We headed back Tuttle Creek to plan things out and spend the night.
Next morning, I headed back up the road and the guard said it was going to be closed for some time.  So I went back to the ranger station to change our permit.  In the morning lottery, I felt bad when I pulled number 12.  Since a lot of people were changing due to the closure, I wasn't sure anything would be left.  When I finally got called, the ranger said the only thing available for our group size was Sabrina Basin near Bishop.  I quickly reserved it and headed back to camp.  Looking at the maps, the Sabrina Basin TH only had a few miles of trail but lots of lakes.  We all agreed to drive the extra 1.5 hours to Bishop and start hiking!
At the trailhead, we unloaded and ate lunch before moving the cars to the hiker lot.  Fortunately, the super nice camp hosts at the campground offered to stash our leftover food in their bear box.  We then headed out.  The trail starts out following the lake in a gradual incline.  It was a bit hot since there wasn't any shade.  After a bit, the switchbacks started and we gained a ton of elevation.  Thankfully it was shaded most of the way.  We finally reached the top and Blue Lake.  The scouts picked a good spot and we setup camp.
Next day, the scouts decided to base camp at Dingleberry Lake so we packed up and made the quick hike over.  Dingleberry is a nicer than Blue and we had a great site overlooking the water.  Mosquitoes were a bit of a problem but not too bad.  I had my new A16 bug bivy so was very protected at night.
Next day, we day hiked up to Midnight Lake which is the end of the line for Sabrina Basin.  It was a pretty neat alpine lake with cliffs around half of it.  The scouts did a bunch of scouting.  They even made it up to some snow fields and I had to warn them about the pink snow.
Next morning, we packed up and hike out.  It was pretty fast going since it was all downhill.  We got to the cars, picked up our food stash and made the long drive home.  It was another great high adventure trek for the troop.

Tuttle Creek Camp

Scouts as Tuttle Creek

Lone Pine Cafe

At the roadblock

Horseshoe Fire

Let's Hike!

Blue Lake

Dingleberry Lake

Tarp Camping

Hiking to Midnight Lake

Chilly Evenings

Hot Weekend

• Attended Bengt's NYLT closing at Mataguay - it was hot but in the shade
• Visited Jyoti's cousin and family up at the beach house they rented in Malibu
• Spent the afternoon at the Getty Villa
• Dinner at Art's Table - expensive but good, I recommend the brussel sprouts

First Summer Weekend

Due to graduation, moving and vacation, this was really the first weekend of summer for me.  It was my also my first day of bodysurfing which happened to be during the Switchfoot BroAm at Moonlight beach.

Hawaii 2016

The extended Osten family had another exciting trip to Kauai!  We and the extended Martin family had an awesome time.  Here are highlights:

• Sleeping Giant hike - highly recommended!
• Smith Family luau
• Zip lines - awesome!
• SUP at Kalapaki Beach
• Sams Oceanview
• Kilohana Plantation train tour 
• Osten Family Olympics - cornhole, tennis and bocci
• Waikiki - too crowded
• Pearl Harbor - Arizona Memorial, Pacific Aviation Museum, USS Missouri, USS Bowfin
• OC - Borrego Canyon trail at Whiting Ranch
• OC - Lolo Gaspar for Kevin's birthday