Books and Books

• The Cowboy's Cookbook: Recipes and Tales from Campfires, Cookouts, and Chuck Wagons by Sherry Monahan - less a cookbook and more a history book; well done
• Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth by Lee Jackson - some good info but heavy on the minutia of Parliamentary politics
• The Log of a Snow Survey: Skiing and Working in a Mountain Winter World by Patrick Armstrong - great book on the Sierras, even if you aren't into cross-country skiing
• Legendary Locals of Encinitas (LEG - Legendary Locals) by Alison Burns - good stories on Encinitas locals especially if you like liberal city council members
• Historic Stage Routes of San Diego County (Images of America) by Ellen Sweet - great book
• Thinking Like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Thinking by Prof. Randall Bartlett - nice lecture series on economics
• Mount Whitney: Mountain Lore from the Whitney Store by Doug Thompson - a bit dated but still a lot of great info
• Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life: A Former CIA Officer Reveals Safety and Survival Techniques to Keep You and Your  Family Protected by Jason Hanson - some good tips but mostly common sense stuff

Joshua Tree Rock Climbing

The troop went back to Joshua Tree for some rock climbing and caving.  Since it was chilly at night, I was able to test out some gear for my upcoming snow trek.  Everyone had a great time and hats off to the wonderful SDIC HAT team!

Tents

Into the Cave!

Bengt on a Rock

Weekend Activities

• Dash n' cache to pick up 15 local caches
• Balboa Park: Mingei ("Made in America" exhibit) and SD Museum of Art ("Art of Music" and "James Hubbell: California Wildfire Watercolors" exhibits)
• Mountain biking on Denk Hill

  

  Stations of the Cross shrine along Encinitas Blvd.

  
  

  

  View from Denk HIll

  
  

  

  View from Denk Hill

Granite Mt. Hike

With everything else going on, I don't get out with the Sierra Club as much as I would like.  But I carved out a day to do a hike I hadn't done before, Granite Mt.  It was around 30 degrees when we started at the trailhead near Shelter Valley.  But we quickly heated up as we left the wash and started climbing the first ridge.  From there it got steeper and rockier as we scrambled up another couple thousand feet of elevation.  The summit was quite windy and chilly.  We hunkered down a bit below to eat a snack and rest up.  Going down was often harder due to the slippery sand.  It was a great hike in great weather!  You can see my track here.

From the summit

Tree near the peak

Summit survey marker

Organized Local Thieves

Some local bandits were apparently into personal organization.  I hope they weren't in a gun-free zone.

Urban Backpack and Beach Camp

We usually don't do an overnight in December but I decided to squeeze an easy on in so we headed over to South Carlsbad State Beach for an urban backpack.  We were luck and avoided the rain before and after the weekend.  I made dinner for the troop on Saturday night but had an small accident when the patrol box tipped over while I was boiling water.  Nothing too bad just some first degree burns on my nose where the water splashed on me.  Overall, it was a fun short trip.

Urban backpacking along coast highway

Camping along the bluffs

Thanksgiving Book List

• Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles by Les Standiford -
• Fylling's Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools by Marni Fylling
• Great World Religions: Judaism by Prof. Isaiah M. Gafni
• The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann - great exploration tale
• Burn: An Anna Pigeon Novel (Anna Pigeon Mysteries Book 16) by Nevada Barr - getting tired of the creepy storylines but this a good one
• Cannons: An Introduction to Civil War Artillery by Dean S. Thomas - great primer on 19th century artillery
• In Afghanistan: Two Hundred Years of British, Russian and American Occupation by David Loyn - read the first 2 sections covering up to the 20th century
• Superfood Snacks: 100 Delicious, Energizing & Nutrient-Dense Recipes by Julie Morris

Thanksgiving in Baltimore

• 20th anniversary night at the Marriott Waterfront
• Harpers FerryAdventure Park
• WC Harlan
• Fort McHenry
• Thanksgiving Dinner with aunts, uncles, cousins and friends
• Welcome back to Encinitas!

Bay view from Fort McHenry

Swamis Overlook

Wind Caves Camp

The troop headed off to a different spot in Anza-Borrego this weekend.  We drove out to Fish Creek where we set up camp.  Then we hiked a few miles to the wind caves.  The caves were pretty cool and there were quite a few troops and other groups there.  We also got great views of the Elephant Knees nearby.  That might be a good spot for a future desert backpacking trek.

Hiking through Split Mt.

Wind Caves

Follett Foursome

A foursome of Ken Follett books:

• The Man from St. Petersburg - my favorit Follett novel so far
• The Modigliani Scandal - early, unfined Follett
• Lie Down with Lions - ok but with a bad ending
• The Key to Reb1ecca - good spy novel on one of my favorite WWII theaters: North Africa

Subscribed to CalTopo

I just subscribed to CalTopo!  If you are an outdoorsy type needing maps, I suggest you do as well to support this awesome service.

Books and Lectures

• 365 WODs: Burpees, Deadlifts, Snatches, Squats, Box Jumps, Situps, Kettlebell Swings, Double Unders, Lunges, Pushups, Pullups, and More by Blair Morrison
• The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle
• I Cover the Waterfront: Stories from the San Diego Shore by Max Miller
• Great World Religions: Islam by John Esposito
• Great Masters: Mozart - His Life and Music by Robert Greenberg

Glass and Metal Weekend

• Changed the shocks in Bessie
• Made a tumbler at an awesome glass blowing class at Stone and Glass

Fiesta Island Outing

Troop 774 headed out to Fiesta Island again for the our latest outing.  There was an OA Conclave the same weekend so we didn't get to use the canoes.  However, we did geocaching, bike rides and the always popular dutch oven cookout.

Fiesta Island Campsite

Past 2 Weekends

• Building mobile cabinets for a troop Eagle project
• San Diego UCLA Alumni talk about aging demographics
• Trailbuilding at Mataguy

New Trail at Mataguay

Summer Reading List

• Thoughts On Scouting by Clarke Green - great book on scouting from Clark Greene
• So Far, So Good by Clark Greene - wonderful fictional tale of a troop learning to be boy-led by a newly minted Scoutmaster
• Undersea Warrior: The World War II Story of "Mush" Morton and the USS Wahoo by Don Keith - a gift from my wife
• Empire and Liberty: The Civil War and the West by Virginia Scharff - decent collection of essays about the west although more about the Indian aspect than the Civil War
• Daily Life during the California Gold Rush by Thomas Maxwell-Long - more a general history than "daily life"
• Renaissance, the Reformation and the Rise of Nations by Professor Andrew C. Fix - good lecture set on the a fascinating period
• The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East by Eugene Rogan - fabulous story of the Ottomans last gasp during WWI
• Firearms: An Illustrated History - typical high-quality DK book
• Lost Worlds of South America
• Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma - depressing narrative of how bad things were right after WWII in Europe
• San Diego Yesterday (American Chronicles (History Press)) by Richard W. Crawford - collection of articles on interesting San Diego history
• The Way We Were in San Diego (American Chronicles) by Richard W. Crawford - more stories about San Diego
• Borderline (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr - less a mystery and more a political thriller
• Great World Religions: Hinduism by Professor Mark W. Muesse - starting my survey of world religions
• All The Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West by David Gessner - I couldn't get into this book and only made it through the first 4 chapters

Big Whammy!

So my favorite game show as a kid was hacked!

Channel Islands Kayaking and Camping

The first troop outing of the season was an exciting trip out to Santa Cruz island in Channel Islands National Park for some camping and kayaking.  A couple of us headed up to Carpenteria Friday night while others headed up early Saturday morning to the boat launch in Ventura harbor.  After a nice hour or so trip over to the island, we immediately met up with the outfitters for kayaking.  We got a safety brief and split into two groups for easier maneuvering.  We then hit the water and explored the island's many sea caves.  Some were tunnel that went through the cliff walls.  Other was more cavernous.  The guides took us to many spots and everyone had a great time.
After the kayaks, the scouts did some snorkeling off the beach.  Due to El Nino, the water was exceptionally warm and no one had a wet suit.  After the snorkeling, we headed up to the camp.  We had haul our gear about a mile to the group camp. We saw many of the island's indigenous foxes which were very accustomed to humans. We made dinner and headed for an early night.  I made the mistake of cowboy camping and got eaten alive by bugs.
The next day we did another snorkeling session and then packed up. We got on the boat and got to the dock around 7:00p and headed for a long ride home.  Overall, the trip was awesome and we really want to check out the other islands in the future.

Old Pictures

Going over old posts, it seems that the pictures have disappeared.  I guess google just drops them after a while.  Maybe when I get some time I will go back and try to restore them.

Bessie is Back!

After searching for a good candidate, I finally found another Bessie!  This is the same year and color but is the Isuzu mode with an automatic transmission.  I will need some work to stop some leaks and other minor stuff but it is pretty clean compared to most of the other Passport/Rodeos I have been seeing for sale.

Labor Day 2015 Weekend Activities

We had some great activities on a hot Labor Day weekend

• Went to the Nat to see the Coast to Cactus exhibit.
• Also checked out the new garden train at the Model Train Museum
• Awesome family hike at Santa Margarita River - it was hot but the trail is mostly shaded and the there was plenty of water in the river.  Bengt did a great impression of George of Jungle with a rope swing.  If only I can get the video from Jaya...