3 Peaks

I completed my second 3 day A16 3-Peak Challenge!

Mud Caves and Agua Caliente

We headed out to the mud caves again.  It was pretty hot already but the big cave was nice and cool inside.  We went all the way through and ran around a bit on the top.
To clear off the dust, we headed to Agua Caliente County Park.  As we pulled into our site, there was a large herd of bighorn sheep in it!  We counted at least 15 animals.  The scouts had a great time enjoying the pool.

Short Book List

• The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors by Dan Jones
• San Diego County Mammal Atlas
• San Diego County Parks: Over 100 Years by Ellen L. Sweet

Camporee

After a 5 year absence, the troop headed back to the Camporee.  It was again held at O'Neill Lake in Camp Pendleton.  I was part of the planning and helped organize the field events.  I think the longer range planning made the event much better run than in the past.  Our scouts had a great time and one patrol even took 2nd in the orienteering event!

Morning flags

Fire fighting demonstration

Campfire setup

Books and Lectures

• Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills by Professor Steven Novella
• Head for the High Country by David Caffey
• NavCivGuide by Thomas J. Cutler
• Sink 'Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific by Charles Lockwood
• Condition Red: Destroyer Action in the South Pacific by Frederick J. Bell
• Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
• History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

Easter Weekend

• Great hike in Pine Valley Cree Canyon
• Easter lunch at mom's

Pine Creek

See the car that drove off the bridge?

Nelson Canyon

Amazing flume wall

Long Valley Peak

Eagle Court of Honor Weekend

• Big weekend started off with Bengt's Eagle Court of Honor
• Jaya's 20th birthday breakfast at Claire's in Solana Beach.
• Open House San Diego - Barrio Logan and East Village

Dixon Lake

Butler Canyon Loop Solo Backpack

The guidebook really had this one wrong!  I started up Butler Canyon and after 4.5 miles started looking for the "saddle-shaped boulder" and the trail up the slope; neither was found.  I scrambled up the cliff and hoped to see the way to the playa but saw more canyons.  Good thing I had my GPS and maps.  I found a strenuous cross-country route to the playa (which I think was a different one than that mentioned in the book).  After going over a low saddle, I found a good spot for camp among the cacti and rocks.  It was really windy at night but I was cozy in my quilt and home-made micro-fleece buff.  Next morning, with rain possible, I got an early start and traced my way down a drainage into Box Canyon.  This lead to Coyote Creek where I filled up on some water.  Unfortunately my Sawyer Squeeze was completely clogged so I had to add some tablets I keep as a backup. A few more miles of walking got me to the turn-off for Alcoholic Pass.  The trail up the pass was steep but nice.  The views of Borrego Springs were great.  After cresting the pass, it was easy going down an alluvial fan to the road and back to my car.

Butler and Rockhouse Canyon Junction

Butler Canyon

Where's that trail?

Camp among the cacti

Coyote Creek flowing strong

Alcoholic Pass register

Blockchain Bubble

Interesting take on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies.

HALT Specialist Snow Camp

My pulk sled

Showshoeing on barely enough snow

Frozen lake

Winter sky

Ice bridge

AppSec California 2018

Annenberg Beach House

Selfie on Temescal Canyon hike

Registration desk

Cool Netflix business card

San Jacinto Snow Day

The troop was hoping for more snow but we had a great time hiking around and finding enough snow for a snowball fight.

Lunch at Long Valley Station

Not much snow

Biggest snow patch we could find

Desert overlook

Books

• Spying on the Bomb by Jeffrey Richelson
• The Science of Energy: Resources and Power Explained by Michael Wysession
• Command and Control by Eric Schlosser
• Complete Guide to Winter Camping by Kevin Callen
• January Chronicles: Isaac's Legacy by Stu Schreiber
• Masters of War: Histories Greatest Strategic Thinkers by Andrew Wilson

Mike Rowe

I love Mike Rowe.

Sheep Canyon Backpacking

The troop headed out to the desert for a beginning level backpack to Sheep Canyon.  We drove out there Friday night and camped out at the cars a the gauging station along Coyote Creek.  In the morning, we packed up, ate breakfast and headed out.  The air temp was nice but the sun was pretty fierce so it made it a bit hotter than I thought.  But we made good time and was at the campground by lunch.  The scout did great hiking with just a bit of weariness.  But as soon as we got to camp, they had plenty of energy to clamber up the nearby mountains!
There were many more people in the area than in the past.  Mostly off-roaders with their truck tents.  We where the only hikers.  The stream had plenty of water but we had to go farther up the canyon to get to it.
Sunday morning, the scouts made fast work of the trail and we got to the cars and made it to Los Jilberto's in time for lunch!

Christmas Circle

Cowboy Camping

Desert Terrain

Desert Sky

Family Christmas

We spent Christmas in OC with my brother's family and had a great time!  Tons of fun:

• Birthday dinner at Morton's Steakhouse - my mom reserved a banquet room for an awesome evening of steak
• K1Speed - both Anaheim and Irvine tracks
• Griffith Observatory - crazy traffic but we had dinner, then went around a roadblock and made it up there.  Still didn't have enough time to see everything so will have to go back.  Recommend nearby Mexico City restaurant and the Trails Cafe in Ferndell.
• Games, Games Games: Hand in Foot, Yahtzee, Apples to Apples, Things, Say Anything, Ticket to Ride, Dominoes.  Codenames turned out to be a huge hit.  Chameleon was also played alot.
• Worked on the Bradley GT2 - Kevin and I got dad's old Bradley GT2 running after nearly 30 years.  We rebuilt the rear brakes since the parking brake was left on and fused the drums.  Also replaced the master cylinder.  The engine only needed some oil and gas to get it going.  Lots to work left to get it street worthy but we were able to go around the block!

Sophie's stocking

K1 leaderboard

Everyone passing Jyoti

Griffith Observatory from the bottom of the hill

Griffith Observatory at night

New Year's Day In-Ko-Pah Hike

The hiking group headed to In-Ko-Pah for a great hike to border monument 261, Blue Angels Peak, along the border fence and back through the Valley of the Moon.

On the way to Blue Angels Peak

One of many interesting rock formations

Blue Angel Peak

Blue sky, brown dirt

Rock