Santa Cruz Island Adventure

Our second annual Island Adventure was sweet and satisfying. After a boat ride to the Island/National Park, on which we got to see some dolphins up close and personal, we were reminded why Troop 104 wins the Spirit Stick every year when we pitched in to help with the unloading of our lovely boat while the other Boy Scout Troop that shared the boat with us on the ride over merely waited around for their gear and then left, without pitching in to help at all. feeling a swell of pride because we knew we had done the right and awesome thing, we headed to camp after a brief orientation with one of the resident rangers. After setting up camp, we headed back down to the beach to relax in the surf, skip rocks, and visit the small population of crabs that lived on the rocks by the ocean. When we felt that we had gotten our fill of the sea, we returned to camp, were we prepared for a small hike to potato harbor, where we got to see some breathtaking views from sea cliffs.



The next day, we awoke to a campsite filled to with morning fog. As we began our training hike for the 50 mile backpacking trip this summer, we hiked up out of the morning fog and into a cloud, in which we stayed for the rest of the hike. Seven miles later, we found ourselves at Smuggler's Cove (because every Island has a Smuggler's Cove), were we took a break and threw rocks and had a caber tossing competition. As we began our hike back, the clouds broke and the sun took particular joy in reminding us that it is hot. Once we returned to Scorpion Bay, where the boat had left us the day before, those who needed to return to camp to pack up did so, and together we hauled our gear down to the pier and onto the boat that arrived shortly after. During the boat ride back, we spent a considerable amount of time on the bow, despite the fact that with wind-chill, it was about 40 degrees there. Boys Scouts care not for such trivial things.



--Jonathan R, Troop 104 Historian