Scout Master’s Blog
The Alameda county finally provided newer, relaxed guidelines for gatherings earlier this month. As a troop we have been having most of our sessions on Zoom focussing on Merit Badges and have been very selective and opportunistic about meeting outdoors and have limited them to small contained groups. The PLC, along with the adults leaders met last month and consensus emerged was to open limited outdoor engagements to get some of the advancement requirements taken care of.
Mission Peak is very close to most of our houses in the troop. It is very popular and people from all over the Bay hike it throughout the year. I have seen my share of interesting things here - once when we were hiking around 4:00 am in the morning and we encountered a group of people by the cavity that looks like a cave at the beginning of the Ohlone Trail, chanting loudly in unison. There wasn't anything distinct about this group but it definitely stood out. Many winters have passed since then.
I was on Mission Peak a couple of weeks back and one thing that struck me is the number of people now hiking up the peak - which is great. There are many pet owners lugging their small, and not so small dogs on the trail. The ever so small dogs get carried around by their owners in small pouches like joeys. The thing that you can’t avoid noticing is the amount of trash that is littered all over the trail - Masks(thanks COVID), doggie bags, water bottles, T-Shirts and even beer cans - who in their right mind thinks of alcohol when doing a Mission hike. Sorry, I digress - back to the troop.
We decided to do a Mission night hike to include a service project and address the garbage menace and also take care of some of our night time navigation requirements, followed by our customary dinner at the peak watching the sunset. We split up in two groups - One group took on the challenging, Stanford trail armed with trash pickers, gloves, garbage bags and infinite enthusiasm. The second group took on the longer but milder Ohlone Trail. We started around 3:00 in the afternoon on a warm winter weekend. The bags got heavier by the end of mile 2 up the trail. The scouts being the little explorers and out of the box thinkers found trash in places you can't imagine - Tree trunks, some creatively shoved inside hollowed out tree branches, among others. We finally caught up with the Stanford trail group and after the final rocky ascent to the peak we finished our dinner and were treated to a glorious sunset. After a 20 min dinner break we headed down with our headlamps and saw the Orion Belt and also the Polaris to finish our night navigation requirements.
Ps - Several hikers cheered our scouts and thanked them for doing the service project and cleaning up the trail. It is nice to be recognized by strangers. If you are reading this blog, promise that you will follow the ‘Leave No Trace’ principles. No one likes to hike with trash strewn all over - Do your bit, it matters and it counts
YIS
Satish Anupindi
Troop 123
Some Pictures
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