Scotland Trek
June 16 - July 4, 2016
Our Venture Crew’s first outing was initiated by Boy Scout Troop 860 and expanded to include the brand-new Crew 860. A group of 8 scouts and 4 adults backpacked the entire 134 mile John Muir Way; starting on the east coast of Scotland, and ending on the west coast. The John Muir Way offered a variety of natural habitats, history, farmland, and sightseeing opportunities. Meeting scouts as we hiked the JMW was a wonderful way to connect with the people of Scotland and we interacted with scouts at their scout halls, as well as camping at three scout centres. For cooking, we subdivided into two scout patrols plus one adult patrol and every evening we would stop by a grocery store to buy food to prepare for dinner, breakfast, and picnic lunch. Starting in February 2016, the scouts met for two hours every weekend to use email and phone calls to contact scout groups in Scotland to find scout halls and scout camps that could be used for overnight stays. Our planning was greatly helped by the attractive and informative JMW website, and navigation during our hike was made easy with the excellent signposting we found along the Way. Photos:https://plus.google.com/photos/108704122880893006363/albums/6331835857417974065?authkey=CJ3EyZ_HrO2vZw
Spencer’s Eagle Project
October 23, 2016
Spencer Hurst organized seven Venture Scouts along with Troop 860 scouts to do a major service project at Grandview School. The project involved upgrading and restoring the composting bins and work area, in support of the elementary school’s organic garden. Eight of our Crew’s Venture Scouts contributed a total of 46 hours of energetic labor to this project.
University of Scouting
December 3, 2016
We had a good time at University of Scouting this morning. It was an easy 30 minute drive over to Santa Fe Springs. There was a class for Venture Crew members, and another one for Venture Crew adults. I really enjoyed hearing from Mr. Farber of Crew 461 and Mr. Schmall of Crew 458, since both these crews have been thriving for more than a decade. After two hours of morning sessions, we enjoyed a nice lunch with two other Venture youth. After lunch our Crew's President, Philip Wandel, polled our crew's 3 attendees and they agreed that the morning session was enough training so we are home now. I imagine the crew will probably attend U. Scouting next year since we have had a good experience this year.
Fossil Falls Car Campout
January 21-22, 2017
We just returned from a rewarding and somewhat challenging campout at Fossil Falls. Eight Venture Scouts and five scouters & parents participated. After arriving at the campsite on Saturday, we layered on the warm and windproof clothes and set out to climb Volcano Peak. The snow-dusted crater was clearly visible and we struck out cross-country, navigating across 10,000 year old lava flows alternating with desert bajada. After an hour of hiking, we ran into a fence that stated “Authorized Personnel Only”, so after climbing a hill to the south and reconnoitering the extent of the fence line, we realized that Volcano Peak was not to be. We adjusted our objective to Little Lake, which you have probably noticed on your drives to Mammoth, and walked partly cross-country, partly on a 4 wheel-drive road, towards the Little Lake Overlook. We came across a signpost to Little Lake that had apparently been sideswiped and the scouts took 30 minutes to MacGyver it back together using some of the litter we had picked up which included part of a metal signpost and bailing wire. Satisfied that our good deed was done, we rested on the benches set at the top of the basalt cliffs on the east side of Little Lake, and watched the coots (“ducks”) bobbing and diving into the transparent water. Then, hiking north towards Fossil Falls, Spencer sat down to rest on a rock near a convoluted basalt formation. He looked down and noticed a piece of obsidian. Soon everyone was finding obsidian chips, which told us that Indians from long ago had sat right there, making arrowheads from the high quality obsidian found in the area. After climbing around on the sculpted basalt of Fossil Falls, we arrived back in camp at dusk and established two adjacent camps, one for the Venture Scouts (steak and baked potatoes), and one for five adults (grilled chicken breast, fresh salmon and broccolini, green beans and baked potatoes). Cedric had brought three bundles of firewood and with fires plus the absence of wind, the 45 degree evening temperature was pleasant. We noticed that the stars appeared “fogged” and the weather forecast called for rain or snow. Two older scouts slept in their car to beat the weather, but most of us looked forward to the sound of rain on our tents. Shortly before dawn, the rain turned to wet, large-flaked snow and we all got up to a white landscape. Everyone converged on the picnic table that had the pop-up sheltering it and we enjoyed grilled sausages, toasted bagels and cream cheese, bacon and scrambled eggs. The tents were soggy and cold so we got the cars loaded quickly and had a safe drive home. Sixteen photos are here: https://goo.gl/photos/XMQVx4fsvYkWv9EU7Shooting Outing
April 22, 2017
Our Shooting Outing yesterday was fun and it was a great learning experience for the novices. Our instructor, Harry Andreas from Troop 849, was wonderful, and his enthusiasm and knowledge about guns really shone through. We shot at three of the outdoor ranges at "A Place to Shoot" in San Francisquito Canyon in the Angeles National Forest. First, we got to shoot clay pigeons, rotating between 3 different shotguns. Then, we went up to the next range to plink at metal targets with two 22 rifles with 'scopes and a 357 rifle. Finally, we went to the handgun range to shoot a 45 caliber handgun. After shooting, we all went to an Italian deli for lunch and then headed home. Three scouts attended, including our new crew member, Evanne. 
Jackson Flats Car Campout
May 20 - 21, 2017
Our campout this weekend has left us with warm memories of camping high in the San Gabriel Mountains, hiking, and great cooking. Nine scouts and 5 adults met at 8 AM Saturday at the Hermosa Beach Scout house to form carpools and check out camping gear such as a kitchen box and group first aid kit. After a two hour drive, we parked at the Vincent Gap trailhead and 4 Venturers set out along the fairly level 2 mile trail to the historic Big Horn Mine; and the other 10 climbed 2600’ up numerous switchbacks and across lingering patches of snow to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell, which is named after the founder of Scouting. Returning to our cars, we drove a few miles to the nearby Jackson Flats group campsite #2, where we pitched our tents and relaxed under the tall trees. The summit group arrived at camp at 5 PM and we started cooking dinner, which was beef and salmon, with grilled brocollini and asparagus for the adult group, and grilled steaks and baked potatoes, with an amazing salad of spring greens mixed with a homemade dressing of sauteed apples, bacon crisps, and honey. After cleaning up, the scouts build a campfire and toasted s’mores. We took some time to look at constellations in the very clear mountain night sky, saw bats, and had a relaxing sleep. Awaking at 7 AM, the scouts served up bacon, eggs, grill-toasted bagels; while the adult group started with coffee and then had bagels, cheerios and berries. Packing up at 10 AM, we arrived back at the scout house at 12:15 PM.
