2000

Four Scouts and two adult leaders left the church parking lot around 7PM Friday evening. The drive to Henry Coe State Park took more than an hour, due to the heavy, Friday-night traffic on Highway 101.

We parked in the downhill parking lot and hiked in the dark the .75 miles to park headquarters. Another .75 miles of night hiking took us to a grassy knoll--the Sierra View campsite. A light mist dampened the moonlight as we set up our tents for the night. Two of the Scouts were veterans of the previous summer's 50-miler, and they showed the other two Scouts how to arrange their nylon tarps into tents. It was after 11PM before we were able to settle down for the night.

We awoke shortly after 5AM in anticipation of a long Saturday of hiking. After packing up and having a quick bite of trail mix and fruit bars, we hit the trail shortly after 6AM--about 1/2 hour behind schedule.

The first part of the trail along Hobbs Road was very steep, but it soon crested for a descent to the Little Fork Creek. We stopped to rest by the creek, having our first installment of our "trail-grazing" breakfast of granola bars, dried apricots, and Tang.

We hiked past Frog Lake and up to the Middle Ridge Trail, where we stopped for a Power Bar break. While hiking along the rolling Middle Ridge Trail, we found a copper-colored salamander stepping out of the wet grass onto the trail.

At the junction of the Middle Ridge and Fish trails, we stopped to finish off the last of our breakfast. After mixing the Gatorade for our lunch, we descended down the Fish Trail, crossing the Little Fork Creek again, before ascending to Manzanita Point Road.

After a short rest, we followed the relatively-flat Forest Trail, which parallels the road, until it met with the road again. We hiked along the road to campsite number nine in Manzanita Point, where the rest of the Troop had already set up their tents.

It was easier to set up the backpacking tents in the daylight. Camp set up was followed by a gourmet lunch of Ritz Crackers, Smoked Salmon, and Cheddar Cheese, accompanied with Craisins and Gatorade.

After lunch, the four high-adventure Scouts took the 10 younger Scouts on a five-mile hike to China Hole and back to satisfy the younger Scouts' Second Class hiking and orienteering requirement. This hike took us down to Madrone Soda Springs, and then followed the creek to China Hole, where several of the Scouts waded and swam in the cold, clear water.

The rest of the Saturday-afternoon hike followed an unmarked trail along the creek before starting the Cougar Trail's steep, uphill climb. The top of the Cougar Trail crested in a chapparal, and we followed the relatively level trail back to Manzanita Point.

The Scouts broke into their Patrols, cooked dinner, and had an informal campfire gathering before retiring for the night.

Sunday morning, the sun came up before any of the Scouts emerged from their tents. The Patrol breakfast and clean-up went smoothly, as did packing the gear and policing the campsite. The entire Troop of 14 Scouts and 4 adults left the campsite very close to our schedule time of departure.

The 2.5 mile hike back to Henry Coe Headquarters went smoothly. We arrived 1/2 hour ahead of schedule for a leisurely lunch in the covered picnic area. As the mist turned into light rain, we packed up the vehicles and drove back to the church, returning a few minutes ahead of schedule.