Boy Scouts of America Troop 321 of Long Beach backpacked the Tuxachanie Trail. The Troop hiked this local twelve-mile trail in preparation for a 100-mile trek planned by the troop for 2024.
The scouts traveled to the trailhead on Highway 49 via their scout bus, Scoutship Integrity, and were dropped off there by Assistant Scoutmaster Terry Togstad. At the trailhead, scouts did a final pack check, paused for a few photos and hit the trail late on a Friday evening.
While on the trek, scouts planned, purchased and prepared their own meals, including steak and mashed potatoes. Scouts spent several weeks in advance of each trek reviewing menus and planning the gear that they needed to be able to cook on the trail. Unlike “car camping,” where scouts have access to additional gear from their patrol boxes, scouts had to plan and prepare to minimize excess weight. For this relatively short and flat trail, extra pounds were not as critical. However, when preparing for a long trek with significant elevation changes, such as the 100-mile Wonderland Trail planned for July 2024, every ounce needs to be reviewed. For this trek, scouts reviewed their menus and pared down their cooking gear to only the necessary items, a task that will have significant impact on bigger treks.
For the first night in, scouts hiked for about an hour, then camped in a clear spot several yards off the main trail. Even on the first night, scouts prepared hot meals on the trail as they set up their camp for each of their patrols. For the second night, scouts camped in a more established area on the trail.
Although the trail can be accomplished in a single day with hiking gear, the troop used the trek as a training exercise, as well as an introduction to trail life for some of its newer members. Its small elevation changes and relatively short distances provide a great introduction and training ground for beginners, but the trail has enough obstacles that present challenges for experienced trekkers, as well.
As with most adventures with the BSA, trail treks drive the young scouts to exercise their problem-solving skills. Not only are the youth required to plan out their meals and necessary gear, but the trail itself provides obstacles and challenges that the scouts are forced to figure out how to overcome. A good example of this is from one of the partially washed out, topsy-turvy, over-turned bridges that the scouts need to cross. One can not simply “walk across the bridge.” The obstacle demands that the scouts think about where to grab and place their feet while they carry their packs, and then requires that they hold on to bridge as they cross.
Challenges like this help them develop into more than just being good citizens and independent young men.
The Tuxachanie Trail almost always has plenty of stream and water crossings from which the scouts train on filtering water. This trek, however, was different. The streams were very dry. The lakes at the Airey Campground and P.O.W. Camp were very low. One of the larger streams, Spike Buck Creek, by which they camped and had initially planned to filter water from, was dusty. Fortunately, the scouts were able to recruit help from additional leaders who were not able to make the trip, and Edwin and Ana Franco were able to leave some additional water at the location of their second campsite. Eventually, the scouts did get an opportunity to filter water, though, in the Tuxachanie Creek itself. Although low, it still provided enough water for training and drinking on the final leg of the trip.
Overall, the scouts enjoyed the hike. The pleasant weather helped keep the attitudes up, and the troop had a good time.
