They say the best way to learn something is to make it fun. Excitement and interest in a subject make it much easier to understand information you’re trying to learn. This is the basis for the Salty Rat, a hands-on experience for learning canoeing basics and canoe touring skills.

In October, several weeks before our Salty Rat, the students participated in an American Canoe Association training course: Introduction to Canoeing – Level 1. Two classes of HAT (High Adventure Team) scouts from the Boy Scouts’ California Inland Empire Council (CIEC) and new paddlers from the Arrowhead Sail & Power Squadron, along with Lead Instructor Paula Boothe, David and I, and several other instructors spent a day for each class at Lake Perris State Recreation Area.  We practiced strokes, swamping and rescuing the canoes, learned the basics of CPR and the principles of Leave No Trace in preparation for our Salty Rat trip.

The first weekend of November, David and I drove to San Diego, braving the Friday night traffic.  Leaving Big Bear in the early afternoon, we swung through Los Angeles to pick up our son, then sat on the 405 freeway, along with many other folks attempting to get home or get out of town for the weekend.

After dinner at Lotsa Pasta in Pacific Beach (it’s a definite recommend, yummy!), we arrived at the San Diego Youth Aquatic Center on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay, just before the gates were expected to close for the night.  We set up our tents in the dark—-or relative dark.  With a heavy cloud cover, not quite fog, the lights of the surrounding city bounced off the low ceiling of moisture, making a dim twilight.  We turned in quickly.  An early start was planned for the next morning.

With over 20 people participating in the adventure, it was busy as we carried our boats to the water, loaded them with equipment, and tied everything down.  The purpose of the Salty Rat is to practice for a longer river or ocean trip.  The canoes were loaded with all the gear that would have needed for a several night excursion—-tents, sleeping bags, clothing, cooking equipment, food and water were stored in dry bags and leak-proof buckets with Gamma Seal lids.  Part of the training was to prepare a hot lunch along the way, so stoves and meal-planning were part of the preparations.

After last minute instructions from Paula, the two crews set out from Enchanted Cove before 9:00 am.  With the tide flowing into Mission Bay, we paddled around Fiesta Island, taking pains to avoid the fishermen on the beaches of the north end.  Also avoiding the water skiiers, then the personal watercraft looping around Fiesta Bay, we hugged Fiesta Island, crossing the bay only when we had passed to the south of the ski beach on Vacation Isle.

Before crossing, our group rested by joining the canoes together and just for fun, practiced a few maneuvers of the 7-canoe raft.  Although the side-by-side boats made a very wide profile, the raft was surprisingly agile.  We executed several spins, then separated to make our way to our lunch stop at the park on the south end of Vacation Isle.

We arrived just as the tide was turning, a fact David and I realized later when we returned to find our kayaks impaled on rocks.  The high tide left us no beach for landing.  We exited our boats and unloaded the gear for lunch balancing on the treacherously slippery stones.

Dividing into several cooking groups, we made our hot meals, cleaned up, then relaxed watching the antics of the boats in the model yacht pond just behind the picnic area.  As the tide turned, several of the canoes broke free of their moorings.  This gave several of the scouts the excuse for a swim.  Luckily, the sun had broken through the low cloud cover.  They rescued their boats, we re-packed and continued around Vacation Isle into Sail Bay and the farthest point of our voyage.

The return trip was, of course, more difficult.  After-lunch-lethargy tried to take hold.  The youth combated this problem with sneak attacks with water blasters and then created several configurations of rafts and co-paddling.  It was soon determined that stringing the boats together was not a workable solution for effective paddling.  Parrallel hulled craft however were found to be quite maneuverable.  In several boats, the bow paddler turned around and spent time paddling backwards when their arms became tired.  All this silliness and the boats rafting up made it much easier to make our way back to Enchanted Cove and our campsite.

Tired but with a sense of accomplishment, by late afternoon, we were making tea or hot cocoa and planning our Dutch oven potluck dinner.  Several of the scouts needed to return home for Sunday activities, but David and I stayed Saturday night, sleeping very well in the misty, damp air.

Sunday we broke camp, paddled around Enchanted Cove with some friends, visited Aqua Adventures Kayak Center, and then made our leisurely way back to Big Bear.

The weekend was an enjoyable way to practice our canoeing skills, try out packing, cooking, and paddling techniques before taking a longer trek.  Many of these scouts will have opportunities to try 50-mile paddles on the Colorado River in the next year.  The Salty Rat gives them good preparation for these adventures, as well as a whole lot of fun getting ready.

If you or your group would like to learn how to canoe, prepare for a canoe expedition, or would like experienced leaders for your paddle adventure, we are available to help.  Contact information is at http://doingtheoutdoors.net/contact-us/

In Big Bear this week, we have snow on the ground, slush on the roads, and it has been chilly.  Southern California snowboarders and skiers are ecstatic to have the first natural snow at the local resorts with night temperatures low enough to make plenty more.  The conditions are great for early season riding.

Tonight, winter and outdoor sports enthusiasts, climbers and skiers are trekking to Big Bear’s Performing Arts Center to support 13 year old Jordan Romero in his quest to be the youngest person to complete the 7 Summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.  Ticket sales for Warren Miller’s newest feature length film “Dynasty” will raise funds for Jordan’s gear and travel.  He has 2 peaks left in his challenge: Antarctica’s Mt Vinson Massif and the ultimate feat, Mt Everest in the Himalayas.

After being laid off from the camp in October, I have spent the past month writing about events in Big Bear and planning what to do next.  I hadn’t expected to be unemployed at this point in my life, but the change allows David and me free weekends for more explorations and outdoor activities.  I am looking forward to writing more often and making the Doing the Outdoors blog more active.

Along with a new look, I have added links for products that we have heard about or have used.  From time to time, I will also be including sponsored posts with information about outdoor gear and equipment.

Webtogs, an outdoor gear company in the UK features North Face clothing, footwear, packs and bags  The company uses short YouTube videos to describe their products.  Below is a Webtogs video about the North Face Hedgehog, a ultra-lightweight running shoe with vibram soles for solid traction on rough surfaces.

A product I am looking forward to using is Action Wipes.  I love a good hot shower and miss this luxury when camping.  Action Wipes offer a nice alternative to small, chemical-laden commercial cloths.  They are thick reusable mini-towels with all-natural ingredients and scented with essential oils.  Using Action Wipes, I will be able to live with myself, even after several days outdoors!  If you order from this page, Action Wipes offers a 15% discount.

On kayak, canoe or sailing trips, and car camping as well, we have grown to love our “buckets.”  Inexpensive plastic pails that can be purchased at any building supply store are converted to air-tight, water resistant, and vermin-free containers with the addition of gamma-seal lids.  No more breaking a finger nail prying off a bucket cover.  The Gamma-Seal lids are screw-top and make your buckets re-sealable over and over.  Nitro-Pak has been the best place we’ve found to purchase the lids so I have included a link to their website.

In the future, we will be reviewing additional outdoor gear and equipment.  If you have had an experience (positive or negative) with any of the companies I review, please comment!

Every month, on or around the time of full moon, we take our kayaks and paddle somewhere.  From May through October, we plan these trips for Big Bear Lake and invite friends from the Mountain Paddle Club to join us.

We paddle on Big Bear Lake often and always see something new or interesting but being on the lake at night is an entirely different experience…..magical.

Our first trip this year on Big Bear Lake was a few nights ago.  As always it was (amazing, fantastic, beautiful, out of this world) magical.

After stopping at the East Boat Ramp to purchase our lake permits and be inspected to ensure our kayaks weren’t harboring quagga or zebra mussels , we headed for Captain John’s in Fawnskin.  We like launching from this marina because it is more paddle friendly than the East/West Ramps on the lake.  There are fewer trailered boats being launched and not so many cars/trucks/trailers/power boats to avoid as we gather our gear and unload our kayaks.  If it is windy, Grout Bay is sheltered so we can start without waves and wind to contend with.

The other evening, when we arrived at the marina, Jory and Lisa from Big Bear Paddling were already in their kayak and ready to go.  As we unloaded our boats, Ian stopped by and was easily convinced to join us.  Ian made arrangements for a rental from Captain John and we were on our way.

The lake was calm and the weather warm.  David and I took a little teasing about being overdressed with our PFDs, long pants and neoprene booties but by the end of the evening the others would rue their choice of shorts and flip-flops.  It cooled off considerably by the end of the night.

As we paddled toward Windy Point, the moon peeped over Sugarloaf Mountain.  Since the actual full moon would be the next night, the moon rose before the sun set.  For our launch we had both the sunset and the moonrise to enjoy at the same time.

In the cove past the West Launch Ramp , the large carp were jumping and flitting away from our boats.  The mosquitoes were out but luckily, so were the bats.  A little past the ramp, we met Karin and continued west down the lake.  At the dam, we sat enjoying the moon light, the completely still water and Karin’s stories about the building of the new bridge that will bypass the dam.  Karin has been involved in monitoring the progress for the citizen’s committee and has watched the blasting and the big cranes being lowered into the canyon.

Soon, we were chilled and decided to take a turn around China Island then return to our cars.  There were no other boats on the lake and the heavens opened above us.  In the complete calm, the only thing we could see of each other was the wake from our kayaks in the moonlight.  Every once in a while we would hear a dog barking on shore or a car on the road.  Otherwise, it was still and peaceful.

Saying our good byes and loading the boats, we headed home with a sense of calm and the pleasure of a good paddle with friends.

I live and work at Camp de Benneville Pines in Southern California’s San Bernardino National Forest.  The camp is owned by members of the Unitarian Universalist congregations in Southern California, Arizona and Southern Nevada and hosts many different types of events.  Our facility is the location for youth camps, retreats for churches, planning weekends for non-profit boards, work weekends where campers build, paint and clean to help us maintain the facility, and educational/recreational weekends for a variety of types of groups—women, men, 12-step organizations, yoga enthusiasts, scouts, and YMCA groups to name just a few.

After living at camp for almost 8 years, and having been involved in many aspects of the planning and implementing of programs here, I am more more curious than ever:  what is the magic of camp?

Is the the outdoor environment?
Is it the type of activities?
Is it living with each other in close community?
How are youth, family and adult camps different or the same/similar?

There is quite a bit written about camp for children but I haven’t found much about the camp experience for adults.  I’m going to keep looking—-and hope to share what I find as I go along.

It has been too long since I have written.  Friends have advised me that it is important to post regularly.  I agree.

David and I have had quite a few adventures since my last post—we spent a day trying out our new inflatable kayak, Mr. Puff, on Jenks Lake.  We drove across country and back again, finding wonderful state parks in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi and Louisiana.  We had a lazy day away from the snow on our mountain, paddling Huntington Harbor.  We’ve lead snowshoe hikes for our campers.

Computer time has been taken up with learning how to use Twitter and Facebook, catching up with work after 5 weeks away and enjoying my friend’s blogs.  I haven’t taken the time to write.

Icicles on the Staff House

Now it is time to get cracking!

After 3 – 4 feet of snow in camp and massive icicles at our front of our door making it dangerous to step outside…..we had cabin fever.

Sunday afternoon we decided we needed an adventure.  We planned to go snowshoeing locally, just to get away for a while.  Then, an hour before we were to leave, the 20% chance of rain turned into a pretty steady drizzle.

Rain wasn’t going to stop us!  We donned our waterproof clothing and set out.

Driving down to where Jenks Lake Road West meets Highway 38, we navigated around the cars and people parked to play in the snow at the Whispering Pines Nature Trail Crossing Highway 38, we parked by the mailboxes in the Ponderosa Vista Trailhead parking lot.

David, the Mountain Man

After getting on snowshoes and taking a picture, we went “over the edge”.  One of the joys of snowshoeing is the freedom to go where ever you want, without needing to use use a trail.  This hike gave us the opportunity to explore without following a trail.  Practicing our terrain navigation skills, we made our way down the hill, avoiding trees and brush where they were thickest, switching back and forth on the steep incline.

In the gray, rainy light, colors were deepened and enhanced.  Green lichen on rocks and trees looked fluorescent.  Russets and golds in the bark of the yellow pines and last year’s grasses was contrasted by dark greens and blacks on the canyon and live oaks.  Branches dripped with rain drops.  Shrouds of clouds and rain came and went.

After several minutes of dropping from the level of the highway, we came to an old forest road we had discovered last fall.  Curious as to where the road lead, we headed east.  Crossing several water courses, we followed the road for a mile or two, never coming to the end.  Ahead we could see a bench, barren of trees and with little snow but decided we needed to turn around in order to get back before dark.

Slide Mountain in the Distance

As we looked west, down the Santa Ana River Valley, we could see Slide Mountain and the sunset making a pink line under the clouds.  Passing back through the still forest with only Stellar Jays and Flickers for company, we returned to the hill we had descended.

Knowing that we would have to get back up the hill but never liking to go back the way we came, we decided to follow a water course on the east side of the hill.  We hoped to end up on the other end of the parking lot where we had left the car.

Switching back and forth across the hill, we found several open areas when all or most of the pines had died.  As we climbed higher, we were able to see across the valley to our north and vistas opened up.  At one point, we came across some large

Just Below the Parking Lot

tracks in the snow.  After the rain and warm weather, the tracks were indistinct and we weren’t sure what they were.  As we followed them, we decided they were two-legged snowplay creatures from the road above.  The tracks returned to the parking lot and we ended where we had expected and hoped, at the east end of the parking lot.

When I posted on Twitter that we had been snowshoeing in the rain, my daughter replied, “Ew! Doesn’t sound like fun.”  For us, it was the perfect way to spend a winter afternoon.

Today is #50 for me.  Next month will be Davids #75.  It’s a year of big milestones…..but I don’t feel any older today than yesterday.

My insurance agent sent a “Happy Birthday” email saying that she hoped I’d live as long as the longest living person—121 years, healthy to the end.  I echo the sentiment but am cynical enough to think the insurance agent is mostly hoping that I will keep pouring my money into medical insurance policies I don’t/won’t use.

For a birthday present, I asked David to take me on an explore.  One nearby back road we’ve been talking about visiting is closed because of fire danger.  We live in the San Bernardino National Forest and are on a “no open fires” alert level as of last week.  The road we’d hoped to explore is in an area that deer hunters and target shooters enjoy using.  I believe it was closed to avoid shooters from setting off the next fire.  Ah, Southern California in the fall.

Instead we took a back road very nearby.  Less than 10 miles from Barton Flats, east on Highway 38 we turned off the highway on to the road toward Heartbar Campground, group camp and horse camp. Next to a big meadow, away from the highway and under towering Yellow Pines, this pretty campground was closed for the season.

View from Coon Creek Jumpoff

Just a little further along, the dirt road divides, with the right branch heading towards Aspen Grove and the Fish Creek Trail up San Gorgonio Mountain.

We took the road to the left, winding through a very dry, open forest with few Yellow Pines but many gnarled Western Juniper, Mountain Mahogany and a few big cone Douglas Firs. The road followed Coon Creek for a good way, with many yellow stake camp sites marked along the road. Not in great condition, the road had areas of washouts, showing the effects of the thunderstorms and downpours we experienced at the end of this summer. After about 4 miles, we drove through an open meadow, crossed the Pacific Crest Trail and came out to an extraordinary vista. Called Coon Creek Jumpoff, the breathtaking view through a steep gully allowed us to see down to Palm Springs and beyond. With a blanket of high clouds overhead, the desert was a patchwork of sun and shadow below us.

Gnarly Tree

Just off the road to the left is Coon Creek Cabin, a Forest Service day-use area with picnic tables and
a potty (hopefully composting but we didn’t check.) Although the road goes further, there is a fence and it is closed off to travel because beyond is private property.  At the turnaround at the end of the road, we found this extraordinary tree….looking like it had been plucked from the ground and replanted upside down!

Heading back down the road, we returned to Highway 38 and continued east and then north to Big Bear, where we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. Coming down from Onyx Summit, at the height of the highway, we could see north and northeast toward the Granite Peaks. We pulled off several times to take pictures.

The Granite Peaks at Sunset

Going further in to town, at Division Drive, we had to try to capture the brilliant orange of the sky and the purple reflection from Stanfield Marsh. Within minutes after we saw this, the sun fell below the horizon and the sky dimmed. Full dark fell and we went on to a nice dinner at the Vallarta Grill.

Sunset over Stanfield Marsh

Returning home in the dark, we listened to our current audio book with a feeling of contentment. It was a good way to spend my 50th birthday.

Caroline Q on November 22, 2008