Fort Ross Trip Report
August 14-16, 2009
Scout Trek Leader: Jacob Spence, Adult Trek leader: Steve Spence
Pre- Camp Planning
8/7/2009 Karen Dillon made the reservation at Ft Ross. Reading through previous trip reports is extremely helpful.
Steve Spence contacted Hank Birnbaum at Ft Ross. The arrangement is that the boys do 4 hours of service in exchange for staying overnight at the fort. The expected work projects are to stack firewood, rake leaves and acorns, and possibly mend fences. Hank also asked if we have anyone skilled in woodworking who could repair old Russian-style benches held together with pins, like an ax handle. The actual work projects will be determined next week. Hank will let me know next Thursday. The boys should bring gloves and rakes.
We will stay Friday night at the Reef Campground. The exact sites will be reserved on the Friday we arrive. Hank will put a note on the Kiosk window indicating which sites we are to use.
Contact information:
Ft Ross – (707) 847-3437, (707) 847-3286
Jackie at the Reef Campground – (707) 847-3708
Campout Summary
Friday 8/14/2009 Bill Pfeifer was able to leave from Cupertino at around 3:30 pm with 5 scouts. The rest of us met at St Joseph at around 5:30 pm and left around 5:45 pm. Karen Dillon took 3 scouts and Steve Spence took 4 scouts. We drove to Petaluma then took the Washington St exit on out to Bodega Bay then north on Hwy 1 to the Reef Campground. We arrived just before 10:00pm. Traffic was actually light nearly all the way, thankfully. We had camp sites 18 and 19 which were just big enough for us. We all just set up our tents & went to bed. All was quiet by around 11:30 pm. The scout trek leader’s plan was to get the boys up at 7:00, eat, pack everything up and be ready to start the work projects by 10:00.
Saturday 8/15/2009 The boys were all up by about 7:00 and fed, cleaned up and packed up by 9:15. We all walked down to the beach and tide pools. They are very cool and the boys enjoyed exploring. We walked back up to the camp at 10:00 to meet Jackie who gave us the work assignments. The first assignment was to trim the trees and bushes all around our campsites 18 & 19, along the road going to site 20 and along the path to the beach, and pile the branches up beside the road for later loading into a truck. There were a lot of overgrown branches. It looked like a big job that could take all day, but the boys worked quickly and got it all done in about 1 ½ hours.
At about 11:45 the boys and Mrs. Spence started the hike from the Reef Campground to Ft Ross with the boys. Mr. Spence and Mr. Pfeifer drove the vehicles to Ft Ross. The boys arrived at Fr Ross and we all had lunch.
At about 1:30 one group of boys started stacking fire wood in front of and behind the main barracks building. At 2:00 we all took a ½ hour break to listen to a history presentation by Hank Birnbaum, the ranger. He gave an excellent talk complete with a scout, Thomas McCrone, being dressed up in authentic native Alaskan otter hunting garb. (See photos.)
At 2:00 the boys resumed stacking firewood and started raking leaves and sticks around the fort and sweeping all the buildings. Mrs. Spence worked in the chapel sweeping, cleaning the Russian icons, the candle stands and tables.
At 4:00 was the cannon firing. Hank Birnbaum outfitted 6 scouts with all the accoutrements for cleaning and loading the cannon. He had one scout give orders to the others for each step in the process, describing the military history of the fort and the cannons along the way. The cannon firing wss a dramatic and thrilling end to a long afternoon of hard work.
At 4:35 Hank Birnbaum gave final instructions on safety overnight in the fort and instructed us where we could sleep. We closed and locked the large building at the back of the fort and instructed the boys to sleep in the 2 corner round house buildings. The adults slept in the main barracks building.
We had dinner then the boys played hide and seek, followed by capture the flag. At 9:30 we called a halt to the game & sent them to bed. By about 10:00 all was quiet.
Sunday 8/16/2009 The adults got up around 7:00 and the boys were just beginning to stir.
We had an unfortunate accident when Mrs. Spence fell on the rocky gravel road just outside the fort. She cut her hands some and got a fairly deep cut about 1 ½ inches long on her knee. We cleaned it up and bandaged it and determined that it should be assessed for stitches. We contacted the ranger who suggested we go into Santa Rosa because the nearest medical facility on the information sheet was closed on weekends and the next nearest was 30-40 minutes to the north. Mr Spencegot the 4 boys in his vehicle and left at around 8:30 am. After a stop in Guerneville where we asked about the nearest hospital, we got to the Palm Leaf Hospital in Sebastopol at around 10:30 am. Fortunately the ER was not at all busy and the staff was very professional. Mrs. Spence received 3 stitches on her knee and we were back on the road by around 2:00. We arrived home at about 4:00.
Back at the fort, the interpreter left us with a checklist of things to do in the morning. We made a sweep of the grounds (especially looking for the foil litter that is in front of the cannons), we swept out the blockhouses and officer's barracks, and unlocked and opened up the buildings, and then at 9:55am, we opened up the gates to the fort.
We held a Scout's Own and Roses, Thorns and Buds. The "thorns" noted by the scouts included wanting more time to play "Capture the flag"; to bring warmer clothes; and to have time to go to the beach in front of the fort.
The interpreter asked me to fill out a scout roster and fill out one other form indicating the purpose of our visit, what organization we were associated with and where we were from. I completed those forms and handed them in.
To my knowledge we did not have any tent-related problems. The first class cooking candidate did run out of fuel for his third meal. (A two-burner stove would have been a better choice - but the scout made the call and learned a lesson).
Lessons learned from Mr. Pfeifer
1. Having an advance party get to the campsite early on Friday was a very good thing. (They left at 3:30pm after informing the Adult Trek Leader of who was in the vehicle). If you don't get to the campsite when the ranger is there you might have a problem with other campers grabbing our designated camp sites. Plus, arriving in daylight helps the scouts find flat ground for the tents.
2. It seemed that we did more than the usual number of hours of service projects. We worked at the campgrounds and then at the fort. We earned our board, but that didn't leave the scouts any time to explore the area. We should work with the interpreters to find a balance.
3. Looking back, I realize that this was a chance for younger scouts to build a campfire. I wish I would have thought to find out if any of the scouts needed that requirement signed off.
4. The scout who did his first class cooking had things under control, but we didn't get a chance to have another scout get his second class cooking requirements done because we didn't have a campfire. Also, we adult leaders need to know weeks in advance of any scout working on first class cooking because of all the pre-camp work that needs to be planned and reviewed.
5. Fort Ross was squeezed in between some big summer camps (Wente, High Sierra and Northern Tier) and the start of school so it was tough to get planning done. We need to identify first class and second class cooking candidates and scouts on the "trail to first class" so we can knock out as many requirements as we can.
6. Pop Tarts and Koolaid figured prominently on the breakfast menu of one patrol. This happens all the time - we need to have the scouts review the suggested meals sheet that we have on our web site and discourage sugar bomb/empty breakfasts.
7. I think we did a good job of cleaning up after cooking (the adults were vigilant). The "sump hole" worked well. We need to reinforce this at all campouts. Plastic bags and paper towels need to be on the "must bring" list. However, every scout in the troop could use a refresher on the "three pot" method of cleanup.
8. It was great to have cameras on the trek. It is fun for the scouts to see themselves in action.
Lessons Learned from Mr. Spence
- It is a bit of a pain to be leaving for a 3-4 hour drive at 5:30 on a Friday evening and arriving at 10:00 pm. It would be much easier and better if we could leave at noon or in the early afternoon for this trek (as Mr Pfeifer did).
- Ft Ross is a very cool place with a rich history and a beautiful, unique and even mysterious location. Having the boys work on this service project is a great way for them to give something back to the community through the state park system, experience a bit of California history, give them a sense of a job well done and greatly appreciated by the Fort staff, keep them occupied and tire them out.
- The visitor center is very elaborate, educational and worthwhile. It would be great to schedule some time for the boys to spend in the visitor center getting a better idea of the cultural and natural history of Ft Ross and its environs. As it was, we had virtually no time for this.
- Any boy who wants to do first class cooking, or second class cooking for that matter, needs to prepare and go over his plan with the adult who will be working with him well before the trek. One scout, Alex Dillon, was planning to complete 1st class cooking. However, he had not gone over his plans with Mr. Spence or Mr. Pfiefer before the trek. However, he was able to demonstrate that he had made the plans and preparations and he managed the cooking of 3 meals for his patrol to complete that requirement.
Scouts
Patrol 1
Jacob Spence, trek leader
Ross Pfeifer
Sean Pfeifer
Drew Pfeifer
Douglas Kurtz
Nathan Hobbs
Patrol 2
Brandon Wui
Alex Parks (1st class cooking)
Mitchell Downey
Charles Victor
Luke Burkhardt
Thomas McCrone
Adults
Steve Spence, adult trek leader
Bill Pfeifer
Karen Dillon
Suzanne Spence