First things first when you go snow camping . . . build a fire!
Troop 203, Peralta District goes Snow Camping
Oakland Troops 203 B&G had a fantastic time snow camping behind Lake Alpine (top of Highway 4) over the weekend of Feb 18-19. This is a long time tradition for Troop 203B and the first time for 203G which was chartered last Fall of 2202. In fact, it was not only the first time snow camping for the girls, but also their first backpacking trip!
We met early morning in Oakland and drove up to Lake Alpine (about 3.5 hours) where we unloaded at the end of the road. The Scouts then put together 3 homemade sleds which have been passed down in the Troop from long ago. There are three wooden sleds which nest into each other for storage and have skis attached to them at the trailhead by the Scouts each time. Once the sleds were built, they were piled high with bins of patrol gear, a lot of wood to keep us warm, an iron sheet on which to build the fire and some of the food.
We then hiked in about 3 miles to the backside of Lake Alpine. The first mile or two was fairly easy going as the passing of many snow mobiles had back down and smoothed the snow. Once we turned off this “main” road, it was much more challenging and most of us didn’t have snow shoes…and kept sinking to our knees!
