The Hayward Lodge Fireplace

A sunny flat along Skinner Creek

The 2012 Pico Blanco Staff

Yucca Firsthand

Our Nature Director shows some campers a Yucca whipplei (chaparral yucca, our Lord's candle, Spanish bayonet, or Quixote yucca) along the camp road. Go on a nature walk with him and he'll show you how you can make your own needle and thread out of this plant!
Learn more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperoyucca_whipplei

2012 Esselen Lodge Vigil Honor Recipients

2012 Esselen Lodge Vigil Honor Recipients

9/8/12

For a complete list of Esselen Lodge Vigils visit: http://himlyn.com/vigil.html

Labor Day Weekend 2012

This year's Labor Day Weekend Scouter Retreat was one of the busiest on record. This year the Pico Staff served over 180 campers and offered an expanded program including waterfront, shooting sports, slingshots,        handicraft, nature, and scoutcraft demonstrations. The campfire program was filled with great skits and songs  from troops, packs, venture crews, and the staff.

This year, our program expanded beyond the camp into the Ventana Wilderness where Scouts of all ages took part in a wide range of hikes. A group of Cub Scouts went downstream from camp to Little Sur River Camp and enjoyed walking in the river. Several older Scouts went with some staff upstream to Jackson Camp to see an albino redwood and some other Scouts did a challenging hike to visit Al Clark's Lost Silver King Mine and then to Pico Public to take a refreshing swim in the waterfall fed pool

Several units decided to go backpacking over the weekend, using Pico as a base camp. A troop from Monterey spent the night at Fox Camp and took a side trip to the Circular Pools. A patrol from the Los Padres Council hiked to Jackson Camp and spent the night. Two Venture crews elected to do some more challenging treks. One crew hiked to Pico Public and then went up Mount Pico for the night, enjoying stunning views of the sunset over the Pacific. A crew from the Los Padres Council attempted Ventana Double Cone, a 4,852 ft peak above camp with views of the entire Ventana Wilderness, Monterey Bay, and  the Big Sur Coast, spending two nights at Pat Spring Camp.

Scouting was alive and well at Pico Blanco that weekend!

A Scoutmaster reviews packing techniques with his troop before heading out on a backpack trip

A staffer is excited to be at Jackson Camp

And excited to find an albino redwood along the Little Sur River

Crossing the Little Sur River

Hiking to Pico Public

Searching for Al Clark's Silver Mine

The Blue Hole at Pico Pubilc

Swimmers and Boaters Enjoying the Waterfront

Canoeing at the Waterfront

The Nature Director imparts wisdom upon some Scouts

Driving out Palo Colorado Canyon after a fun weekend

Marksmanship!

Mom and Me 2012

Hey Cub Scouts! Do you miss camping? Do you want shoot BB guns, perform your favorite skit, and drink bug juice?

...then tell your Mom to sign you up for Mom and Me! This year's theme is "Oh the Places You'll Go". The event is May 18-20.

The event costs $15 on or before April 19, 2012 and $25 after April 19, 2012. A meal plan is available for $20.

REGISTER TODAY!

Camporee 2012

The Esselen Lodge is hosting the Council Camporee at Pico Blanco May 4-6.

Does your troop have an award winning dutch oven recipe?

Do you want to show off your troop's mastery of Scout skills?

Do you have a great skit for the first Pico Campfire of 2012?

Do you want to get ready for the summer camping season?

...then your troop should register today. It's only $15 a person if you register before April 19 and then $20 after.

REGISTER HERE

Dudley's Lousewort

Pico Blanco Scout Reservation hosts the state-listed rare plant Dudley's Lousewort, Pedicularis dudleyi.

It is found on riverside terraces, especially near Old-Growth Douglas-Fir. Only three small populations exist in the entire world- all in California. These include specific sections of Pescadero Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Arroyo De La Cruz In the South Santa Lucia Mountains, and finally the Little Sure River in the Santa Lucia mountains where Camp Pico Blanco is located.

Additionally, one of the largest patches of it occurs in Pico.

The plant is currently being researched in camp, and scouts visiting camp have the rare opportunity to view and learn about this extremely rare and special plant.

Fording the Little Sur

Scouting fun lies ahead!

Tiger Lilly on the banks of the Little Sur

Fall Ordeal, 2011

Photo: Jim Bowels

Men in the Making

Please check out Men in the Making, a pamphlet produced in 1963 by Scout Executive Alfred Young. It provides insight into the founding, history, and purpose of Pico Blanco Scout Reservation and recognizes those that made the camp possible. Pico Blanco is truly a place for Men in the Making.

Bing Crosby Central Kitchen, 1963

Driving back to Monterey on Highway 1 this Evening

Sunlight through the redwood canopy

Fox Camp

Fox Camp is a beautiful outpost camp in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest about 2 hours upstream along the North Fork of the Little Sur. This is a great base camp as one can continue up the North Fork to the Circular Pools or follow Jackson Creek to Upper Esselen and La Ventana.

Fox Camp is also a great overnight or day hike destination since it lies in the redwoods and is a relatively flat hike. The hike is lined with swimming holes and the camp itself is divided by the river in to two sites, each of which could accommodate several patrols. In fact, we've had 2 full troops camped at Fox Camp before. Each site is flat and has a fire ring.

Fox Camp is also home to Drum Rock but we'll save that story for later...

I am always a fan of photos of Our Lord's Candle, the flowering stalk of a yucca plant. This was taken in the summer of 2011 near the top of Mount Pico Blanco. The ocean is about 3500' below. Something unique about the northern Santa Lucia Mountains, the range that Pico Blanco lies in, is that it is home to the northernmost yucca, a Southern Californian plant, and the southernmost Coast Redwoods, a Northern Californian plant, making the region botanically Central California. This phenomenon creates a very unique ecosystem in that there are large, open, warm slopes rising above cool redwood canyons.

Moose the Ranger's Dog

Safety First at the Ranges