Table Mountain Adventure 11- 13 April 2008

This past weekend a group of 8 from 1sts conquered table mountain. Connor, Tamsin, Ellan, Thoms, Daniel, Henry, Derrick and I all met at Kirstenbosch, shared out the baggage and started on our journey.

Day 1: The first day (Friday) we started at about 4pm and walked through the gardens to the contour path and then to Nursery Ravine. As we climbed higher up the path we started walking into the cloud that had cover the mountain. With the slight win it was a little cold but not enough to dampen the spirits. By the time we had reached the top of the Nursery it was getting dark so the rest of the way we walked by torch light on the clear path. The scout hut was a happy sight where we could get out of the wind and into dryer clothes. The scouts made supper (Pasta and sauce) and played cards in the candle light. By about 10pm we were all exhausted from the steep climb up and retired to bed after some time spent by the fire.

Day 2: Today we planned to do a circular route from the hut to the cable station via the Valley of the Red Gods, to Maclears beacon and then back via the aqueduct. Naturally we had to make an early start and Conner decided to wake everyone at 7:30am and depart by 9am. Breakfast of Oats and coffee was a good start to the day! We packed some day packed and headed off. One of the objectives of the hike was to do some geocaches along the way. Geocaching is like treasure hunting with a GPS. The cloud was again on the mountain today and the wind was also up so the places we visited lacked the spectacular views. So we headed off to the Old cable station and then through the Rendez-vous cave which is a small tunnel through a rock not far from the old cable station. From hear we proceeded through the valley of the Red Gods and the Valley of Isolation and into Echoes valley. Obviously as soon as the young scouts realised this was a valley where echoes could be made they didn't hold back echoing every possible noise they could think of. Once the revelry was over we continued up the ladders and steep path to the top of Platteklip gourge and then to the cable station for lunch.

We spent a good deal of time at the cable station, enjoying a lunch of crackers and various spreads. The weather at the cable station was clear but the wind was still a factor so we could at least see the beautiful Cape Town. After lunch we proceeded to the cloudy Maclears beacon which is the highest point on the mountain. From there we went down to Carrel's ledge to find a goecache. This turned out to be quite an adventure. After finding the cache we proceeded on the ledge on a path that was on the edge of a sheer drop. Very exciting but we were glad to get back to the main path. We continued on the Smuts track, eager to get back to the hut out of the wind. The plan was to follow the aqueduct back to the hut but I couldn't find the start of the track so we ended up walking to the top of Skeleton gorge and then past the Helly-Hutcheson dam back to the hut.

Glad to be back at the hut we made a fire and the scouts cooked supper. After supper we played poker and had caramel pudding.

Day 3: The day was clear! We walked down woody ravine which was rather steep down to he pipe track where we had lunch. The last stretch to the finish was hot and a nice change from the cloudy times spent on the mountain.

All in all the weekend was a great (possibly tiring) way to spend the last days of the holiday. Many laughs and memories will be made and it's always a pleasure staying at the scout hut.

Yours in scouting
Alex

Table Mountain Troop Hike!

Date: Friday 11-Sunday 13 April 2008
Meet: Scout Hall on Friday @ 16:00. Be back Sunday @ 18:00
Bring: Overnight Rucksack with change of clothes, 2l water, snacks, eating utensils, sun protection, warm clothes, rain jacket.
Cost: R100 (to be confirmed)

We will be taking a simple route up the mountain on the Friday evening, spending the night at the scout hut near the dams. Saturday there will be a day hike on the mountain and again spending the night at the scout hut. Sunday we will climb down and travel back home.

This promises to be a great activity and opportunity to pass off a few thing toward your pathfinder and adventurer advancement badges. Table mountain is a truly beautiful mountain and well worth the trip so come on, attend the hike and have some fun!

More details to follow.
Regards
Alex Buys

Pioneering and Fires and Cooking Scoutcraft Badge course

The Strand Rovers are running a badge course in the district it will be on the 28th - 30th March 2008.

We will be hosting the Pioneering scoutcraft badge and the Fires and cooking scoutcraft badge.

Venue: 1st Strand Scout Hall

Cost: R180

If you have a problem with this then please contact Nick and make an arrangement.

Why must you come: Firstly to earn to badges! Secondly to meet other scouts from the district and have a fun social time! Basically not being at home!

Check the flyer out on http://www.strandscouts.org.za/downloads/flyer.pdf

Nic Britz

Badge Course Leader

0836581159

badges@strandscout.org.za

Hi guys and girls, welcome to the year of "008".........

The scouting year as already begun and we have the district intertroop gala coming up this weekend, Sat 26 January.

We would like to see all there even if you can't swim - you can be the drowning victim in the rescue swimmer race!

Hope to see you all there,

Rob

Summer Camp 2007

The much anticipated Summer Camp is coming up soon!

This year it will be held at the wonderful Hawequas Scout ranch in Wellington from Saturday the 8th to Thursday the 13th of December 2007.

Keep these days open as this camp is the highlight of the year where you will experience great camping, fun activities and the opportunity to do some much needed advancement. Details to follow soon.
Regards
Alex Buys

Prizegiving and AGM

The Annual General Meeting for the 1st Somerset West Scout Troop will be held on Friday the 9th of November from 18:30 at the Scout hall. Scouts, Cubs, and family are welcome.

"Scouts to boycott Table Mountain" - Cape Times headline

Good Day All

We are all intelligent enough to look beyond the sensationalism created by Newspaper headlines. When we needed the headlines on 1 August, nobody was willing to give us space. Now we get used to make a political point - rather sad.

Now that the Cape Times have made their point, lets state what it is that we really need to focus on.

Firstly, we did NOT call for a BOYCOTT of the mountain - rather a suspension of hikes so that we could decide on what is best for the scouts.

Going forward:

Lets not forget that we are in the business of training leaders. Hiking is one of the tools that we use to achieve this goal. The concern therefore is the safety of our scouts on the mountain - like it always has been. We simply have an external element that we have to be more prepared for - the local muggers.

1. Troop hikes should minimally be impacted by the spate of muggings - lets increase the size of the groups and add a few more adults to these groups. This should make the local spineless muggers think twice before they approach the group. These hikes are not used to evaluate the leadership ability of the scouts, so go ahead with these.We are not and have not experienced ANY problems at the SCOUT HUT. Scout groups are encouraged to go ahead and book as usual - you will find that it is still difficult to get a booking at this very popular facility - Lets take care of it - we only have ONE!

2. Where advancement hikes are done by scouts - ie - [where we want the scout to plan -calculate distance, time and direction; arrange transport, work out menu and cost and finally lead the hike - making decisions wrt state of the group and switching to PLAN B, where necessary], we are going to have to take a different approach. We need to increase these group sizes to a minimum of 10 scouts for now ( The group should possibly be weighted with more older scouts than younger ones, and mixed gender rather than just girls or boys on their own. This will have a huge impact on the leader and the decisions made by the leader. A 1st Class scout will thus have the additional burden of having to cope with a larger group and the additional constraints that will come with it. Scouters are asked to evaluate the need for an Adult to shadow the party - these have to be trained adults, who will NOT interfere with decisions made by the Hike Leader, but will only intervene where the group is put at risk by muggers

3. We have to note that a few HOT SPOTS have been targeted by these muggers - Lions Head, Pipe Track, Kirstenbosch and Platteklip Gorge. There are many more routes along the mountain chain, and scouts and adult leaders are asked to look at these routes as possibilities. Silvermine is a well patrolled area and should be used. Further south down to Cape Point, you will also find pretty awesome hikes

4. Scouts are asked to be extra vigilant and not carry unnecessary cash or unnecessary valuable items with them. Leave the ipods at home - listening to the birds and the rustling of the leaves, will do you the world of good for 24 - 48 hours.

5. Cub Packs are encouraged to keep going on mountain walks - Simply take GREATER care when you are out there. Pack Scouters are urged to increase the adult to cub ratio - take as many parents as possible along

6. ALL HIKES - please obtain a permit from HQ, so that we are fully aware of who is out hiking, and when.

The above will relaxed at a later stage - when the situation eases up and returns to "normal".

Yis

Nimmy Abrahams

AAC Scout Programme