Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 29, 2011 – Investiture Ceremony

Oct 29

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Our 1st Annual Investiture Ceremony on the top of the Stawamus Chief:

Note:  Click on a picture to start a full screen carousel slide show with captions.

Approaching our destination: the second largest granite monolith in the world (the largest is El Capitan in Yosemite National Park). These 700 metre massive cliffs tower over the town of Squamish on B.C.’s scenic Sea to Sky Highway.
Ready to go! These boys are going to earn their investiture today!
A brief rest and then back into the mist-shrouded Jurassic Park-like forest and the grinding trail upwards.
Out of the woods. Getting Closer. Getting more interesting.
Getting a whole lot more fun! Rock climbing Batman style!
Ah…no…not funny.
A great father and son outing.
Making progress. This 2,000 foot monster isn’t going to climb itself!
Destination in sight…
We have arrived (with style)!
I’ve climbed a lot of mountains, but I’ve never seen THAT before! Gotta love it! Those flags will be visible for miles! We had other hikers ask to borrow the Canadian flag so they could have their pictures taken with it too.
A golden moment frozen in time. What will these boys see when they look upon this picture years from now. I see: Pride well earned!
A little rest and some lunch before we do the investiture ceremony high above Howe Sound and the town of Squamish. Don’t drop your apples boys; they’ll roll off the edge and could hit climbers on the rock face below.
Welcome to Scouts, Max!
Welcome to Scouts, Isaac!
Welcome to Scouts, Tavish!
Welcome to Scouts, Conner!
Let’s not forget about our great Patrol Leaders, Simon & Wojtek!
Four newly invested scouts. The 5th West Van Scout Troop is reborn! (our group’s scarf will be different from these…we needed some “stand-ins” while our real ones are being made – thanks to ZoneWest for the loan – our real scarf will be burgundy & gold)
Time to head home. We will be back with more new scouts for investiture next year. Now where do we go next? There’s plenty of fresh snow throughout Garibaldi Park!
Well, as it turns out, a professional photographer was on the second peak of the Chief the day we were doing our investiture and captured some spectacular photographs of us from a distance. These shots are so cool!
Chris Christie (christie-images.com) has given us permission to publish these photos on our web site. These photos are so cool! Thanks Chris.

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October 16, 2011: Black Mountain Hike

Oct 16

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North Vancouver Scouter Ralph Rinke devised The Baden-Powell Trail Challenge to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its opening in 1971.

Challenge Accepted!

Part I:  Horseshoe Bay straight up over Black Mountain to Cypress Provincial Park – COMPLETED.

“A steep but rewarding trail, with magnificent views over Howe Sound, leads to the alpine meadows and small lakes of the summit plateau.  Although close to Vancouver and easily accessible, Black Mountain demands considerable expenditure of energy by those who ascend it from the west; the result, however, makes it worthwhile.”  103 Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia, Mary & David Macaree.

7 hours.  3500 feet elevation gain.  A “considerable expenditure of energy“…yeah, you might say that!

Note:  Click on a picture to start a full screen carousel slide show with captions.
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Nearing the top after 3 hours of “grinding”.
The view from up here.
Finally…Eagle Bluffs.
A tough trail “POWNED”!
Earned!
Now we just have to hike another 4 hours to get back to the car that we left at the Nordic Ski Area parking lot on Cypress this morning.
Done! Now, when do we knock off the other three sections of the trail? We want that badge Scouter Ralph Rinke designed!

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September 30-October 2, 2011: Alice Lake Camp

Oct 2

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2011-2012  New Scouts Orientation Camp:

Here’s a few photos from our camp this weekend at Alice Lake Provincial Park.  We will do a slide show and share ”glory stories’ during the first part of our next meeting.  Parents are welcome to participate.

Lunch in the sun during a Sunday morning hike.

New Scouts Hoisting their first flag!

The new 5th West Van Scout Troop on their first camp!

Posted in Camping

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