Pack 104 scouts and families did a campout at Pinnacles National Park from Friday, May 21 to Sunday May 23rd. This campground is located 130 miles south of El Cerrito. Spring and fall are the most pleasant weather for hiking and visiting the park.

A handful of the scouts completed a challenging uphill 6.5 mile hike. The remainder of the scouts completed a shorter loop, estimated at 2.5 miles.

Please see gallery below of photos taken by some of the campout attendees.

This park is the result of an ancient volcanic eruption from approximately 23 million years ago. It is known for a rich diversity of spring wildflowers and wildlife throughout the year.

Born of Fire
“Some 23 million years ago multiple volcanoes erupted, flowed, and slid to form what would become Pinnacles National Park. What remains is a unique landscape. Travelers journey through chaparral, oak woodlands, and canyon bottoms. Hikers see towering rock spires teeming with life: prairie and peregrine falcons, golden eagles, and the inspiring California condor.”

While the scouts of Pack 104 take a break from official pack meetings during the summer, we will continue to offer a variety of hikes, outings, and other outdoor activities this summer. The regular schedule will resume in the fall.

Check out a summary of our summary programming below:

JUNE

• Sunday, June 6: Trail Trekkers project Baxter Creek clean up
  • 10:00 am–1:00 pm. Meet at Baxter Creek Park (Key Boulevard at Conlon Avenue) to help the Green Team of El Cerrito and the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers remove trash from Baxter Creek. Bring your own gloves, along with water, sun protection, and snacks.
• Sunday, June 13: Angel Island Trail Trekkers Hike
  • 9:30 am–3:30 pm. We’ll hike along the Perimeter Loop, a kid-friendly trail that is about 5.9 miles long. Bring a picnic lunch and wear comfortable shoes. Meet at 9:30 am at the Tiburon–Angel Island Ferry Terminal. The ferry departs Tiburon at 10:00 am, so be sure to arrive no later than 9:45 am. Note: families will need to purchase ferry tickets online from Tiburon to Angel Island in advance of the hike.

JULY

• Saturday, July 10: Tennessee Valley Hike
  • 10:00 am–1:00 pm. We’ll hike from the trailhead to the beach and back, with a 30–45 minute stay at the beach. The round trip will be 3.4 miles of mostly flat terrain. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water, snacks, lunch, sun protection, a change of clothes for the kids, and a towel for the beach. We’ll be going over beach safety with the Twelve Seaside Tips for Safety guide. Meet in the Tennessee Valley parking lot (701 Tennessee Valley Rd, Mill Valley).
• Sunday, July 25: Pack 104 Swim Day (Swim Badge advancement/testing @ Arwen’s house)
  • 10:00 am–3:00 pm. We’ll gather in small groups at a private pool to talk about water safety, work on aquatics-related requirements, and have fun swimming. Scouts will also have an opportunity to take the BSA Swim Test.

AUGUST

• Saturday, August 7: Crab Fishing on Sausalito Pier
  • 10:00 am–1:00 pm. Meet at the Sausalito Fishing Pier in Sausalito. No need for a fishing license or gear. Bring a lunch and wear layers. If you want to take some crabs home, bring a bucket!
• Sunday, August 15: Camp Herms Service Project
  • 9:00 am–12:00 pm. Every year Pack 104 does a service project to improve Camp Herms. Please bring work gloves, sun protection, and water. A breakfast snack and tools will be provided.
• Saturday, August 28: Nerf Games VI—Knot Another One!
  • 10:00 am–12:00 pm. Location to be determined. Please bring an N-Strike Elite (or compatible) Nerf toy, but no darts please! We will have some available. Kids will have the opportunity to learn knots and test their Nerf skills.

Pack 104 families, please visit Scoutbook for more information on each of these events. Stay tuned for more info on the fall camp out mid-September!!

Contact Pack104info@gmail.com for complete details or to let us know if you plan to attend!

On May 16, 2021 2:30pm-6pm, Pack 104 scouts parents and den leaders met in the Quarry at Camp Herms for Pack BB, Archery, and Slingshot training activity and educational event. Scouts who attended and completed the trainings earned the Shooting Sports Award with the Archery, BB and Slingshot pins.

Thank you to RJ, John, Starla, Michael, Nikki, and Mira for coordinating the event, for running Classes on history, safety, and mechanics for each shooting sport, and for supplying healthy snacks and dinner. Please see below for a gallery of images taken during this well-attended event.

On Apr 30, 2021, the Bear Den planted trees at King Park, in partnership with the City of Berkeley.

Check out our photo gallery from this event below

Pack 104 met together to complete the annual Earth Day service project at Cerrito Vista Park this past Saturday April 24 at 10 am. The city of El Cerrito supplied us with grabbers and garbage bags. Please see gallery below for some photos taken that day! Thank you to all the families who came out.

#ECEarthDay21

Photo Credit: John Bowen, Thuy Nguyen, Natalie Tse

Please mark your calendars for these upcoming Pack 104 Events:

APRIL

• 4/25:  Cerrito Vista cleanup for Earth Day

MAY

• 5/16:  Archery/BB/Slingshot Day at Camp Herms
• 5/21-5/23:  Spring Campout at Pinnacles National Park

JUNE

• Sunday, June 6: Trail Trekkers project Baxter Creek clean up
• Sunday, June 13: Angel Island Trail Trekkers Hike

JULY

• Saturday, July 10: Tennessee Valley Hike
• Sunday, July 25: Pack 104 Swim Day

AUGUST

• Saturday, August 7: Crab Fishing on Sausalito Pier
• Sunday, August 15: Camp Herms Service Project
• Saturday, August 28: Nerf Games VI—Knot Another One!

Pack 104 families, please visit Scoutbook for more information on each of these events. Stay tuned for more info on the fall camp out mid-September!!

On Apr 18, 2021, 10am, Pack 104 scouts met up with the EC Trail Trekkers group and helped them remove invasive broom plants in the Hillside Natural Area. It was a great opportunity for families to get some fresh air and exercise, interact with others, while helping the environment. Thanks to all the scouts and families who came and contributed to this volunteer effort!

See gallery below for some photos that were taken.

Photo credit: John Bowen, Starla Lane, Michael Black and Roy Tse

Pack 104 convened for a short hike at Jepson Prairie reserve located in Dixon, CA on the morning of Saturday March 27, 2021. The site is about a 1 1/4 hr drive from the east bay. The hope was that Jepson Prairie would be a good place to see vernal-pools which are season pools found in wetlands. Unfortunately, the water level was low that day, so the vernal pools could not be observed during this visit.

Please see gallery of photos taken that day.

The Pack 104 Bear den met up with the EC Trail Trekkers group at the north end of Regency Court and help them remove invasive broom plants in the Hillside Natural Area this Sunday, March 14, 2021. Thanks again to Dave Weinstein and his team at El Cerrito Trail Trekkers for leading and facilitating this activity, and for sharing a bunch of the action shots depicted in the gallery below. We appreciate the invitation and look forward to more opportunities to interact and collaborate.

Thanks to all the scouts and families who participated in this service project!

Not even a global pandemic can hold back our annual Pinewood Derby!

This year’s event will be a little different, as it will be livestreamed over Zoom, but it’ll still include everything* you love most about the PWD & more!

For those who aren’t able to join the event live, it will be recorded and made accessible online, but please be sure Scouts get their votes in before 5:30 pm on March 5.

Calendar: Pack 104
Event: Pack 104 Virtual Pinewood Derby
Where: Zoom
When: Mar 5, 2021 5pm-7:30pm (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Check your emails for zoom login info, and for the voting form!!

*pizza not included

Pinewood Derby Entries (FOR VOTING)

Pinewood Derby Cars by Friends and Family (NOT FOR VOTING!!)