Join us at 9 am on Sunday, February 13th for a Pack 104 hike at Redwood Creek.

This is a wonderful loop hike up the Stream Trail along Redwood Creek through a magnificent second-growth redwood forest which is over a century old. The hike is completed by looping back on the East Ridge Trail, which gives access to different scenery and great views.

Important Reminders:

• Uniform for the hike is the Pack’s Blue Activity T-shirt.
• BRING PLENTY OF WATER.
• Please check the weather forecast the day of the hike and dress accordingly.
• LUNCH WILL NOT BE PROVIDED. Please pack a lunch and some trail snacks to eat along the way.
• Wear comfortable, well-worn-in shoes to avoid your Cub coming home with blisters. We want this to be a good experience and memory.
• An adult must accompany your Scout. Please make sure that your Scout has an adult to supervise them on the hike if you are not able to go with them.
• Leave No Trace. Prepare to carry out any garbage or recyclables, as there may not be receptacles along the trail.
• Hikers should come prepared with the 6 Cub Scout Essentials!! Do you remember what they are??

Please join us on Saturday February 12th at Camp Herms for the Pack 104 Annual Blue & Bold Banquet.

About Blue & Gold

Blue and gold banquets are a tradition within packs, celebrating the leaders and parents who volunteer to make Cub Scouting fantastic. Sometimes former pack members return to blue and gold banquets. Often special Scouting or community leaders are invited to attend or speak to Cub Scouts in attendance.  Some packs also use the banquet as a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of Scouts, themselves.

On Saturday January 15, Pack 104 Scouts completed a 3.5-mile loop at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, with around 500′ elevation gain and drop.

Las Trampas Regional Wilderness Trail Map: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ol3z5SjkomO4Z9zeJoQOdEDhgIB5RY2K/view?usp=sharing

Route for P104’s hike: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wvkYrueWYeUEdx0ZnRM_d83KsSd_ooax/view?usp=sharing

Hike Details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16WigZ1iOuEM7vW61wduXymGNVpITKIX7/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112036892138777632999&rtpof=true&sd=true

On Friday November 26th (Day after Thanksgiving), a number of Pack 104 scouts convened to complete a hike in conjunction with Troup 24. The whole group started out together & then split off along the way into 3 crews which did 3.6-mile, 7.2-mile and 10.1-mile hikes.

Here are a few photos from this hike

Very exciting for the pack, there was a siting of a coyote!!

Check out this YouTube Video to meet their furry friend.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE POPCORN??

This winter, a number of Pack 104 Scouts participated in popcorn sales to earn funds for pack activities and outings, as well as support other pack program-related expenses. This fundraiser also taught Scouts about salesmanship and contributing to their pack and the Council.

SALES RECAP

Here is a synopsis of how the popcorn sales went this year!

• Total sales: $5054.47
• Our total commission was $1802.07
• We also received cash donations during popcorn sales: $274.91
• With cash donations, we raised $2076.98 for Pack 104 from popcorn sales
• 3 Scouts who reached the 500-point threshold will split gift cards worth $260
• We were the 33rd top-ranked unit in our Council out of 500–1000 units
• We were the 3048th-ranked in the nation out of about 150,000 units

Council Popcorn Kernel Tim Welty said:

“We will for sure give Pack 104 the bonus commission for the in-person sales. They have done a really good job and carried Herms district to goal.” (Herms District has recently been the lowest-performing district, and our district’s goal was only $4000). Because of our performance we earned the “GGAC Above and Beyond” award, which gives us a 4% boost to our commission (32% to 36%).

Curious about the history of popcorn? Check out this article: https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/popcorn-history/

Scouting for Food is an annual food-collection drive, and one of the many service projects the BSA has conducted since 1910.

870,000 Bay Area residents and a quarter million residents in our council geography lack adequate access to food. Scouts can help make an impact by participating in the annual Scouting for food drive

The annual effort for Scouting in the Bay Area is coordinated in November.

Help us collect canned goods and other non-perishable food for the needy! We’ll be passing out flyers on Saturday, November 6 and picking up donations the following Saturday, November 13.

Details on when/where to bring the donations that have been collected will be sent out via email to the Pack 104 mailing list as the collection date approaches.

On Saturday, October 30th, over 100 Webelos (including 5 from Pack 104) convened at Camp Herms in El Cerrito for a fun-filled weekend. The Webelos pitched their tents without adult help, put on a campfire program, and worked on several adventure pins including: Outdoor Adventurer, First Responder, Into the Woods, and Adventures in Science.

On Sunday, October 17th, starting at 1 pm, the Pack 104 Webelos den 2 led a hike at the Sycamore Grove Trail. This moderately trafficked 4.8 mile loop trail is located near Livermore, California. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from May until October.

This was an excellent alternate to the Flag Hill hike for the youngest Scouts or novice hikers, with only 200 feet of elevation gain.

After the Sycamore Grove hike, the Webelos den had a quick dinner and completed the Hoot Owl night hike. This is one of the hikes in the Trail Trekkers series, and perhaps the most unique of all. A park ranger led the group on a 1-1.5 mile night hike to look for owls and signs of owls within Sycamore Grove Park.

Photos from this day:

Hike Statistics
Starting point: parking lot
Distance: 4.8
Time: Allow about 3-4 hours
Grade: Easy
Suggested age: Tigers through Webelos Suggested Season: Year round

Sycamore Grove Trail Map: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dfHNSGwONPgaPQFhIC67VPp-khE7wiBN

On Saturday, October 16th, Cubs from Pack 104 descended on several local school sites to clean up litter and other debris around the entranceways, parking lots, and street fronts.

In addition to visiting Harding Elementary School Fairmont Elementary School Madera Elementary School and Mira Vista Elementary School, they also managed to stop by and clean up around the El Cerrito Library and part of Upper Canyon Trail park.

Over the course of the morning, 31 volunteers from the Pack put in more than 60 hours of service.

Three cheers for the hardworking Scouts of Pack 104! Makes me a proud mom and happy to continue to be a part of this dynamic and helpful community-based group. #teamwork #serving #community #cleanup #localschools #pack104

Roy Adam (Chartered Organization Representative), organized a fun, unique opportunity for Pack 104 Scouts to connect with Scouts who live in Chiba, Japan. This happened on Saturday, October 16, at 6 PM PST (10 am JST) via Zoom!

The Scouts had a great cultural exchange and an open Q&A period, talking for about an hour in total. Overall they had a fun time sharing their interests, hobbies, and details on their food / diet.

This was be part of JOTA/JOTI and the scouts who participated all earned a patch for taking part in the activity. See gallery below for a few photos from the event.

The Jamboree on the air patch that they earned looks like this:

Thanks again, Roy, for coordinating this exchange.