{"id":86,"date":"2013-04-11T23:54:16","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T23:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gssunnytrails.com\/travel\/?page_id=86"},"modified":"2013-04-11T23:54:58","modified_gmt":"2013-04-11T23:54:58","slug":"visit-joshua-tree","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gssunnytrails.com\/travel\/visit-joshua-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Visit Joshua Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In April 2011 I made reservations at 3 group campsites in Indian Cove Campground in Joshua Tree National Park, hoping that I could convince 50 Girl Scout friends to join my Ambassador troop on a \u201cbucket list\u201d camp trip there March 25-29, 2012. Their vision was that we\u2019d get to go horseback riding (which they had never done as a troop) and rock climbing (which they had loved but had only done at an indoor gym) and that we\u2019d tent under the stars one last time as a troop before they graduated. \u00a0This is the story of how we planned the trip and what worked and what didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Making Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the summer my troop talked about the trip, planned meals and activities and figured out a budget. \u00a0In September I passed\u00a0a flyer<\/a>\u00a0around at a service unit meeting. The girls and I visited a few troop meetings and handed out atentative itinerary and menu<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\"\"<\/a>talked to other girls and leaders about the trip.\u00a0I figured I had room for 55 maximum and by January 47 had signed up, including my 7 girls and 2 adults; a total of\u00a05 troops and a few extra siblings. We had a meet and greet for the girls who were going a few weeks before the trip and played some \u201cget to know you\u201d games like the\u00a0M & M game<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Trading Places<\/a>. The girls in my troop led the games with the girls for an hour while I talked with parents and leaders and answered all their questions. I really felt like that meeting helped all the adults feel comfortable about the plans and it helped the girls get to know each other.<\/p>\n

Paperwork and Organization<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I turned in a money earning proposal in August, and an activity approval at the same time. The activity approval just mentioned what we were planning and didn\u2019t have any of the particulars for horseback riding or climbing. I sent in a more detailed Activity Approval in February once I had waivers and training info from the horseback riding and rock climbing places. (Originally I had planned to ride with Cottonwood Canyon Ranch but they canceled on me at the last minute due to illness and hadn\u2019t gotten proof of liability insurance to council..It was good luck for us because I found a wonderful replacement in Sue Lund with Coyote Ridge Stables. More on her below.)<\/p>\n

I \u00a0bought the extra \u201cextended trip\u201d insurance from council for each of the 47 people for 5 days. I made out a\u00a0Safety Management Plan<\/a>\u00a0so that I\u2019d know where the nearest hospital and dentist could be found up there, I had phone numbers for our vendors and the rangers and for each of the leaders who were coming. \u00a0Each troop had a first aider and one of the dads had Wilderness First Aid training and one of my girls is a city lifeguard with extra first aid training. I collected scans of all the training cards to have with my troop docs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I sent leaders a\u00a0registration form<\/a>early in the process and that gave me information about participant names, ages, and if they wanted to ride or climb, that helped me organize those activities. I wished that I had put \u201cshoe size\u201d on the form because I found out later that I needed that for the rock climbers. I also needed \u201cskill level\u201d for both activities but that turned out to be beginner for everyone.<\/p>\n

Later I sent \u00a0permission slips<\/a>,permission to give medicine<\/a>, girl and adult health histories, waivers for riding and climbing,packing list<\/a>, itinerary,\u00a0driving directions<\/a>, transporting Girl Scouts\u00a0and menu a few weeks before camp (more details about itinerary and menu coming up).<\/p>\n

Activities<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As I thought through the activities for each day I made out a\u00a0driving plan<\/a>\u00a0so that I knew that we had enough room in the cars for all the girls and enough supervision at each activity. \u00a0I also made a\u00a0riding plan<\/a>\u00a0to give to the leaders and the riding instructor, Sue Lund at\u00a0Coyote Ridge Stables<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0climbing plan<\/a>\u00a0to give to the leaders and climbing instructor, Mark Bowling of\u00a0Joshua Tree Climbing School<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

They were planning to climb at\u00a0\u201cBillboard Buttress\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in Indian Cove. The riders got a lovely 1 hour 15 minute trail ride through beautiful desert country and enjoyed visiting with Sue\u2019s menagerie at the ranch while they waited their turn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Besides the horseback riding and climbing we wanted to do some art. We contacted\u00a0Joshua Tree Art Gallery<\/a>\u00a01607 29 Palms hwy. Joshua Tree, Ca, and Frederick Fulmer 760 366-3636 \u00a0\u00a0arranged to have some artists meet with the girls and show them their work. \u00a0My troop figured out some\u00a0fun art activities<\/a>\u00a0to do with the girls. We budgeted sketch pads and pencils, clay and pastels to use on the trip. There\u2019s a neat Artists-in-Residence program in the park and we contacted Caryn Davidson about meeting an artist while we were there but our trip was in between artist stays, so that didn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of the artists at Joshua Tree Art Gallery, named Naomi Parker, talked with me about some of our other plans and she shared a treasure map with us that led us to a secret shaman\u2019s fertility cave off the trail at Barker Dam. Inside the cave was an ancient painting of a woman in red holding what looks like a baby. She had visited the cave with some\u00a0archaeology\u00a0students during the solstice and a noon the light poured across the floor and into a deep grinding hole. It was really cool!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We also wanted to\u00a0hike in the park<\/a>. On family trips to Joshua Tree we had hiked the trail to Skull Rock from Jumbo Rocks. It\u2019s not too long and the kids always like climbing in the eye holes of the giant skull. We also liked the hike to\u00a0Barker Dam<\/a>that has a nice body of water where you sometimes get to see wildlife and some cool<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Native American petroglyphs. The\u00a0
\nranger led tour<\/a>\u00a0of the Desert Queen Key\u2019s Ranch sounded\u00a0interesting, especially since the Juniors and Cadettes on the trip would be studying California history, the 12 and up adult fee was $5 and kids under 12 were $2.50 and we scheduled that several weeks before the trip.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meal Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I hadn\u2019t cooked for 50 people before, but I like a challenge. My troop suggested some favorite camp meals and we asked for input from the other troops. We evaluated each according to:<\/p>\n