We have so many updates on the Welcome Center and surrounding areas that we decided to do it with pictures. See below each shot for information. The logging is complete and the stumps are currently being removed. Hard to take good pictures of what is no longer there, but it certainly looks much better once it is complete and all smoothed back out. The grass is starting to sprout and the upcoming rains next week will certainly help it to grow.
The roof is on! The front porch is set with the galvanized beams and the concrete slab for the porch will be poured in the next 8 days.Along with the porch of the Welcome Center, the porch for the Camp Office is also almost ready to be poured. It is going to be a great addition to our camp facilities to have an official place to check in, come for assistance etc.The next big pour for the basement floor is also ready. That will happen on the 2nd and 3rd of December. After that, the stairs to the upper two floors can be put into place.The Welcome Center of many angles. Just a shot to show you how complex the framing for the house was. It is a huge relief to get it all completed. The windows are on site and will be installed in the next week. ALL 36 of them!In the right side of this photo, you can see yellow caution tape around part of the septic tank pits. Two tanks are being delivered on Monday and that work will be complete before the rains set in.
The pad for the Utility Vehicle storage and electrical system were poured this weekend along with work for the septic system leech field.
We will share pictures soon of the next concrete pours and window install. Lots to do inside, but with a roof on, all things are possible now.
One of the main goals for the NorCal Adventure Area is to offer our units an option for local camping and training. Events from weekend unit campouts, Council level trainings and other group activities are already occuring at NorCal, even while it is under construction. Just in this month alone, we have hosted a pack campout, National Youth Leadership Training and have an upcoming Leave No Trace Trainer event this weekend. It is wonderful to listen as the laughter and songs from a local Pack float across the property and the energetic shouts and celebration of 50 youth receiving top notch leadership training fill the air. With 3 National Youth Leadership Training courses per year, that is certainly making an impact on the youth we serve here in the Golden Empire Council.
So what exactly is National Youth Leadership Training (or NYLT as we commonly call it)? Per the official guide, it is:
National Youth Leadership Training is an exciting, action-packed program designed for councils to provide Boy Scout and Venturing Junior members with leadership skills and experience they can use in their home troops and in other situations demanding leadership of self and others.
The NYLT course centers around the concepts of what a leader must BE, what he must KNOW, and what he must DO. The key elements are then taught with a clear focus on HOW TO. The skills come alive during the week as the patrol goes on a Quest for the Meaning of Leadership.
NYLT is a six-day course. Content is delivered in a troop and patrol outdoor setting with an emphasis on immediate application of learning in a fun environment. Interconnecting concepts and work processes are introduced early, built upon, and aided by the use of memory aids, which allows participants to understand and employ the leadership skills much faster.
But what is it really? National Youth Leadership training is taught by youth to youth and the growth in both the staff and participants is beyond measure. NYLT offers a chance for our young men and women to learn leadership skills that many of us are exposed to at a much later time in our lives. During NYLT our Scouts experience growth both personally and with a team of new friends. National Youth Leadership Training offers an opportunity for our youth to learn better communication skills and give them the confidence needed so they can be successful in their lives. And…it provides it all with fun!
The laughter and fun during the course explodes across NorCal Adventure Area when we host groups like National Youth Leadership Training and the courses will continue to be offered here in the coming years. We offer 3 courses per year and know that there are more Scouts that will benefit from our great training. How does your Scout qualify? Be 13, First Class, have a recomendation from your ScoutMaster and sign up. More updates will be available soon on our NYLT website so bookmark it now. http://www.gec-bsa.org/training/nylt/62948
Want to reserve a weekend for your unit? Call the GEC Camping desk at 916-929-1417 or email us at Camping@GEC-BSA.org.
Do you have 45 seconds to spend? If so, watch this video of one of the final trees coming down at NorCal Adventure Area.
Why more trees? This is a small select cut that is removing all of the trees that are damaged and diseased. It also will remove the few trees that are remaining that are in the path of the road/utility work that is ready to be started. Once these trees are gone, the final rocking of the culverts will happen and we will be able to close out our timber harvest plan. It really was a matter of not being able to see the trees for the forest and now that the road is rough graded, it is much easier to see the final trees that must be cut.
We still have a ton of shade available and most of the Adirondack buildings that we will be producing this winter will be placed in the shade as well. The vision of the big activity field, playground, lake and more is really coming to life. Soon we will be able to break up the concrete pads left from our removal of the big bunkhouses as well as the storage building that remains in the center of camp.
The changes are moving forward quickly and like an amazing sculpture, each layer of excess removed allows the vision to come to life. Can you see it in your mind’s eye? Reality is not far behind.
What’s next? National Youth Leadership Training has its final weekend for the year this Friday. Join us Friday for a post on this amazing program and how our facility is helping to train the leaders of tomorrow.
The ridge beam went in for the upper floor of the Welcome Center today. All of those rooms, so many walls, so much framing done, but with that one long beam, the whole thing suddenly comes together in a way that is hard to describe.
Almost magically, it looks like a home. A residence for caretakers for now and into the future. You can see the back porch area where friends will no doubt be invited over to share a hamburger while relaxing in the beauty of the NorCal Adventure Area. Both offices (residence and camp office) will have their ridge work in place soon. With a little luck, Mother Nature will let it stay dry just long enough to get the last walls done and the roofing on in the next 14 days.
For an idea of how much difference 24 hours can make, here is a photograph yesterday from the front of the house without the ridge beam.
Here we see the front porch with its entry door to the right for the residence. The master suite is on the left with the living room windows on the right. This side of the house faces Oregon Hill Road. The bedrooms upstairs are almost completely framed and there are more walls in place today that were not there yesterday when this picture was snapped. This beautiful building has been difficult with its unique framing. Each bedroom has different sized and angled walls making it a challenge to frame quickly. But now we are so close.
What else is going on? Yesterday and today saw loads of rock coming in for the culverts where we have water going under our camp loop drive/road. Our logging company is also gearing up to take out the last of the trees needed to complete the road areas and to protect our buildings. Next week we hope to have more pictures of these great events while they occur. Good weather willing…..
Building can sometimes feel like paint drying as you wait for permits, ordered materials, etc. But when it is going well, it is always like magic how fast things come together. Since our last update two weeks ago, we now see the camp office and the 2nd floor of the Welcome Center coming to life. This post is short and sweet and just to show you our progress as we get ready to welcome National Youth Leadership Training this weekend.
The camp office end of the Welcome Center. This office will serve as the check in and out point for all of our camp activities. Around to the left is the back porch of the residence.
Here are a few pictures of the upstairs rooms for the residence. The walls are going up quickly. Hopefully we will have pictures of the roof for you in our next update!
If you follow this blog regularly you know that we’ve talked a lot about an eventual driveway/road (number 4 on the image below) that will circle the heart of NorCal and provide access to various campsites and program areas.
Our progress at NorCal Adventure Area is moving pretty quickly these days and we wanted to share some updates with you. If you have not had a chance to visit in a while, you might be surprised by all of the work that has happened and how far we have come in 2019. So let us dive right in!
It’s been around 2.5 years since we started this blog and a lot of progress at NorCal has been made during that time. As a follower of this blog you know we’ve tried our best to document the construction of the camp with video, pictures and general blog posts. The video below is a video montage of 2.5 years of progress at NorCal––all in 11 minutes!
This past Sunday we had our first NorCal open house! It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon where a group of around 15 people gathered together over a BBQ lunch to hear an update on where we are in the buildout of NorCal and to learn more about the vision going forward. Continue reading “Spring Open House”
NorCal Adventure Area BLOG 