Cadets Clear the Trails of the Pemberton Wilds
Our Bush Ranger Cadets spent the first half of this week camping in the forest outside Pemberton.
The campsite was majestic, nestled next to a creek amidst the towering trees of the Arboretum - an area where almost 100 years ago, trees from around the world (including the California Redwoods) were planted to see how they grew in Western Australian soil.
As majestic as it was, however, it was also cold, and the Cadets had to rug up for temperatures below 4 degrees.
We walked through the forrest, climbed the sand dunes at Yeagarup, took the 4WD tracks to the pristine beaches, enjoyed wonderful sunsets and were able to see the south-west forests at their misty best.
There was also some work for the Cadets to do, as we cleared off a large section of the Munda Bindi Mountain Bike Trail near the Gloucester Tree, including a section where the trail had been blocked by fallen trees.
We also worked with the Pemberton Camp School to clear off three of the trails in the Mountain Bike Park, behind the town.
The storms over the preceding weeks had dropped a lot of debris on the tracks, and it was very satisfying to see a pile of leaves and sticks turn back into a functional trail.
Well done to all of the Cadet who participated, particularly to our Year 9's, who stepped up into a number of leadership roles on camp given that all of our senior Cadets were back at school doing exams.
We constantly try to improve our camping and cooking processes and tried out a few new things at this camp, to great success.
Now we are inspired to see how warm we can make ourselves while camping in such cold temperatures ... not for any particular reason, we just like the challenge.
