Albion Field Station

Ah, I've been getting lazy--not writing this trip report until it's time to prepare for another. Anyway, I spent this last weekend with my Pathfinder club at PUC's Albion Field Station, located on a river letting into the scenic Northern Califoria Coast. It was a great trip, with lots of fun activities and chances to earn more honors--and, of course, a chance for us to bond as a club.On the trip up, I entertained my unit, the Cheetahs, with games. When we arrived at Albion, we unloaded our gear, then set off down the Albion river in canoes. It was wonderful to be out on the river, the sun reflecting off of it as we peacefully slid between the shores. We saw a group of seals really up close that way, which was awesome.Then we got in the cars and went tidepooling at a Mendocino beach. Oh, the wonders we saw there! There were lots of green sea anenomes, purple sea urchins, sea stars, and also some less common creatures, like the small, bright sea lemons and little orange clown inverterates we saw. When we finished scanning the beach, we climbed back up the cliff and the sky was alight with the most gorgeous sunset, tinting the foamy waves with shades of pink and blue--a perfect open to the Sabbath.When we returned to Albion, we had a very satisfying supper, but I think one of the desserts really made my unit go crazy. I had a hard time getting them to go to bed that night, as they were a tad rowdy. I could only laugh and say "I told you so" when we had to wake up at 6:30 the next morning to prepare a grand breakfast of quiche and cinnamon rolls for the club. After that and a brief worship, we went canoeing again. I was somewhat surprised, however, to find a good deal down the river that our canoe was taking on water--fast. We paddled as hard as we could to make it back to the dock, and luckily, the thing didn't sink. I'm sure the fine volunteers at the station are fixing the leak as we speak.Returning from a less exciting canoe ride with a fresh boat, we settled down a bit and did some candlemaking. We made sand candles, ice candles, gel candles, and candles of beaded wax. After a quick lunch, we went to Pt. Cabrillo, a historic lighthouse, which was fascinating. We also enjoyed seeing Glass Sand Beach briefly, its green, white, brown and blue pebbles illuminated by the afternoon sun. Finally, we proceeded to McKerricher Beach to tide pool. It had many anenomes, and the girls in my unit enjoyed feeding black turbans (a type of sea snail) to them. All in all, a good weekend, launching into another. Tomorrow I leave for Honor Choir at PUC; it promises to be a great experience, like all others.