Girl Scout High Adventure Day

-Anne C. Morgan, Head Curator

On Saturday the Girl Scouts of San Diego held their "High Adventure Day" at the IVDM, with 117 scouts, scout leaders, and parents attending.

Learning to play Shaahook

Exploring the Museum grounds

 Thanks to a Community Benefits Grant sponsored by Imperial County District 3 Supervisor Michael Kelley, all girl scouts attended the event for free.  "The grant from the County Board of Supervisors if for recruitment and programming and really made this event possible, "said Nina Crabtree, the new Girl Scout Membership Recruitment and Support Specialist.  "It has a tremendous impact when so many troops get together. It really allows you to see how exciting and fun scouting is in the Valley."

Coiled Clay pot making

 "The High Adventure Day was open to all Girl Scout Troops in the Imperial Valley" said Rea de la Cruz, the Troop Support Manager for Girl Scouts San Diego "including our Juniors, Brownies, Daises, and Cadets.  We had great participation with one-fifth of all Girl Scouts in Imperial County coming to the event."

Exploring desert plants on a hike

Throughout the event, the scouts had the opportunity to make a coiled clay pot, hike through the museum property learning to identify animal tracks, and play Shaahook, a traditional Kumeyaay game.

Walking Stick insect jumped at the chance to make new friends

A Western Shovel-Nose snake discovered on a hike

"We did not expect to see any desert animals, but my group came across a Western Shovel-nose snake and a Walking Stick, an insect that looked just like a small stick." said de la Cruz.  "It is amazing that this type of desert wildlife was just right there, this was just a great experience for our girls."

 "The Shaahook game is something we have not done before with a large group like this," said Marcie Rodriguez, Education Coordinator at the museum, "but it was really fun and competitive.  It proved to be the most popular part of the event, with some groups staying 45 minutes past the end of the day to finish playing."

Angelina Coble teaches Shaahook to a competitive group of scouts

Special thanks to Rodrigo Bernal, Angelina Coble, Robin Dodge, Mary Fitzurka, and Albert Lutz for their help in making this event a fun day for everyone!

Girl Scouts Hike Fossil Canyon

-from our Education Coordinator

Today, our Education Coordinator, Marcie Rodriguez, took Girl Scout Troop 7030 out on a hike to Fossil Canyon, in the Coyote Mountains. This canyon gives a wonderful geologic perspective on Imperial County. Because of the volcanic activity that existed here 17 million years ago, you can see the layer of black volcanic rock, known as basalt, laying on top of the mountain, rather than below where it usually sits.

The beginning part of the trail is an easy walking trail, one most anyone can do. The girls, and their families, began from a Bureau of Land Management road, and walked into the canyon. From there, they hiked along the inside of

the base of the canyon, till we got to a basalt formation that is a dried waterfall. The girls were adventurous, and decided from there they wanted to try to climb the mountain! They made it almost to the top, before the trail became too rough. After that, they hiked back down to bottom, to have a picnic lunch. Even the lunch was an adventure, as the everyone sat and ate
under a slip strike fault.