August 22nd Iruma River

We were greeted this morning by clouds and a light rain but with the weather forecasted to improve we made our way out to Iruma river.

When we arrived we made our way down and set up camp in the shade beside a small creek. After changing and getting ready for our day we had a quick snack before heading to the wading area to build on our previously built outdoor bath.

After attempting to catch fish with just our nets we devised a plan to build a trap and using the rocks we had at our disposal we built a V shaped trap in order to funnel the fish into the net. We were able to catch a fish on our first attempt and continued to try to catch more but we were unsuccessful.

After multiple attempts we decided to move on to a different area and played for a while before lunch time rolled around.

Seeing as we wanted to eat some s’more’s and roast some sausage we gathered some firewood and the scouts helped to make the tinder bundle so we could start our fire with flint and steel.

Once we got the fire ready and started we had our lunch while letting the embers burn down before roasting our sausages and marshmallows. The scouts followed instructions easily and roasted the marshmallows completely on their own. I got some special marshmallows with chocolate inside and it was an amazing surprise which the scouts were delighted by.

After we had finished we tied it up and headed back to the river to play in a deeper area. After getting our Floaties on we jumped right in. Everyone had such a fun time floating around and splashing each other. While we played in the deeper water we noticed many larger fish and observed a fisherman catching some as well.

After frolicking in the water for some time we realized it was time to start packing up to head home. The scouts did a great job of changing and getting their things together and before heading back we released the fish that we caught into the water and said goodbye.

After loading everything into the car we bought some shaved ice and sat on the bridge next to the waterfalls to eat our snack. This snack cooled us down and was a wonderful end to our day at the river.

We were hoping to stop at a Rest Area to buy souvenirs but all the scouts promptly fell asleep and slept until we had reached Nerima.

After they woke up we stopped for a bathroom break and they asked if they could buy some juice. So using their allowance. they picked the juice and brought it to the counter, paid for it and we finished the last leg of our journey.

We had a wonderful day full of fun and interesting conversation with some silly jokes on the side. Thank you so much for joining us and we are looking forward to see you again.