August 26th Iruma River

We started our day out with rain and thunder forecasted, but we were pleasantly surprised as we arrived at Iruma River to be greeted by light clouds and scattered sunshine. After setting up camp we gathered materials for our tinder bundle and all the sticks and twigs we could find before heading to the swimming hole.

Seeing as the scouts were veterans of Iruma river, everyone wanted to swim and jump off of the rocks. The water was a little cold due to the cloudy weather so we had a few breaks where we warmed ourselves up by doing various exercises. We spent a good hour of swimming and jumping, trying to find fish and exploring around the waterfalls.

After swimming it was nearing lunch so we headed back to our starting area. Using the tinder bundle we had previously gathered and the scouts help, we lit the fire and sat down. While we were preparing the fire, some scouts had the chance to practice with the flint and steel and almost lit the tinder bundle on their own. When we had finished eating lunch and the embers had burned down we started roasting our yakitori and sausage, and sat and enjoyed them together.

Before heading back in the water we were concerned that it might start raining so we packed up our things, making sure that we would be able to leave quickly if the weather changed. We started our afternoon exploration with some wading and attempts at catching fish before making our way back over to the swimming hole for some rock jumping and bridge jumping.

After swimming for a while we thought we would explore and started making our way upstream while floating, playing and picking up garbage as we walked. After a while we reached a dam upstream that we had not yet been to yet and found some large carp swimming in the shallows away from all the people.

The scouts were amazed at the size of the fish and we tried to get close, but they swam away. We made our way past the dam and ended up stumbling upon another swimming area with various swimming holes and various jumping points. Unfortunately, by that time it was time for us to head back and so we talked about exploring this new area more the next time we visit.

Upon our return to camp we packed up our things as quickly as we could and made our way back to the car. We had a wonderful day with laughter, excitement and a lot of swimming practice. Thank you all so much for coming and we hope to see you all again soon.