Yes, once upon a time Boy Scout troops could get permission to hike for seven days through timber company, private lands and Jackson State Forest. The hike was first done in the 1950s and last done in 1995.
Camp Noyo’s site had been used by Pomo Indians, later used for a lumber camp, and in the 1920s Fort Bragg Boy Scout troops could camp there arriving and departing on the Skunk Train. Often 500 Scouts a year would camp there.
Camp Navarro was a lumber camp for the Albion Lumber Company and later a CCC Camp during the Depression in the 1930s. In 1984, and again in 1995 Scouts reopened their trail, with permissions, between the two camps. Scout troops got certificates of liability insurance for land owners whose grounds they hiked over on logging roads. The Scouts walked six to nine miles a day.
From Camp Navarro on the Masonite Industrial Road they hiked up the north fork of the Navarro to Jack Smith Creek the first day. Next day further up the creek to Sheep Trail, across Johnson Creek to Matilla Road and on to Comptche-Ukiah Road, past Boomershine Mill and north down a logging road to south fork Big River. Third day was hiking down another logging road to Clarke Opening, and fourth day was hiking along the south fork to Big River. No mention was made of how or where they crossed Big River.
Fifth day mention is given to hiking in and out of the east branch of the north fork of Big River to a bridge near the little red schoolhouse on Highway 20, then east on Road 810 to Horse Camp for the night.
Day six took the troop back to the schoolhouse, west on Highway 20 crossing Chamberlin Creek, then north on Road 212 and west on Road 210 and north on Three Chop Ridge to Riley Ridge Road and hiking west to an un-marked road leading north to Camp Noyo (called Camp Silverado on old maps).
This jaunt across the county qualified Scouts for a “50 Miler” patch on their badge sash and a “Historic Trail” award. The troops would mark their routes on topographic maps and share this information, their menus for meals, what equipment they packed, etc., so that future hikers could apply the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” to their planning.
I would guess today it would be impossible to replicate this trip. There is only one Boy Scout troop left in Mendocino County in Ukiah and more industrial logging continues to take place. I like to think that for Scouts who loved nature, adventure, and their leaders, it must have been a memorable adventure.
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