Camp John Mensinger (CJM) is located
in the Stanislaus National Forest at an elevation of
approximately 4,800 feet. Take Highway 108 through
Sonora and Strawberry; turn left at the Beardsley Lake
exit. After crossing Beardsley Dam, travel another
7 miles to camp. Follow our “BSA” signs.
The 168 acre camp was deeded to the Yosemite
Area Council (now Greater Yosemite Council) in 1969
by the Pickering Lumber Corporation and included the
facilities of its Soap Creek Logging Camp. In 1976,
Camp Mensinger opened for Scout camping with new and
modern facilities. The camp is rich in logging history.
The Camp is in an ideal location for high adventure.
Camp John Mensinger is the perfect setting for your Boy
Scouts to have a great Scouting experience. Camp Mensinger
offers a diverse range of camp programs.
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Merit Badge Program
Our unique half-day, one-day and two-day
merit badge program has been very successful. Years
of experience have shown that traditional merit badge
programs lose their effectiveness because of the short
sessions, lack of in-depth experiences, and constant
movement throughout the camp all day. At Camp Mensinger,
Boy Scouts spend half a day, a full day, or up to two
days on each merit badge. The advantages of this schedule
are:
We replace the hour-by-hour scheduling
to expand learning opportunities. Scouts spend
an average of six hours in the same class thus
allowing more hands-on experience and time on projects.
Leaders have no set schedule from
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Leaders may want to attend
a variety of classes with their Boy Scouts, help
teach classes along with the camp staff, take part
in adult activities, or just relax.
The Boy Scouts join their instructor
at 9:00 a.m. in the program areas, eat lunch with
their instructor and class, and then finish class
at 3:00 p.m.
The aim of our merit badge program is to offer a
good variety of badges that are traditionally taught
at camp, or in an outdoor environment.
Merit
Badges Offered
Art - by arrangement
First Aid
Pioneering
Archery
Fish & Wildlife
Rifle Shooting
Archeology
Fishing
Rowing
Astronomy
Forestry
Shotgun Shooting
Basketry
Geology
Small Boat Sailing
Camping
Indian Lore
Soil & Water Conservation
Canoeing
Leatherwork
Stamp Collecting
Citizenship in the Nation
Lifesaving
Swimming
Climbing
Mammal Study
Weather
Emergency Preparedness
Motor Boating
Wilderness Survival
Environmental Science
Orienteering
Woodcarving
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Camp Mensinger
Patch Segments
2005 Camp Mensinger patch artwork.
For each year of attendance at Camp
Mensinger, Boy Scouts and leaders will receive a Camp
Mensinger patch segment named after historical lumbering
terms. To earn the Camp Mensinger patch segments you
must spend the entire week in camp and complete the
following requirements.
Camp Mensinger
Patch is earned when you spend
the entire week in camp in your first year.
Whistle Punk (first-year
award):
Learn the Camp Mensinger song.
Participate in the Woodsman Program
and earn 1 merit badge, or earn 2 merit badges.
Participate in 1 organized troop
or camp hike.
Identify three constellations.
Participate in a troop or camp
wide flag ceremony.
Contribute 1 hour to a camp-approved
service project. Cannot be used for a merit badge.
Logger (second
year-award):
Learn the Camp Mensinger song.
Earn 2 merit badges.
Participate in 2 organized Troop
or camp hikes, or participate in 1 organized Troop
hike and one camp hike.
Identify five constellations.
Participate in a troop or camp
wide flag ceremony.
Contribute 1 hour to a camp-approved
service project. Cannot be used for a merit badge.
High Climber (third-year
award):
Learn the Camp Mensinger song.
Earn at least 3 merit badges or
2 merit badges and Paul Bunyan Woodsman.
Participate in 2 organized Troop
or camp hikes, or participate in 1 organized Troop
or camp hike and one Soap Creek Pass High Adventure
event: i.e. COPE or overnighter (must be at least
13 and First Class).
Contribute 2 hours to a camp-approved
service project. Cannot be used for a merit badge.
Bull of the
Woods (fourth-year award):
Learn the Camp Mensinger song.
Earn at least 3 merit badges or
BSA Lifeguard.
Organize and lead a Troop hike,
Troop campfire, Logger’s Breakfast, or other
activity approved by your Scoutmaster.
Participate in at least one Soap
Creek Pass High Adventure activity, (i.e. Canoe
Trip, Overnight, etc.)
Teach at least one Tenderfoot
to First Class skill to Scouts in your troop or
help at least one hour in the Woodsman Program.
Lead and supervise at least 2
other Scouts in your troop for 2 hours in a camp-approved
service project.
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Counselor In Training (CIT) Program
The
Counselor in Training (CIT) program is provided to
give 15 year old Boy Scouts an opportunity to live
and work at a resident summer camp. CIT's will be assigned
to assist staff in a variety of camp program areas
and learn about that portion of our program. This one
or two week program is completely free to CIT's. The
purpose of this program is threefold:
First, to give Boy Scouts an opportunity
to demonstrate and develop skills as a counselor
in a specific camp program area.
Second, to provide our senior camp
staff an opportunity to evaluate a Counselor In
Training's abilities.
Third, and most important, to develop
our Counselors In Training into future camp staff
members.
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Camp Activities
Camp John Mensinger
provides a variety of both troop and individual program
activities.
Individual
Free Time Activities
— Hiking
— Climbing
or Rappelling Tower
— Mile
Swim
— Camp-Wide
Games
— Swimming
— Rifle
Shooting
— Canoeing
— Archery
— Handicraft
— Frisbee
Golf
— Trading
Post open
Early
Evening Troop Activities
— Archery
— Field
Archery
— Swimming
— Popcorn
popping
— Canoeing
— Black
Powder Muzzle Loaders
— Volleyball
— Shotgun
Trap shooting
— Horse
Shoes
— Climbing
or Rappelling
Late
Evening Troop Activities
— Archery
— Black
Powder Muzzle Loaders
— Pendola
Night Hike
— Shotgun
Trap shooting
— First
Year Hike & Campfire
— Climbing
or Rappelling
— Cat
Eye Hike
— Indian
Rock Hike
Leader
Activities
— Leader's
Meeting 9:30 a.m.
— Leave
No Trace Training
— Climbing
Safety Training
— Safe
Swim Defense Training
— Safety
Afloat Training
— Trek
Safely Training
— Shooting
Competition
— Frisbee
Golf Tournament
Camp Mail
A mailbox is located in front of the
Dining Hall. Normally mail is delivered and retrieved
on Tuesday and Thursday from the Strawberry Post Office.
Incoming mail will be placed in the Troop’s box
in the Administration Building. The mailing address
for Camp Mensinger is:
Youth’s Name Unit number, campsite
Camp John Mensinger
General Delivery
Strawberry, CA 95375
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Soap
Creek Pass, High Adventure Program
Our new Soap Creek Pass High Adventure
Program is designed for young people age 14 thru 20.
This program is designed to challenge young people
with a variety of exciting and adventurous program
elements. The High Adventure Program is activity driven
and not designed for rank advancement. Different aspects
of the High Adventure Program challenge young people
to extend their limits of strength and endurance in
addition to improving their ability to work effectively
in a team environment.
The Soap Creak Pass, High Adventure Program includes
elements of:
C.O.P.E.
team building Bicycle
Hikes Sailing
on Beardsley Reservoir Climbing
and Rappelling Black
Powder Shooting Range Pistol
Shooting Wilderness
Survival
To participate in the High Adventure
program a youth must be at least 14 years old. For
male youth unable to attend the Adventure Program with
their unit, a provisional camp is available each camping
period and our staff provides the adult leadership.
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Camp
John Mensinger Song
We put the out in Scouting
(clap)
And we’ll continue shouting
We are the spirit of Mensinger-er-er-er
Roll out the Scouting
thunder (clap)
We’ll win, we won’t go under
We are the Spirit of Mensinger
We welcome all the
boys
And all their hopes and joys
We put the light of the Scouting torch on hi-hi-hi-hi
Roll out the Scouting
thunder (clap)
We’ll win, we won’t go under
We are the Spirit of Mensinger HEY!
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Camp
John Mensinger History
Did
you realize that the Greater Yosemite Council was
given the last lumber camp in Tuolumne County that
was only served by railroad?
In the late 1920’s the Standard
Lumber Company had harvested most of the lumber south
of the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River. In 1930
the Sugar Pine Railroad was extended up the north
side of the river from Beardsley Flat to Sourgrass
(at the current end of the paved road on the way
to Camp John Mensinger). The Sugar Pine Railroad
and the logging operations were shut down during
the depression from 1931 to 1937. In 1937 the Pickering
Lumber Company reorganized the Standard Lumber Company and
the Sugar Pine Railroad and again began logging north
of the Stanislaus River.
Sourgrass was operated as a logging
camp from 1937 to 1939. Then the railroad was extended
from Sourgrass to Soap Creek Pass in 1940. When the
Beardsley Dam was built in the 1950’s the Sugar
Pine Railroad at Beardsley Flat was submerged. The
railroad was re-located over the top of the dam and
connected to the old right of way. There was no road
over the dam and up the north face of the river bluff.
The Soap Creek Pass logging camp was
only served by the Sugar Pine Railroad until it stopped
operation in 1963. The Soap Creek Pass Lumber Camp
was finally abandoned in 1965.
In
1969 Wm. J. Pendola, a member of the board of the
Pickering Lumber Co. and also the Yosemite Area Council,
arranged for the Pickering Lumber Co. to give to
the Boy Scouts the entire Soap Creek Pass Lumber
Camp and additional acreage. The camp originally
had a total of 108 buildings and was used, beginning
in 1970 as a summer camp.
Since that time the new Camp John Mensinger
has been built and the old lumber camp has gone into
disrepair. There are currently 12 – 15 buildings
that could be salvaged from the original camp.
The
Council’s Long Range Plan calls for the development
of a High Adventure Camp for older Boy Scouts, Venture
Scouts, Venturing Crew Members and Explorers. The camp’s
name has been established as Soap Creek Pass in keeping
with the historical location of the new camp.
Initial plans for the new camp include High and
Low COPE Stations, advance Aquatic Activities on
the Beardsley Reservoir, a Black Powder Shooting
Range, Rappelling Facilities, Outpost Camping and
Wilderness Survival. A key component of the development
of the camp will be the renovation of structures
used by lumberjacks in days gone by. The camp will
include male and female restroom and shower facilities
as well as co-ed cabin camping. If you have an interest
in serving on the High Adventure Camp Committee,
please contact Sandy Wakeling at 209-826-3600.
For more information contact:
Greater Yosemite Council, B.S.A.
4031 Technology Drive, Modesto, CA 95356 209-545-6320
The
Counselor in Training (CIT) program is provided to
give 15 year old Boy Scouts an opportunity to live
and work at a resident summer camp. CIT's will be assigned
to assist staff in a variety of camp program areas
and learn about that portion of our program. This one
or two week program is completely free to CIT's. The
purpose of this program is threefold:
— Hiking
— Archery
— Archery
— Leader's
Meeting 9:30 a.m.
environment.
The Soap Creak Pass, High Adventure Program includes
elements of: 
C.O.P.E.
team building
Did
you realize that the Greater Yosemite Council was
given the last lumber camp in Tuolumne County that
was only served by railroad? 
and
the Sugar Pine Railroad and again began logging north
of the Stanislaus River.
In
1969 Wm. J. Pendola, a member of the board of the
Pickering Lumber Co. and also the Yosemite Area Council,
arranged for the Pickering Lumber Co. to give to
the Boy Scouts the entire Soap Creek Pass Lumber
Camp and additional acreage. The camp originally
had a total of 108 buildings and was used, beginning
in 1970 as a summer camp.
The
Council’s Long Range Plan calls for the development
of a High Adventure Camp for older Boy Scouts, Venture
Scouts, Venturing Crew Members and Explorers. The camp’s
name has been established as Soap Creek Pass in keeping
with the historical location of the new camp.