This past weekend I attended the Unitarian Universalists Men’s Fellowship Spring Renewal at Camp de Benneville Pines. This is my second year attending the renewal at this very pretty mountain location.
About De Benneville Pines
It is located in Angelus Oaks, California, off of State Highway 38 and at an elevation of 6800 feet. The camp was previously a Boy Scout camp called Camp Arataba, but a fire destroyed its few structures, and it was up for sale in 1960.
The California Universalist Convention bought it in 1961, built a large lodge called Homet Lodge on it:
And bought 9 surplus World War II duplex pre-fabricated buildings from Edwards AFB, deconstructed them and installed them on new foundations.
A lot more improvements happened over the years including hooking the existing horizontal water well into 2 large water storage tanks, septic systems, roads, a maintenance building, and so on. Continual effort from volunteers helps keep things painted and stained, maintains fire breaks and does other repairs.
What is Unitarian Universalist Men’s Fellowship?
The website says it pretty well: Living with compassion, integrity, responsibility, and balance,
the Unitarian Universalist Men’s Fellowship (UUMF) is an affiliated organization of First UU Church of San Diego. We are men deepening who we are as brothers, sons, fathers, grandfathers, husbands, and partners. We are a caring, intentionally diverse brotherhood, committed to social justice, and offering opportunities for connection and personal growth.
Friday – Carpooling to Camp, Arriving, Welcoming
This year I carpooled with Chris and Gordon. Both are retired and know a lot about geology, so we stopped part way up Highway 38 to look at sedimentary layers and how they were thrust up and changed by the San Andreas Fault.
Next stop was Angelus Oaks, where we took a walk and saw some snow plants (Sarcodes sanguinea) along a trailhead:
And then had lunch at The Oaks Restaurant. We continued up the mountain, arriving just after noon for check in. I was assigned cabin 1 again, and had room C all to myself. Plenty of space and several bunks to pick from.
The rest of the day was setting up, having our dinner of stone soup (everyone brought something to put into it), and a quick welcoming meeting and breaking out into our smaller kinship groups of 6 people to start getting to know eachother.
Saturday – Walk, Program, Workshops and Final Program
I started the day with a short talk to find a supposedly rare flower known to only grow in San Bernardino County, California, called the Barton Flats Horkelia (Horkelia wilderae). We were able to find a few examples. The flower was much smaller than it appeared in a photo online – smaller than a dime. This is zoomed in close, but standing up they are quite hard to see.
Afterwards we walked to the west fork of Barton Creek. The creek has moved likely from a previous avalanche that deposited large amounts of rocks. Behind it the new man-made creek was created to protect the nearby roadway. Also found an interesting large rock with a sliver of a different rock in it.
The program lasted until lunch, where the topic was ‘Strength for the Journey’. After lunch, there were workshops available for discussion, music, improv, sing alongs and hiking. I choose to go on the longer hike that Ron was leading. The plan was to take the trail part way to John’s Meadow.
Note the burned trees. In 2020, the El Dorado Fire came right up to behind the camp. The San Bernardino County Fire Department Strike Team 6231C heroically fought the fire and saved the camp. Luckily the volunteer-created fire breaks and large tanks of water were helpful in the process too. In the left image, the purple dot is the location of the camp.
The 2024 Line Fire did not reach the camp.
The trail to John’s Meadow was in pretty rough shape, with large fallen trees blocking the path, and a deep creek carving out one section. We hiked for around an hour, paused to look at the beautiful view, and walked back.
There was a lot more of that Barton Flats Horkelia along the way as well.
Dinner and then the final program was very nice and calming.
Sunday – Breakfast, Program, Quaker Service, Lunch, Cleanup
The final program wrapped up the topic of the spring renewal, and then a quaker service was held. I think this best describes that service: “a worship experience utilizing the Quaker tradition of silent meditation or “unprogrammed” worship. It involves sitting together in silence, where individuals speak only if they feel moved to share a message or reflection.”
After that, the men help pack up the gear, load it up, pack up their own belongings, clean up the cabins, and say our goodbyes before heading home. I finally found the UU Fullerton banner along the ceiling, and gave Daisy the camp dog a pet before heading home.
There is a similar Fall Renewal in Julian at Camp Stevens, but unfortunately our calendar and plans conflict. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and I look forward to next year.