They’d already sailed 26 miles to Catalina Island when they began their hike, a nine-mile ramble climbing more than 1,400 feet above sea level. To make things more difficult, they didn’t quite know what they were looking for. Nor were they using GPS to get there. Instead, Sean Heaton, a threat-intelligence engineer formerly with the Department of Defense, was guiding the group, using grid references on a paper map, to a series of coordinates they hardly understood. 

At long last, more than four hours into the grueling trek, they found what they were after: a small fake rock, the type you’d hide a spare key inside, set inconspicuously along a footpath. Inside was a slip of paper, signed by a series of adventurers before them who’d similarly volunteered for this online treasure hunt. Triumphant, the half-dozen members of the group added their collective appellation, which felt entirely appropriate, to the list: The Wayfarer’s Lodge. 

As an affinity lodge, Wayfarer’s № 889 is committed to bringing Masons together not just outside the lodge, but outside period. Members organize frequent excursions during which they hike, camp, fish, surf, or pursue some other enjoyable strategy for leaving the crowd behind. The brainchild of Craig Reade, Glen West, and Heaton, the group now has 16 members, mostly from Huntington Beach № 380 and Newport Mesa № 241, and received its charter this fall during a reception at O’Neill Regional Park in Orange County. In addition to the outdoor trips, the group envisions putting on outdoor degrees for new members, although they’re still looking for the right location to host them.

Already, Wayfarer’s Lodge has hosted weekend camping and hiking trips on Catalina, in Joshua Tree, and at Malibu Creek State Park. Members have organized motorcycle rides up the coast to Santa Barbara, fishing trips around Orange County, and day hikes in Santiago Canyon, Laguna Canyon, Crystal Cove, and elsewhere. “As opposed to everyone showing up to a meeting and then leaving, where the fellowship is gone, we’re trying to incorporate these activities into the lodge,” says Reade, the charter master. “The gist is that, being that Freemasonry is a fraternity and you’re meant to be friends, having a common interest like this allows us to spend time together outside the lodge.”