Troop 159 Wrightwood

Devils Punchbowl January 13-14, 2012

2012-01-19T23:58:00.000-08:00

We had 12 Scouts and 8 leaders show for the outing. Sometimes I don't know who has more fun!

First hike of the year! We're starting off 2012 with a hike to Devil's Punchbowl. It's really just a big hole in the ground, but I guess in the summer it's hot or something. Anyway, someone gave it that name for some reason, I'm sure. It's actually pretty impressive and inspired an original joke from Adam. It goes something like this: The Devil thought he'd make a big hole so he made Devil's Punchbowl, but Chuck Norris thought he'd show him how it's done so he made the Gulf of Mexico. hahahaha Well, it was something like that. I can't believe I forgot the exact words, Adam told it to me about 6 times!

So here we are gathered around the fire which we only jumped over a few times. After Andrew fell in we had them stop. We didn't want anyone ~~else~~ to get hurt. We had tin foil dinners and had a good time talking into the night.

Andrew, Logan, Tofer, Adam, Jacob, Keanu, Sam

6 miles, from Southfork campground to Devil's Chair and then to the Nature center at Devil's Punchbowl Natural Area. Not a bad hike. Nobody passed out or anything. Well, Keanu kind of fell over exhausted but that's not like he was injured or anything. He was fine after he laid on the ground and rested a few minutes.

Here we are at Devil's Chair. It's actually just a rock. Pretty much everything around here is just rock. That's the San Andreas fault you can see behind us. That's a crack in the rock.

So, next month is Snow Camp... assuming we get any snow. If we don't we'll just have a regular dirt camp. We hope to ride the chairlift at Mountain High and then hike over to Blueridge Campground and ride the lift back down the next day. So we'll see how that goes!

Summer Camps

2011-12-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to BSA Troop 159!

Here are some dates for summer 2012. Along with our regular camp outs on the second weekend of each month, here are some super activities to ad to your wish list:

June 7-8-9 Monache Meadows

This is a High Sierra high adventure camp with 4 wheel drives. Also invited are mountain bikes, horses, fishing poles and day packs. We will be camping, riding, hiking, fishing, exploring, eating and taking naps (me!) in this beautiful paradise. Click HERE for more pics.

New Date: Horseshoe Meadows June 28,29,30 and maybe 27 if we get a Whitney permit.

The Varsity and Venture Scouts will head into the High Sierras again for a 3 (or 4) day backpack trip into the Golden Trout Wilderness area (guess what's for supper!?). If we feel adventurous we just may bag Mt. Whitney on the way out! Anyone feel like hiking to 14,500'? Click HERE for more pics.

Scout Camp at Camp Emerson July 9-14

The 12 & 13 year olds will head to Scout Camp at Camp Emerson in Idylwild to work on rank advancement and merit badges (we want the badges!). Anyone else that wants to work on merit badges may come if they want to. For info on Camp Emerson click HERE.

Channel Islands National Park August 8-9-10-11.

I've wanted to do this for years, so here it is! We will go to the least visited National Park in the country. We will rent kayaks, head over on the ferry and spend a few days kayaking, exploring, and snorkeling in this awesome park right here in Southern California. You've got to see this to believe it! Click HERE.

Paddle On!

Sycamore Flats 12-10-2011

2011-12-13T23:52:00.000-08:00

Cold but no wind! We made tin foil dinners & we got to have another "Retire a Flag" ceremony and paid tribute to America's Veterans

Da Quinns

Tanner, Brad, Ken

3 of the 5 Barnes cousins... the other 2 were too fast and got away...

Aaron, Robbie, Tyler

The Winns and friend

Jared, Dallas, Sam

Keanu & Jacob

James, Jer

We gathered mistletoe to sell for our fund raiser. I think that is Aaron way up there.

Calico 11-11-11 (Not a Scout trip)

2011-12-13T22:15:00.001-08:00

The wind was very cold. We had a big fire. Most of the boys jumped over it and most of them didn't singe their hair.

Had a quick breakfast in the morning and then went shootin'.

Tannerite

Buckhorn Campground October, 2011

2011-12-11T22:59:00.001-08:00

When school is in session we try to camp close to home. Here we are heading down the canyon from Buckhorn campground looking for the waterfall.

We found it! Not very impressive after Havasupai, but it is probably a a bit bigger in Spring.

So here we are posing for a picture to impress the girls.

It's our calling. We have to go on outings.

Troop159Wrightwood

Ride to the Beach, Sept. 2011

2011-12-11T22:21:00.001-08:00

So, here's the deal... This group set out for a 2 day ride to the beach. Hwy 39 at Hwy 2 to Asuza, stay overnight at a members backyard, then on to the beach the next day. Almost everyone made it the total 65 miles! However, we had a record number of flat tires and broken bikes. And one camera (mine!) with an uncharged battery! Bummer. Not many pictures this year, but a great trip and some bike rides to cover some requirements for Cycling Merit Badge.

Yosemite August 2011

2011-12-11T12:50:00.001-08:00

After June at Lake Powell and July in Havasupai we wondered what we could to to close the Summer with style. Well, what could be better than a backpack trip in Yosemite? Not much!

We started out on Yosemite Creek in the Tioga Pass

Found a great campsite

Had a local visitor for breakfast

One requirement on this year's trips... someplace to jump off the rocks into the water!

Early morning in camp

Jared, Brad, Brandon, Jakob, Tofer, Tanner Q, Robbie, Sam, Scott

Hiking out to the top of Yosemite Falls

From the top. Yes, that is a hang glider below us.

Robbie, Brian, Jared, Tofer, Scott, Brandon, Jacob, Brad, James, Tanner, Sam, Richard, Jer

Lookout at top of Yosemite Falls

Hike down to the valley

Scoutmaster Jer

3 days, 11 miles... Yosemite Falls

It is up to us to find God among the amazing gifts He has given us.

Our goal is to take the boys where they may have experiences that will bring them close to Him.

Havasupai... it doesn't get better than this... unless you take the helicopter out!

2011-07-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Scouts headed out to Havasupai this week. If you don’t know where that is, it’s down in the Grand Canyon. Not the famous part that all the tourist go see and just look over the edge, this is in the southern part of the Grand Canyon and to see it you have to hike in 10 miles. I’m sure miles in Arizona are the same length as the one’s in California, but when you are down in a slot canyon with the sun on your head and there is no water and not much shade, the Arizona miles seem a lot longer.
So we hiked down and started seeing waterfalls about 2 miles before camp. We were glad to see them. We were told they were there, but while we were hiking we were sure wondering where they were. So as soon as we got camp set up we went off exploring and swimming and looking for rocks to jump off of. Well, most of us anyway. The leaders all took a nap, but the scouts all went exploring! We got back to camp ready for dinner and found we had squirrels in camp. Now, Webster says a squirrel is: a small rodent that has a long bushy tail, lives in trees, and eats nuts and seeds. What it doesn’t tell you is that it gets those nuts and seeds from Devin Peeks pack! We swore revenge, but then just went about fixing dinner.
So the next day we all went up to the falls together and found some good pools to swim in and rocks to jump off of. Some of the guys said they were jumping off of 68 foot cliffs, but I’m not sure what they used to measure with, and cliffs look a lot higher when you are jumping off of them so I’m not sure about how high they were. But it was pretty fun. And almost everybody went off. And everybody that did jump off came back up, so that was good.
When we got back to camp we found that ol’ squirrel in Jon & Adam Shill’s tent. He had been eating their food and thinking he was pretty smart. Well, the last I saw of him Jake and Adam had him in the frying pan and several people were taking a taste of him. He was a fat bugger and cooked up pretty good.
Then the next day we hiked to lots of falls and jumps and had a great time. There were only 3 that had food poisoning the night before so mostly we were in pretty good shape. Well, that and Devin Peek whacked his ear, but the doctor said it’s just bruised and not broken so it should heal up OK.
Some had to take the chopper out early for appointments and some took it because of the food poisoning thing, but the rest hiked out that night. They were going to hike half way and camp and do the second half in the morning, but the older boys got in front and never stopped so when the leaders finally caught up to them they were already at the top waiting at the cars.
So that was Havasupai, next month is Yosemite. They have bears there. I wonder what they taste like?

OK, these are in random order because my camera was out of whack.

But here is the first falls we came to. The guys did a lot of jumping here...

This is another water fall we hiked to. There used to be a pool to swim in here, but it has filled in from a flood.

Hiking from camp to go swim/jump.

Cooling off in camp.

This rock looked like a throne so Devin used it to rule over his cousin.

Jumping (this was the small one)

Watching the water fall.

The Peeks

Mooney Falls.

The switch-backs on the way in. 10 miles of backpacking to get to camp!

On the trail.

My camera didn't have a lot of memory (it still had Lake Powell pics on it) so I didn't get many pics. We'll get more on here. There was some awesome cliff jumping and some said this was the best trip they had ever gone on.

Lake Powell, June 13-18, 2011

2011-07-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry, my computer crashed (I know Brigham... I need an Apple!) so I have missed posting some outings. If I can find my pics from April and May I'll get some of Whitsett and Rock Climbing on here. However, here are some from LAKE POWELL!

Heading up the lake to find a camp spot.

Found a great cove in Weatherill Canyon

We had merit badge classes each day
The scouts earned almost 60 merit badges

(although they still need to do some work at home to finish some up)

Some classes were held above, and some below.

The scouts did all the cooking

And they did most of the playing!

The houseboat had a great slide!

Lots of scouts earned the water sports merit badge

Some earned canoeing

We had campfire each night and awarded MVC

(Most Valuable Camper)

Every morning we had a devotional by our awesome Bishop

A favorite game. "Knock the guy off the tube"

Even the Bishop played!

We ended with a tour of Glen Canyon Dam

Next Camp-outs and dates to remember!

2011-03-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

April 21 - 23 Camp Whitsett

For some service we will do for the camp, we have the whole camp to ourselves. We we will have access to the water front, rifle range, mountain bikes, and pretty much the whole place. And I hear we can sleep in the staff cabins, not the tents!

...

May 6 -7

Merit badge camporee by High Desert District at Horsemans center in Vicotrville. If you want to earn some badges, we will make sure you get here.

...

May 13 -14

Stake Aaronic Priesthood Father and Son's campout. Probably at Mojave Narrows. Bro J is doing breakfast. Come on out! For all fathers and sons, not just scouts.

...

May 20 - 21

Camp-out!

Rock Climbing at Boy Scout Rock

Just like last year with all the ropes and equipment and instructors.

...

June 13 - 18

Scout camp at Lake Powell

Badges in the morning, water sports in the afternoon.

July 13 - 16

Havasupai

10 mile backpack in, 2 days of swimming and exploring, then 10 miles out.

Hard work, but well worth it.

August 4 - 6

Yosemite.

Tuolumne meadows to Yosemite falls trail into the valley.

It comes down just to the left of that falls... trust me.

I believe this is about 10 total miles in three days... the second day is just swimming and playing on the slick-rock streams. Hike in day one, play day two, hike down the falls trail to the valley day three.

That takes us back to school time and the real world.

Crystal Cove State Park March 2011

2011-03-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Scott & Jer hit the trail for the quick 2 mile hike.

Logan, Brigham & Brian on harses (as my Dad from Sanpete County pronounced it).

Jared and Sam backpackin' in.

Here's where I learned about horses herding. The faster I went, the faster Patch went to keep up. After I finally barked to give me some room, they finally backed off a little. So, I apologize for getting a little snippy, but there were times I thought Patch was going to run me over! I finally took off running and so did Patch. With Logan yelling "slow down Dad!" from behind and me hollering "gimmie some room" from the front, Brigham figured to give me some room. He had thought nothing of it, Patch was just following the leader of the herd!

So, actually only 3 Scouts came on this trip... so we took sis along too.
Brianna was a good hiker but she wished she had her horse!

Mud and boys have a natural affinity. Here they are after a game of "Sneak up on the Scoutmaster".

Exploring the crick (another Sanpete thing)

The view to the west on the hike out.

We were going to go swimming at Brigham's brother's house on Saturday, but Patch fell in the crick in the night and got hurt. So they had to walk him out and take care of him. Poor ol' harse. I hear he's a mending, but slowly. I don't know why he tried to go down in the crick in the middle of the night anyway, maybe he saw an ol' coon passin' by and was trying to herd!!!

...

Ol' Patch went on a campout

with a bunch of scouts one day.

Turned out he was a purdy fast hiker,

herdin' the scoutmaster most of the way.

But at night he went a-wanderin'

an' fell off inta the crick.

So Brigham had ta pull him out,

an' that was a purdy good trick.

But the trick was on him the next morn'

as he tended his trusty mount.

For ol' Patch was shorely a hurtin'

and ol' Brigham had ta walk out!

...

Bro J, Cowboy Poet.

Newport Dunes February 2011

2011-03-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

So, after going snow camping last month, we decided to go to the beach! Only at the campground on Newport's back bay there are no waves. But there is a heated pool and so we can cause a little havoc before camping on the sand of the bay

And, of course, it wouldn't be an official Scout trip without a camp fire. It's kind of good that there isn't anything flammable on the beach. We sometimes have a hard time keeping the fire in the ring.

We spent some time Saturday morning experimenting with a diet coke and Mento rocket. We weren't real impressed but we did get it to blow up a little.

Daniel and Devin and Jared went out canoeing and then decided to go for a swim. The water was a little cold so they didn't stay in long. There was a lot of whooping and hollering and they left the canoe out in the bay so the other canoe had to go get it. We had a good lesson on why we wear PFDs and bring extra BVDs.

Canoeing in the OC wilderness.

Blue Ridge SNOW CAMP!!!

2011-01-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the crew ready to load onto the chair lifts

TannerJeffRobbieKylerCodyTannerDevinJaredJerLoganBrighamScott

After a sucessful ride up and a short hike we set up camp and had dinner.

Jer

Jared

Scott and Jeff

Fire!

CodyTannerQKyler

Thier tent broke so they slept "under the stars"

DevinTannerBRobbie

BrighamLogan cookin' taters for breakfast

TannerQ made his famous french toast

Logan&Jared sledding... or crashing.

Devin on the downhill

Robbie and Devin

Ready to ride the lift back down. These boys got a lot of attention. Most were pretty impressed that they had camped over night in the snow.

At the bottom after a great trip.

Next month: Newport Dunes!

Checking out the snow

2011-01-10T21:57:00.000-08:00

Snow camp is coming up January 14/15 so since Di was with the Laurels in Oceanside on the 8th, I decided to go up and check out the snow. Here is the start of Accorn Trail. Somebody's been here already!

I followed snowshoe tracks for about 1/2 of a mile. I think I need to get some of those. If I stepped out of the tracks (and sometimes within them) I would sink down to about my knees.

About 1/2 mile up the showshoes turned around. It was getting pretty steep. So I put on the crampons and went about another 1/2 mile. It was steep and deep and a lot of work to kick step in snow above my knees. You can't see how steep it was in the pic, but it made the geezer wheeze. I don't think I'll get in trouble for cutting switchbacks in the snow.

No tracks above me here. I'll let someone else break the trail. Not good to go much higher/steeper when solo.

SNOW CAMP

This Friday, meet at the Church at 5:00pm

Gear check Tuesday night at Scouts, bring your pack for inspection (you can leave it at the Church till Friday)
You need:
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad (closed cell foam is best)
Warm clothes (snow clothes, jacket, gloves, hat)
If all you have is jeans, you must bring a second pair.

Snow boots! (No tennis shoes this year, please)
At least 3 pair of socks (wool or synthetic is best)
Personal items (tooth brush, TP, etc)
(Buddy up for)
Tarp
Tent
Camp stove
Patrol food (we'll cover your choice of menu Tuesday night) Dinner, snacks, breakfast Remember, you must carry this in!
WATER (It takes a lot of fuel to melt snow for water)
Mess kit, fork/spoon, cup... whatever it takes to cook and eat your food
See Bro J if you have questions or need gear

$5.00 to ride the chair lift to Blueridge campground (then about a 1/2 mile hike)

YOU MUST be able to carry all your gear AND a bundle of firewood and any snow toys you want to bring on the lift and on hike to camp.

YOU MUST pack in your food and equipment AND PACK OUT your trash and equipment.

Should be down about 12:00-1:00 ish

We must have 2 (two) signed permission slips/releases. One for Scouts and one for Mt High. (See email)

If your Scout is going to stay at the mountain and ski/ride, please note on form, otherwise we will bring him home!

Scout On!

SNOW CAMP!!!

2011-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

What's next? Snow camp on Jamuary 14 -15.

This is going to be a fun one. More details will follow shortly. So save the date and get out your snow gear. You will need snow pants, boots, layers of sweatshirts/jackets. And a dry change of clothes might be good. That's enough to wet your whistle, we'll give you more info as we get it finalized.

Calico 2010

2010-12-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

I have asked Scouts several times what their favorite camp out is and every time they say Calico!

We set up a little shooting range and the boys try to hit some targets.

This is desert camping. One boy said "not much grows out here does it?"

And he was surely right!

But that means you don't have to worry about starting a forest fire!

I think this was a kid from the neighboring campsite.

We had some adventure 4 wheeling.

And exploring.

The December camp out to Crystal Cove was rained out. Not that the rain would have bothered us that much, but the campground closed. I guess they don't like wet campers. I told them we had Scouts and the rain didn't matter to us, but the reservation lady said we would get wet, so we couldn't go.

We'll try again in January. If we have snow, we'll do a snow camp. That is if they don't close the campground because we might get snow on us. If we don't have snow, we'll go to plan B. Which I don't remember what it was. But we'll let you know!

Check your email for an invitation to view all the Scout Albums on Snapfish.

Fifty (50!) Mile Bike Ride October 8-9, 2010

2010-10-10T18:49:00.001-07:00

Heading out early from Hwy 2 down Hwy 39.

This was the fun part, 25 miles downhill!

Regroup for a picture at mile 12.

On the road again.

At about 20 miles. Stopped at the wrong parking lot... bike riders don't look at maps!

50 miles! Santa Fe Springs Park, at about the 5 & 605... it would be 15 more to the beach. Anybody up for that?

Too tired to ride around to the entrance... it was over the fence, bikes and all.

Waiting for all the rides.

Bro. Willmott and his chase truck.

Aaron, Robbie and Brandon took the chase truck to the beach for a dip.

Logan and Jared (and Jared's dad, Bryan) were the only ones who rode the bikes all the way to the beach...65 miles!

The final reward.

To see all the pictures of the 50 mile bike ride on Snapfish, click HERE.

Cabin Flats Sept 10-11, 2010

2010-09-20T21:35:00.001-07:00

We hiked in to Cabin Flats in the evening. While we were hiking down the 3 mile trail, it got dark. We took a break and looked down and there was a pile of bear scat. Then we hiked a little quicker.

We made camp and had hot dogs for dinner. Our scoutmaster said since we saw evidence of a bear, we should hang our food up in a tree in a bear bag. But instead we just left stuff all over camp. We figured that if the bear had plenty to eat, he would not eat us. He didn't come around so we didn't get to test our theory, but my guess is we'll try it again on the next trip. Here is Mt. Baden-Powell in the morning. We climbed this last month.

Tanner Q is famous for his french toast.

It's a lot to carry on a backpack trip, but it's sure good to eat.

Here's the crew. Brigham, Logan, Robbie, Tanner, Garrett, Cody, and Jared. We're all here because the bear didn't eat any of us. Maybe Buck scared him away like he scared Ken Quinn. Ken hiked down with us in the evening and had to hike out late at night so he could work on Saturday. He met Brigham hiking in with Buck and saw Buck first. Late at night, in the woods alone, with no moonlight, and evidence of bears around, Ken was a little nervous. Then Buck shows up with glowing eyes and coming right for him. At first Ken thought it was a wolf, then realized there are no wolves in the area... so after a little shot of adrenalin, Ken saw Brigham and figured it was just his dog. Nice to have a friendly dog around instead of a wild animal that wants to eat you.

So, we did a little camping merit badge, capture the flag and then got ready to hike out.

And we chased Buck around a bit.

In 1997 a fire went thru here and burned the outhouse... it was called The Charmin Fire. Anybody else see the irony in that?

So, the thing about a 3 mile downhill hike in, is that you then have a 3 mile uphill hike out. We didn't think this was the funnest part of the trip.

And it pretty much looks like some of us need some backpacking gear for Christmas.
Click here for the deal of the day!

So, this ended up a pretty good trip. Not quite as good as climbing a mountain, but it was green with a nice stream, and wild animals around.

And we get to tease Ken about the wolves, so that's cool.

Court Of Honor is Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 7:30pm right after Scouts. Make sure you are there, it could be interesting and we have lots of badges!

Click HERE for all the pics of Cabin Flats on Snapfish.

Mt. Baden-Powell August 13-14, 2010

2010-08-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

2 miles up, camping under the stars and watching the meteor shower.

Almost 3 miles up with a view of Palmdale

On the top of Mt. Baden-Powell... named for the founder of the Boy Scouts!

Only 4 boys made it (and one guest, and the Elders) but we had a good hike!

View of Baldy from BP

Heading back down

Click HERE to see all the pictures of Baden-Powell on Snapfish

Camp Whitsett July 24-31, 2010

2010-08-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Troop 159 had a great time at Scout Camp!

On the way to Camp Whitsett we found a place to slide and cool off. We only had one little injury which you can see if you click on the link at the end of this blog to see all the pictures.

First day: The Polar Bear Swim... they called it the otter swim or the beaver swim, I don't think they actually knew what to call it. We called it the Polar Bear Swim because it's a cooler name and the water was cold! And yes, before we swam, they made us pat our head and rub our tummy. Very funny... can you do it?

Went for a short bike ride one day at lunch time. Not very challenging for the young guys (if you know what I mean).

Lots of time spent in camp doing projects or playing card games.

Old Sioux. Our home for a week. Kind of looks like Wrightwood, doesn't it?

Alex, Brad, Jake, Devin, Daniel & Allen went off to do high adventure. Their program was cut short by a fire nearby, but they still did cycling, hiking, rock climbing, COPE, and the High Ropes. Oh, and one afternoon of water polo. Woo hoo!

The whole group that stayed to do merit badges got a lot accomplished. Here they are all doing the Tracking merit badge. This is an old one that had been discontinued but brought back for just this year, the 100th anniversary of Scouting in America. It used to be called Stalking, but they made it more PC for 2010.

So, I have to get in the picture once in a while!

We all threw the tomahawk.

It gets crazy waiting for lunch.

These guys all actually got up at 4:30 to climb Sentinel Peak to watch the sunrise. Some of them even look happy about it. The camp staff didn't show up to lead us so we went anyway. Here I see 4, maybe 4 1/2 smiles, 1 guy cross-eye tired, 1 still asleep, and the rest just dazed... great stuff! (Click on the pic to make it bigger)

We don't need no stinking staff leaders!

This is the peak. It was only about a mile hike, but fun.

Here is the whole group in our new class B uniform shirts. Um, and by-the-way, these are $8.50 each... I either need the money or the shirt back. I know we sprang these on you at the last minute but they were great for camp. If you want to keep them, bring me the money... if you don't want them, launder them and turn them back in please. If you didn't get one and want one, call me.

Here is the sign Brigham painted while we were there. He painted it green (it was just bare) and painted the awesome scout fleur de lis... it was just a plain yellow weathered fleur before Brigham got to it. The camp was pretty impressed and said if we would paint some more signs, we could come up in the off-season and have the whole camp to ourselves... maybe even stay in the staff cabins. Sounds like we might work something out! Thanks, Brigham!

Scout On!

Click HERE to see all the pictures of Camp Whitsett on Snapfish.

Zion National Park June 10-12, 2010

2010-06-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

First of all the Scouts want to thank Bryan Winn and Jim Willmott for driving us to Zion and shuttling the cars from the trailhead back to Zion Canyon where we met them at the end of our hike. Bryan and his son Jared are fairly new to Scouts so it’s great that Jared could go and his dad was willing to help. Jim has been in Scouting for 300 years and helps all the time but we still think it’s great that he will do it at his age. He’s so old he even gets into the National Parks for free!

We left Thursday morning at 6:00am and headed to Zion National Park. We had planned to hike the Zion Narrows slot canyon, but the water was too high and they wouldn’t let us. Something about thunder storms and flash floods and too much water and we might be swept away and killed, but we’re not sure exactly what it was. Anyway, we ended up doing an awesome 16 mile backpack trip on the West Rim Trail from Lava Point into Zion canyon with a side trip up Angels Landing.

When we got to Zion on Thursday we had an afternoon to burn since the hike started on Friday morning. So we headed up the Canyon on the shuttle and hiked up to see the Emerald Pools. As you can imagine, with a name like that, they were pretty cool. The last one was really deep and we had a nice swim dunking each other and stuff. And really, we didn’t see the no swimming sign until on the way out. Then we hiked down and the only problem we had was that Brigham left his camera and had to go back and get it.

Then we got back on the shuttle and headed to the end of the canyon where we would have come out if they had let us hike the Narrows. The trail looked fine to us... it was right there under the water!

We hiked up the canyon a little and swam in the water and it was great. Cold, but great. The adults were standing on the shore watching to make sure everything was OK when Fischer decided to go down the rapids face down and backwards. When he finally came up gasping for air he seemed ok, so the leaders shouted to all the other Scouts to try what he had done. Most of us tried it and turned out it was a pretty good run when you did it on purpose.

We had a lot of fun and the only problem we had was that Logan had left Brigham’s camera at the Emerald Pool bus stop and they had to go back to see if they could get it.

Friday Morning we went to the trailhead and started the 10 miles we did the first day. It was a beautiful hike and we had a great camp in the forest. We even saw a bunch of deer right by our camp.

We had to go down the trail a little to filter drinking water and there was a great cliff to throw rocks off of. We didn’t get too close to the edge on purpose but when Brad Quinn tripped he came pretty close by accident. But there was a bush for him to grab onto so it ended up alright.

Then it rained on us at night so the air smelled really clean and most of us stayed dry. Jerry was the only one with a tent, so the rest of us had tarps over us. Except Jeff Howe… he scooted the bottom half of his sleeping bag into a trash bag and had a little piece of plastic over the top. Then he put his straw hat over his face and he said it was ok because the straw hat smelled good in the rain. But we thought that was pretty weird so we didn’t talk much more about it.

View from the trail

Protected from the rain

Breakfast in the early morning light

Then in the morning on the way out we threw some more rocks over that cliff and how could we know that there were people hiking down there? When the guy got to us he wanted to know who was throwing the rocks and Jake took all the blame. We were grateful that he did because that guy wanted to pick a fight with someone! When he found out Jake was only 15 he just stomped away kind of mad. But we learned not to throw rocks off a cliff when the trail is right below.

When we got to Angels Landing we dropped our packs and headed up to see the view. The trail is pretty narrow and they have chains to hold onto because there are cliffs on both sides that go down hundreds of feet. But if you don’t look down you don’t get very dizzy so we pretty much concentrated on staying on the trail. On the way down Ken Quinn slipped a little and said something in Spanish… we don’t know what it was, but we don’t think it was swearing because he used to be a Bishop.

After we got down from the hike we stopped at the river to take another swim. Jerry said no one could ride in the cars on the way home unless they washed off. I guess we were pretty smelly. Maybe that’s why everyone on the bus was staring at us. Then the thunder storm started and the ranger ran us off because of that flash flood thing again.

On the way home we stopped at the Chuck-A-Rama all-you-can-eat buffet in St. George and had dinner. We definitely got our money’s worth as most of us went back for 4 or 5 servings. We were all ready to pop so we headed home and it was a whole hour before the Barnes boys announced that they were hungry again. Lucky Jerry had some caramel popcorn in the car or we would have had to stop for more food!

We finally made it home safely and are looking forward to Scout Camp next month. We hope Brigham finds his camera by then because we would sure like some pictures of that.

The Scouts of Troop 159

(No animals were hurt during the photographing of this adventure to Zion!)

OK, Not the Narrows...

2010-06-03T23:27:00.000-07:00

Looks like the water level in the Narrows is way to high. So we will go with plan B and backpack thru some beautiful country (click here to see more pics). There are several trails to choose from but I think it would be nice to end in Zion Canyon. So my vote is for the West Rim Trail, starting at Lava Point. The trail is 14.4 miles and should be easily done in 2 days. Angels Landing is along this trail and is a place I have always wanted to go. The best part is, we will be going down hill!!! Click here for pics. Details and itinerary to come...

I'll see all you Scout leaders at training this weekend. And this campout is NEXT weekend!

Lava Point: The trail begins by a meander through Horse Pasture Plateau. The hard dirt packed trail is lined with flora and a lush forest is seen in all directions. Ponderosa Pine fill the senses gradually replaced by juniper and pinon pines as altitude is lost throughout the first six miles of the hike. Coming out of the forested section are nice views of the South and North Guardian Angel, as well as Das Boot to Zion's Subway.

Mountain scenery bursts into view as the trail rims Phantom Valley and Heaps Canyon. 7200'

Little Siberia and Mount Majestic: Little Siberia is an open valley that gradually ascends into a small canyon north of Mount Majestic and eventually reaches the saddle between the West Rim and Mount Majestic. The saddle separates Little Siberia to the east and Behunin Canyon to the west. The dense vegetation that thrives in this cool valley includes bigtooth maple, Douglas fir, spruce and gambel oak.

The lower section of the West Rim Trail descends a series of switchbacks that hug the side of a sun baked mountain.

Trailend: The hike ends at the trailhead for Angels Landing and the Kayenta Trail. Across the road is the Grotto Picnic area.

Next Camp out: Zion Narrows June 10, 11, 12

2010-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Zion National Park is one of the most exotic and spectacular places on Earth. Created by millions years of work of the forces of Nature, Zion Park is a source of amusement and enjoyment for more than 2 million people visiting it each year. Zion Park offers magnificient mountains, breathtaking views, and trails that offer endless possibilities to explore and enjoy Nature.

The Narrows is arguably the most exotic part of the Zion National Park. The best season to explore the Narrows is summer, when the temperature is around 100F outside, yet the bottom of the canyon is almost always under the shade, and air is fresh and cooled by the running stream, which makes it one of most pleasant areas of the park in summer.

The Narrows of Zion National Park is one of the most exciting hiking trails in the world. You can catch a glimps of the Narrows without actually hiking the all the way, however, that lets you enjoy only a small part of the Narrows; to get the whole picture, you need to hike the Narrows all the way downstream from the Chamberlen Ranch to Temple of Sinawava.

First, a few facts. The length of the trail is approximately 16 miles (25 km). Most of the time you will be walking in the water of the stream, about ankle deep, carefully choosing your path between the underwater rocks. As you can imagine, it's not an easy hike. You may want to take the whole trail in two days, staying overnight in one of the campsites on the way.

However, if you are short on time, you can make it in one day, too. You should plan at least 10 hours for the whole hike, plus allow some time for eating, resting, and picture taking.

The most important thing about hiking the Narrows successfully is the hiking shoes. Make sure that the shoes you choose have good support and fit your feet perfectly; because if you feel even minor discomfort in the beginning, it will multiply many times over as you walk along the trail. Find yourself a good walking stick - you would feel much more confident crossing the water with it.
Click here for more information and pictures of Zion National Park.

May Campout / Father & Sons Outing

2010-05-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Since we traditionally have a Father & Son camp out in May, we combined our Scout camp out with the Ward camp out this month. The kids enjoyed playing in the fire and cooking hot dogs over the fire and playing in the fire. As the night wore on we gathered around the fire to visit and the kids played in the fire. They seem to like playing in the fire. Breakfast was fun. After playing in the fire, we had pancakes, sausage, & scrambled eggs.

Now, here is a perfect bonding moment in the remote mountains outside of Wrightwood. Besides, John wouldn't be seen in civilization with his son in those pants!

The chef's at work.

We also had breakfast burritos

And omelets made to order

And strawberry crepes

Not a lot of scouts came, but we had some happy campers

Bro J was happy because his son and grandson came. Crepes are Tyler's favorite breakfast and I think that's the reason he came to our Ward camp out instead of his. Andy is wondering if there are bears out there. And I don't know what those boys are doing by the tree... but it looks suspicious!

After a while everybody went home and back to the grind. And Bro J climbed Mt. Baden-Powell. Just another great day in the mountains!

Next Campout: Blue Ridge

2010-05-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Next Campout is May 14 & 15 at Blue Ridge campground (we hope). Why? Because it's close and free!!! The only issue is whether or not the road is open. Mountain High is advertising that they hope to be open until mid-May... which is real close to May 15th. So we are not sure if the road will be open across the ski runs. I will keep track and let you know. We may need to go to Table Mountain or someplace not still snow-bound. Stay tuned for more info on where.

The campout will be in conjunction with the annual Aaronic Priesthood outing commemorating the restoration of the Priesthood. All fathers and sons are invited. If your father or son can't make it, come anyway. Neither my dad nor my son will be there but I'm going! So go with a friend, or just hang out with the crowd.

The Bishopric is supplying the dinner. That should be fun. I am bringing the big griddle and doing breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, burritos, omelets, crepes, and lots of fillings and stuffing's. Breakfast will be served at 8:00am... if you don't stay over night, then come on up for breakfast!

The scouts hope to hike up the trail to get in a little training. This last weekend I went on up just to see how much snow was still there.

Looks like they did a little repair work on the bridge at the start of the trail. And lots of snow-melt in the stream.

Half way up and not much snow.

A little over a mile up I hit snow and ice. Pretty steep and slick. This time I brought the right equipment!

Only about a quarter mile of this. Pretty quick decent if you slip.

Here's the top. No campers yet. This place is never vacant in the summer.

You can't see the valley floor because it is covered in haze... glad I don't live down there.

You can see Mt. Baldy. Wish I had time to go all the way upside!

Back down following my own tracks. Hard to get lost here. If you lose the trail you just go down hill until you reach the highway. Not real wilderness, but real close.

Just a few patches over the trail down low.

And back to the bottom. This is an easy 4 mile round trip. Not nearly as steep as Baden-Powell. Maybe I'll check that out next Saturday, before going to Grassy Hollow to work on Helping Hands day, of course!

Boy Scout Wall (somewhere between Barstow and Lucerne Valley)

2010-04-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

George Leigh Mallory, whose name is inextricably linked to Everest, was the driving force behind the first three expeditions to the peak. While on a lecture tour of the United States, it was he who so notoriously quipped, "Because it is there" when a newspaperman demanded to know why he wanted to climb Everest.

As Mallory and his companion, Andrew Irvine struggled slowly toward the summit of Everest on June 8, 1924, mist billowed across the upper pyramid, preventing companions lower on the mountain from monitoring the two climber's progress.

At 12:50 p.m. the clouds parted momentarily, and teammate Noel Odell caught a brief but clear glimpse of Mallory and Irvine high on the peak, moving deliberately and expeditiously toward the top.

The two climbers failed to return to their tent that night, and neither Mallory nor Irvine was ever seen again. Whether one or both of them reached the summit before being swallowed by the mountain and into legend has been fiercely debated ever since.

In the spring of 1953 a large British team began their expedition to attempt Everest from Nepal. On May 28, following two and a half months of prodigious effort, a high camp was dug tenuously into the Southeast Ridge at 27,900 feet

Early the following morning Edmund Hillary, a rangy New Zealander, and Tenzing Norgay, a highly skilled Sherpa mountaineer, set out for the top breathing bottled oxygen.

By 9:00 a.m. they were at the South Summit, gazing across the dizzyingly narrow ridge that let to the summit. Soon they were at the foot of what Hillary described as "the most formidable-looking problem on the ridge - a rock step some forty feet high that would thereafter be known as the Hillary Step.

The climbing was strenuous and sketchy, but Hillary persisted until, as he would later write, "I could finally reach over the top of the rock and drag myself out of the crack on to a wide ledge. For a few moments I lay regaining my breath and for the first time really felt the fierce determination that nothing now could stop us from reaching the top.

I took a firm stance on the ledge and signaled to Tenzing to come on up. As I heaved hard on the rope Tenzing wriggled his way up the crack and finally collapsed exhausted at the top like a giant fish when it has just been hauled from the sea after a terrible struggle."

Fighting exhaustion, the two climbers continued up the undulating ridge above. Hillary wondered,

"Whether we would have enough strength left to get through. I cut around the back of another hump and saw that the ridge ahead dropped away and we could see far into Tibet.

I looked up and there above us was a rounded snow cone. A few whacks of the ice-axe, a few cautious steps, and Tenzing and I were on top."

And thus, shortly before noon on May 29, 1953, did Hillary and Tenzing become the first men to stand atop Mount Everest.

Tenzing became a national hero throughout India, Nepal, and Tibet, each of which claimed him as one of their own. Knighted by the queen, Sir Edmund Hillary saw his image reproduced on postage stamps, comic strips, movies & magazine covers. Overnight, the beekeeper from Auckland had been transformed into one of the most famous men on earth.

Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air

There are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. Usually they are not experts; their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to brush aside the doubts which more cautious men might have. Determination and faith are their strongest weapons.

Everest has attracted its share of men like these. Their mountaineering experience varied from none at all to very slight - certainly none of them had the kind of experience which would make an ascent of Everest a reasonable goal. Three things they all had in common: faith in themselves, great determination, and endurance.
Walt Unsworth Everest

I grew up with an ambition and determination without which I would have been a good deal happier. I thought a lot and developed the far-away look of a dreamer, for it was always the distant heights which fascinated me and drew me to them in spirit.

I was not sure what could be accomplished by means of tenacity and little else, but the target was set high and each rebuff only saw me more determined to see at last one major dream through to its fulfillment.

Earl Denman Alone to Everest

I doubt if anyone would claim to enjoy life at high altitudes - enjoy, that is, in the ordinary sense of the word. Although there is a certain grim satisfaction to be derived from struggling upwards.
Eric Shipton Upon That Mountain

Suffice it to say that Everest has the most steep ridges and appalling precipices that I have ever seen, and that all the talk of an easy snow slope is a myth. This is a thrilling business altogether, I can't tell you how it possesses me, and what a prospect it is. And the beauty of it all!

George Leigh Mallory

The one great advantage which inexperience confers on the would-be mountaineer is that he is not bogged down by tradition or precedence. To him, all things appear simple, and he chooses straightforward solutions to the problems he faces.
Walt Unsworth Everest

My solar plexus was tight with fear as I ploughed on. Halfway up I stopped, exhausted. I could look down 10,000 feet between my legs, and I have never felt more insecure.

Sir Edmund Hillary

I’ve always hated the danger part of climbing, and it’s great to come down again because it’s safe ... But there is something about building up a comradeship — that I still believe is the greatest of all feats — and sharing in the dangers with your company of peers. It’s the intense effort, the giving of everything you’ve got. It’s really a very pleasant sensation.
Sir Edmund Hillary

It was 11:30 AM. My first sensation was one of relief — relief that the long grind was over, that the summit had been reached before our oxygen supplies had dropped to a critical level; and relief that in the end the mountain had been kind to us in having a pleasantly rounded cone for its summit instead of a fearsome and unapproachable cornice.

But mixed with the relief was a vague sense of astonishment that I should have been the lucky one to attain the ambition of so many brave and determined climbers. I seemed difficult to grasp that we'd got there. I was too tired and too conscious of the long way down to safety really to feel any great elation.

But as the fact of our success thrust itself more clearly into my mind, I felt a quiet glow of satisfaction spread through my body — a satisfaction less vociferous but more powerful than I had ever felt on a mountain top before. I turned and looked at Tenzing. Even beneath his oxygen mask and the icicles hanging form his hair, I could see his infectious grin of sheer delight.

I held out my hand, and in silence we shook in good Anglo-Saxon fashion. But this was not enough for Tenzing, and impulsively he threw his arm around my shoulders and we thumped each other on the back in mutual congratulations.
Sir Edmund Hillary

You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals. The intense effort, the giving of everything you've got, is a very pleasant bonus.

Sir Edmund Hillary

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the (heck) of it.
Sir Edmund Hillary

(Expletive deleted by Scoutmaster. But a heck of a quote!)

I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.

Sir Edmund Hillary

We didn’t know if it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt. Everest. And even using oxygen as we were, if we did get to the top, we weren’t at all sure whether we wouldn’t drop dead or something of that nature. I was very much aware that we still had to get safely back down the mountain again and that was quite an important factor. I really felt the most excitement when we finally got to the bottom of the mountain again and it was all behind us.
Sir Edmund Hillary

I was just an enthusiastic mountaineer of modest abilities who was willing to work quite hard and had the necessary imagination and determination. I was just an average bloke; it was the media that transformed me into a heroic figure. And try as I did, there was no way to destroy my heroic image. But as I learned through the years, as long as you didn’t believe all that rubbish about yourself, you wouldn’t come to much harm.

The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives on. It is still not hard to find a man who will adventure for the sake of a dream or one who will search, for the pleasure of searching, not for what he may find.

I don't know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything. I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest and my trips to the poles. But there's no doubt, either, that my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain.

Sir Edmund Hillary

Zig Ziglar (a popular motivational speaker) once said if you asked Sir Edmund Hillary how he made it to the top of Mount Everest, he would NOT have answered "Well, I was just out walking around, and pretty soon, there I was, on top of Mount Everest!" Sir Edmund Hillary set many goals to get to the top of the world. The climb was not easy, and it WAS deliberate. He knew just where he wanted to arrive, and it was that very dome shaped mountain-top that was the highest place on earth. What goals have you set? Where will they lead you? One thing is certain, you will never reach a goal you do not set. Climb on!

2010-03-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

Camp Brigham at the Allebes Ranch 3-13-2010

2010-03-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

We had a great camp out this weekend at Camp Brigham. Although first off, I want to mention that the only people that actually camped out were Logan & Jared and Bro. J. Everyone else slept in the tack shed or this fort thing (kind of like a tree fort without the tree). The guys in the tack shed were the last one's up too. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that the lock was on the OUTSIDE! HAHAHA.

The real campers had nice tent sites picked out and tents pitched before dark. Most of the other guys came later and wimped out in the buildings. I guess technically they were camping because they slept in their sleeping bags, but it was sort of like when you “camped out” in front of the TV when you were a kid… it’s just not the real thing. But enough of that, things got better from there.

Bro. J's "real" camp site.

We cooked dinner on Brigham’s “cowboy fire ring”. It’s kind of a raised fire pit that has a grill and stuff. The space between the bars of the grill is wider than a hot dog, but we only lost a few of them into the fire. Garrett brought plenty of dogs so there was still enough to go around. And Ryan showed up with ketchup and mustard… too bad we were all done when he got there. But we gave him an A for effort. After dinner Bro. J said he had dessert us. We were pretty excited because he said there was a bag full of junk food for each of us. But then he told us he had hidden them out in the brush and we had to go find them, so 15 screaming scouts headed out into the night with flashlights to find the “treasure”. I’m sure the neighbor didn’t mind since it was still before 10:00pm. We eventually found all 15 bags and only ran into a few Joshua Trees… they have really sharp thorns and we got a few wounds but it was OK because I think only Bro. Jorgenson’s got infected.

So then we all went to bed and slept all night and woke up happy and healthy. Ha! So then actually we played capture the flag for 3 hours and then finally went to bed with only a few slight injuries.

After a good night’s sleep, we woke up and had breakfast and then rode the zip line. If you don’t know what a zip line is, it’s a steel cable strung about 30 feet in the air and about 300 feet long on a decline (that means downhill!). It has a pulley on it and you tie yourself to the pulley and go ZIP down the cable. It’s a nice little ride unless someone grabs the rope and whips you off on a quick start… which they usually do. Some guys even got an extra boost when Brigham grabbed the rope and rode off on the quad pulling them and going pretty fast. Most of the Scouts enjoyed the zip line, even the ones that went upside down and backwards and head first. And nobody got hurt because when we broke it we stopped riding it. Bro. J said that was kind of like a scout safety rule.

He survived... really.

Putting the padded side first in case he hits the pole on the other end.

Bringin' him back... the manual method.

Whip start.

Bouncing him in the middle.

Bringing him back, the easy way.

We did this too.

Then the really cool part was when Brigham brought out a horse and 6 scouts got the Horsemanship merit badge. We got to see how to care for a horse and even got to ride it a little. We didn’t end up bow-legged and no one said ya’ll or anything, but it was fun.

This is how you do this.

I wonder what he is thinking...

Says the horse.

Hey, ya'll are looking purdy good up there.

Patch & Allen

Who's worried the most?

The Gauntlet

Then after lunch we ran the “gauntlet”. This was an obstacle course where we had to step thru 5 tires, climb over hay bales, run along a 20’ 2x4, then roll on the ground under some pipes, run around a barrel, and then go back the same way. This was fun and we looked forward to it the whole time, but by the time we did it we were pretty tired. It was also successful at getting dirt on any part of us that wasn’t already dirty. So, all in all, I’d say it was a successful camp out.

Special thanks to the Allebes family for putting up with the Scouts and helping us have a great time. For an old guy, Brigham is pretty nice and his young and beautiful wife makes great brownies!

Is this fun or what?

2010-02-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a schedule of upcoming campouts:
March 12-13 On the Allebes Ranch
April 9-10 Introduction to Rock Climbing with Don Pierson
May 14-15 Father & Sons Aaronic Priesthood campout at Blue Ridge, Scouts will hike up from the highway. Bishopric will supply dinner, Bro J will do breakfast hot off the griddle.
June 10-11-12 Zion Narrows
July 25-31 is Scout camp at Camp Whitsett. BUY SCRIP
August - 20-21 Mt Baden-Powell

Sometime in Summer I am going to fit in a 3 or 4 day 40 miler that will include Mt Whitney. http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/whitny.htm If I can get a second leader to go, scouts will be invited.

And Larry Milne is planning some trips for the Ventures... one that I am planning on going on is the old Seven Peaks hike in the San Gorgonio Wilderness... it is now commonly called the 9 Peaks Traverse... goes from Mt San Bernardino to San Gorgonio (About 25 miles) http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/170647/san-gorgonio-9-peaks.html

Snow Camp - February 12-13, 2010

2010-02-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

Snow camp was a great success. Friday night we went up to Apple Tree Campground near Jackson Lake. The flatlanders were just leaving as we got there so we had the whole place to ourselves for a little while. Two other troops eventually showed up and camped but we didn’t mind sharing the campground with them because it is a pretty big campground.

The rangers said we could have a fire, but we should try to find the fire ring. Well, the snow was about 4 feet deep and packed down really hard, and after we dug out a hole in the snow about 10 feet in diameter we decided we had found the fire ring. It may not have been the one they wanted us to find, but we figured it was right there in the middle of our hole. We cut a bench in the side of the hole all the way around so we had a place to sit while enjoying our fire. It was a very cool seat, if you know what I mean.

Now when you dig a hole in the snow 4 feet deep and 10 feet around and pile up all the snow into one heap, you have a pretty good size pile of snow. And when you have a pretty good size pile of snow and a bunch of scouts, you usually get the idea to dig a snow cave. So that’s what we did. Lots of us took turns digging out the cave and it was eventually pretty big inside, almost big enough for 4 scouts to sleep inside. So, that’s what we did. Alex, Brad & Tanner and Jake all began the night sacked out in the snow cave. Somewhere in the night one of them got cold and moved to the tent. We won’t mention that it was Jake because we don’t want him to be embarrassed. But he was a lot warmer in the tent so he doesn’t feel too bad about it.

In the cave

The rest of us in tents

That's Brigham and Jeff in their own version of snow camping.

The Luge

Heading up the hill

Heading down the hill

Mug shot

The light looks dim because we were up before the sun!

This time I'm on top of the tube...

In the morning we gathered up all the sleds and inner tubes and found places to slide down the snow. Our leaders followed us around with cameras taking pictures of all our wipe outs. They kept suggesting routes that would make interesting movies, but there were lots of trees and bumps where they wanted us to go so mostly we found other spots. We did try a few of their suggestions and by the way they cheered when we planted our heads in the snow, I think they must have gotten some good movies.

Nice head plant, Tanner!

Warming the feet

This hill was a lot steeper than it looks

2010-01-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

Our leaders dragged us out to Joshua Tree National Park on Friday night. It’s just a desert full of rocks and we have that pretty close to here, but I guess they thought it would be a good experience to drive for over two hours to visit the National Park. I guess those are actual “national rocks” and the one’s around here are just local rocks. Anyway, it cost money to get in and more money to camp in a campground, so they must be pretty important rocks. The ones around here you can visit for free and so we are just kind of used to them and they are not too impressive, even though they’re Mormons, just like us.
.
Anyway we got out there after dark and we were glad Brigham and Logan went early and saved some campgrounds because evidently they are very popular rocks and the place was pretty full. We cooked dinner and chewed the fat around the campfire and the night was sort of uneventful. Except for some of the boys thought it would be fun to take a BB gun and shoot the other boy’s tents after they hit the sack. So, our leaders informed them that it really wasn’t fun and took the gun away. Bro. Raps thought it looked like a nice BB gun and we probably would have had trouble with him shooting it but he couldn’t figure out how it worked.
.
The night got below 30 degrees and so some of us didn’t sleep really well. We got pretty cold so we got up early and built a fire. When Bro. Jorgenson looked out and saw the fire over 5 feet tall, he got up too. It’s nice that he likes to get up early to be with us.
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Some of us had bacon and French toast for breakfast and it was delicious. The older scouts had omelets with the “boil in a bag” method. Ask them how that went. It looked pretty interesting.
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Then we went out exploring and climbing on rocks. There are a lot of rocks out there… did I mention that? We found some great spots and most of us still have most of the skin on our hands. We didn’t break any arms or legs so we didn’t get to practice any first aid or anything like that, but it was still a pretty good day.
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Our Scoutmaster is Jerry Jorgenson and he approved this message.

Joshua Tree / Jumbo Rocks

2010-01-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

'Round the campfire

'Round the other campfire

This patrol had burgers for dinner

Rocks in the mornin'

Bacon & french toast for breakfast

Rocks

Indiana Raps

There's plenty of room to pitch a tent at Jumbo Rocks

Rocks

More rocks (live long and prosper)

Pitchin' horse shoes

Lunchtime

Even more rocks

View of San Gorgonio from the east on the way home

Next Campout: Joshua Tree - January 8-9

2009-12-21T19:56:00.001-08:00

Troop 159 Campout January 8-9
Camp Friday night at Jumbo Rocks campground, cook on a campfire, learn a bit about camping & nature.
Saturday morning, rock climb, explore, practice scout skills.
Forecast for
Joshua Tree
Saturday
Jan 09
Sunny
High 59°F
Low 33°F
Precip 0 %

Meet at the Church on Friday at 5:00pm.
Wear warm clothes: Long pants, jacket, hat. It’s cold at night!
Food: Scouts will receive food assignments for patrol cooking. Older scouts organize your own patrol cooking
or bring your own food. You need dinner, breakfast, & lunch.
Bring: Sleeping bag, tent or ground cloth, sun block, toothbrush, mess kit, water, snacks.
We’ll leave Jumbo Rocks by 2:00pm and be home around 4:00ish.
Bro. Jorgenson 909-376-5006 Bro. Howe 760-662-0248 Bro. Milne 951-757-9986

Selling Mistletoe

2009-12-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Dec. 12 we headed down to sell our mistletoe. We wanted to go to Orange County, but it was raining so we figured we'd stay closer to home. We decided the most fun place to sell would be Bass Pro Shops but 12 Scouts on one exit in the rain was a bit much. So Jeff took 4 to Target in Ontario and Jerry took 4 to Target at Summit. Jerry and his group found the exits at Target already claimed by some guy standing in the rain asking for donations so we moved on to Kohl's. Jeff and his group got run off by management at Target in Ontario, so they went next door to Kohl's as well. We had nice over-hangs to work under and only got a little wet. Lee stayed at Bass Pro Shop, but didn't have an over-hang, so he bought a couple of umbrellas for the guys to work with. It rained all morning but within a few hours we sold about 140 bags of mistletoe. And then the sun came out and it was warm and we went to Disneyland and had a great time.... well, ok, it never got sunny and we didn't go to Disneyland. But we actually did have a good time. Above left is Lee's family as they came out from shopping at Kohl's... and bought some mistletoe from Tanner and Jakob. Above right are Logan and Jared. (Sorry the pic's are small, they are from my phone). All the Scouts worked hard and I am proud of them. However, Logan and Jared weren't sure they wanted to quit. We were out of time and had to go, but these two Scouts took all 60 leftover bags and went to Bass Pro Shops a few days later and sold them all. So, with good work by all and extra effort by Logan and Jared we sold out! Our fund is now started for Camp Whitsett! (Last week of July)

If you didn't get any mistletoe and want some, just call up any of the Scouts and they will be glad to hike up the mountain, chop down some parasitic fungus, tie a bow on it and sell it to you for $5. It's all for a good cause. Trust me.

(Archery shooting, Bear Run, Black powder shooting, Rifle Range, Campfires, Campsite Awards, Canoeing, Cat Eye Trail, Climbing Indian Rock, Craft projects, Flag Raising, Gold Panning,

"Hawk" throwing [tomahawk], Horseback Rides, Horseshoe game, Ice Cream making, Initiative Games C.O.P.E.), Kayaking, Knot Tournaments, Lead Ball, Mountain Bike trail riding, Mountain Man village, Nature Hikes, Otter swim, Overnight Astronomy Hike, Overnight Bike ride, Photography, Rifle shooting, Rock Climbing, Row Boating, Sentinel Peak, Shotgun shooting, Snorkeling, Swimming, Trading Post, Uncle Steve Patrol Award, Sierra CPT (Individual High Adventure Program for older Scouts),Visit Dome Rock, Water Polo, Water Volleyball, Wilderness Swim)

2009-12-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the scouts went on a short hike up the mountain behind Wrightwood and collected mistletoe for our camp fundraiser. This Tuesday we will be packing up the mistletoe in preparation for selling it. All boys intending to attend Summer Camp at Camp Whitsett should participate. This coming Saturday December 12, 2009 we will be going to Wall Mart (probably in Orange County, where they have a lot of money) to sell the mistletoe. We will be meeting at the church and leaving at 8:30 and should be back before midnight, probably closer to 3:00pm. Bring a sack lunch or some money to buy some food.

We will be attending Camp Whitsett in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This is a premier Scout camp where they don’t want you to sign up for too many merit badges because of all the fun things there are to do. Some of the activities include Canoeing, Kayaking, & White Water Rafting, Archery, Rifle & Shotgun shooting, Mountain biking, Horseback riding, Rock climbing, and Mountain climbing, as well as the traditional Scout Craft and Indian Lore activities.

It looks like we have four Scout leaders going with us. Bro. Jorgenson will be spending most of his time in the Dutch Oven tent learning how to cook something besides hot dogs and pancakes. Bro. Howe can come with us because he is pretty cool and we need somebody to video us for this blog. Bro. Allebes we're going to put in the Indian Lore tent and tell him he can't come out until he's made moccasins for us all... that should keep him out of our hair for a while. If the Bishop comes we won't have to worry about him, he will be in the Dutch Oven tent offering to sample all the food.

So, yesterday we also went on a bike ride. We started at Inspiration Point and rode down to the parking lot at Mt. Baden-Powell. From there we rode the dirt road to the campground at Big Rock Creek. This was a wild and crazy ride where we enjoyed activities like trying to fix brakes and flat tires. While at the camp ground we built a fire and ate our sack lunches and had S’mores. Although you had to be careful around the fire because we built a ramp to jump the bikes over it. There was a natural downhill ramp on the side of the hill and it seemed like it would be fun to ride down it. But just riding down didn’t seem like much of a challenge so we thought that jumping over the fire would be the natural thing to do. This seemed like a wholesome and safe activity so our leaders allowed us to do it. After constructing the ramp Brad Quinn displayed his leadership & mountain biking skills by successfully riding the ramp and jumping the fire. Since it was only a little painful, he did it several times. Alex Smith was the next to try. By his second try he was successful. The first try provided much entertainment for the crowd and he was barely even hurt. The only other scout brave enough to take the Troop 159 Mountain Bike Challenge was Jake Howe. He only made one try because by the time he recovered from the first, he notice that his bike did not survive. A bent rear wheel earned him a spot in the chase vehicle for the rest of the day. But it was OK because I think Jake will recover. (On a serious note, Jake went to the emargency room tonight to have his ribs checked... we hope is OK and wish him a speedy recovery)

If you are interested in the high adventures of Troop 159, please check back here often or search Troop159Wrightwood on YouTube. You can also check the bulletin board in the foyer for current pictures.

Thanks for listening.

Our Scoutmaster is Jerry Jorgenson and he approved this message.

We can't put Jakes video on here because we want to send it to America's Funniest Home Videos, and they don't want it on the WEB before it's on the show!