HIGH ADVENTURE CAMPOUT

There would be no way to tell the whole saga of our adventure in King's Canyon National Park in words.  So here are some tidbits and photos...you'll have to connect the dots!

The Boys:  Nathan Perkins, Kosta Salamanopoulos, Dylan Dutton, Dylan Spencer, Brendt Burleson, Cody Smith, Jacob Perkins

The Leaders:  Will Terry (planned the trip, but was unable to attend), Brad Scow, John Sellers, Joel Dutton, Nate Nye

Dates:  Left the church at 5pm on Monday, 01 August 2011
         
Returned to the church at 4:45pm on Saturday, 06 August 2011

A flash flood washed out a section of Hwy 190 out in Death Valley a mere 45-55 minutes from our destination, which forced us to turn around, backtrack about 45 minutes, then follow a 3-hr detour through the desert of SE California in the middle of the night.  We would have arrived at trailhead around 10:45pm.  Because of the road closure, we didn't arrive until 2am. Nevertheless, we got up at 7am, had a delicious breakfast of pancakes and eggs, and were on the trail by 10am.

This shot taken at Kearsarge Pass shows the beautiful Kearsarge Lakes, where we camped for the next 2 nights.

 Camping at Kearsarge Lakes:

Jacob caught his first fish ever up at Kearsarge Lakes!

Here are Kosta, Cody, and Brendt posing around the shelter which they constructed and slept in as part of the Wilderness Survival merit badge.  Dylan Dutton and Jacob also made (and slept in) a very nice shelter.

Nathan Perkins was the first one to brave the freezing cold waters and jump into a lake.  However, many followed suit, and jumping off boulders into beautiful, clear, ice-cold lakes became one of the most fun things we did on the trip.  Five different lakes were swam in by our boys!

This Bullfrog Lake, which we hiked past on our way to and from Charlotte Lake.  Unbelievably beautiful.

Camping at Charlotte Lake:

At Charlotte Lake, we taught the boys how to use a rock and sling David-vs-Goliath style.  They got really good at it.  Better watch out!

Charlotte Lake at sunset.  Need I say more...

Our meals were nothing like good home cookin', but they kept us going.  Most of us ate either oatmeal or Mountain House eggs for breakfast.  Random stuff like jerky, fig newtons, granola bars, or Ramen noodles for lunch, and Mountain House meals for dinner. We made a special bowl of chocolate pudding for Jacob Perkins on his birthday, which was highly envied!!

We left Charlotte Lake on Friday morning, and hiked about 5 miles back over Kearsarge Pass to Heart Lake.  

We did a campfire devotional each night after dinner.  The first 2 nights (Monday & Tuesday night), we were all too exhausted to have any form of devotional, but the next two nights we all took turns and taught each other about Book of Mormon prophets.  On Friday night, we had a testimony meeting as we sat on our bear canisters huddled around the two stoves for warmth.  We were on a huge rock just above Heart Lake, with some incredibly majestic cliffs above us.  The Spirit was very strong as each leader and youth in turn bore our testimonies.  When we were done, we all took about 30 minutes and found our own quiet spot in the forest or on a rock ledge or around the lake, and said a special prayer to Heavenly Father. Many of the boys said this was one of their favorite experiences of the whole trip!

Cody Smith and Jacob Perkins were our two youngest Scouts, and though they struggled at times, they both did AWESOME!!!  A lot of the youth had some mild symptoms of altitude sickness on the first and second day, and most of them got better with time and good hydration.   But unfortunately, Cody Smith continued to experience worsening symptoms.  So after receiving a Priesthood blessing on Thursday morning, he hiked back to the trailhead with Bro. Scow who took him home.  The only cure for altitude sickness is to descend to lower elevation.  A blessing in disguise was that all the boys got to see the Priesthood in action, and we all felt closer as a Troop.  We were all very sad to see Cody go (including Cody). Here is a studly shot of Code-man at the trailhead, ready to roll. Gotta love the shades!

The rest of us hiked out on Saturday morning.  Leaving the mountains was bittersweet (depending on who you ask, some will tell you it was more sweet than bitter!)

We stopped at Carl's Jr. in Lone Pine, CA for some big juicy burgers before we hit the highway for Las Vegas.  Hamburgers never tasted so good.  

This campout was an experience that will never be forgotten.  Thanks to all, including parents, who helped make this trip happen!  And a special thanks to Bro. Scow, who left a day early to make sure we got the wilderness permits and bear canisters, without which the trip could not have happened.  

Buffington Pockets

Kelso Dunes!

The cast:  Brendt Burleson, Kosta S., Trevor Holt,  Dylan Spencer, Dylan Dutton.  Leaders included Bro. Brad Scow, Bro. Jeff Lycan, Bro. Joel Dutton, Bro. Curtis Hill, and myself (Bro. Nate Nye).  We met at the church at 5, got organized, said a prayer, and started the 2-hr drive.  We arrived at Kelso Dunes well past dark (about 8pm) and found a good campsite just down the road from the main trailhead.  Some set up tents while others prepared a dinner of pork chops, baked beans, and mashed potatoes.  We were entertained while we ate by the amazingly daring Kangaroo Rats that smelled out delicous dinner. 

 Couldn't get a good picture of the millions of stars with my phone, but you'd have to see it for yourself to believe it anyway.  Bro. Lycan said he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.


We went to bed in suspense as to what the surrounding area would look like in daylight.  We awoke to see this:  (these dunes are WAY bigger than they look... the big one on the left is the one we climbed later in the day Saturday).

  I guess I'm a poor historian...I forgot to take pictures of the orienteering course the boys did in the morning.  Bro. Hill, Bro. Lycan, and Bro. Scow set up two different courses, each including ten checkpoints spread out over a mile. The boys broke up into two teams and masterfully navigated the courses.  Very impressive, and the boys had tons of fun with it.  We met back up at the campsite and talked about parallels between finding our way in the desert using a compass, and finding our way in life by following the words of the Prophets, ancient and modern.  Then we set out on a hike up the sand mountain ("dune" doesn't do it justice). 

 After about a mile and a half of trail and 600 ft elevation gain, here are Dylan Dutton and Dylan Spencer near the top of the dune:

 Studly group shot at the summit:

 The inaugural leap from the summit (first of MANY)

 Coming back for more:

 Finally had enough:

 Among the many sets of interesting animal tracks out on the dunes, here is a scorpion track.  We also saw tracks of kangaroo rats, rabbits, kit foxes, birds, lizards, beetles, and centipedes. 

Check out these videos:

Everyone involved had a fantastic time, to say the least.  Better than your average campout!  Weather was great (other than the chilly night), food was great, everybody pitched in and helped out to get camp set up and broken down and the food cooked and cleaned up.  It was a great team effort and we all learned how to be a better scout, a better scout leader, and a better disciple of Christ.