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.