Camping Nights - One More Year!

In March of 2011 I set the goal to camp a total of 365 nights by the time I turn 40.  (see the post HERE)  Well, I'm a little more than a year away from when I'll be 40, and I thought I'd look to see where I'm at.

If you'll look at the camping stats on the left side of the blog, I've got the following:

That means I only have 11 more days to go!  (For reference, when I set the goal I had only 259 nights, so I've come a long ways)

So I only need 11 more nights in the next year to make my goal!

Updated Hammock Camping

One of the leaders has gotten into making hammocks lately.  He made a few that he took up to High Adventure this last summer and let the boys use and abuse to see how well they held up.  They worked great!  The boys all wanted to make one, so they spent a couple weeks worth of activities learning how and making their own hammocks!  It was great!

They all learned how to cut fabric and sew fabric!  It was a fun project for them because it resulted in something they can use for the next campouts!

I wasn't able to make it to the sewing party, so I didn't get a chance to make a hammock for myself.  But shortly after they finished, the leader that started it all found plans online that he then modified to a hammock with netting over the top, and a ridgeline, and pockets and everything!  It was great!  He showed my son and I how to make our own hammocks like that.  It took us about 10 hours to get it totally done, but it turned out great!

My Hammock with my son's hammock behind - showing the zipper side, and the netting

 The really neat part of these hammocks is that the bottom of the hammock is double layer, with an opening so you can slip in a sleeping pad between the two layers.  Then it insulates the bottom side of you while you sleep.  Without a pad below you, you wouldn't stay warm even in 40 degree weather.  But with the pad, I was able to sleep comfortably in 34°F weather with a 3" foam pad.  I tried the next time with a 1/2" blue pad, and a truck windshield reflector.  It got down to 19 degrees that night, and though I was cold (mostly my feet since the nature of the hammock puts your feet up and the blood drains out of them somewhat), I survived.

Looking from the end shows how wide it is when it has a sleeping pad stuffed in

Lumberjack Campout Oct 2016

We have a few people in our neighborhood that use a wood burning stove to heat their home all winter.  A few years ago we decided to do a "Lumberjack" Campout and go cut wood to haul back and give to these people to help them get through the winter.  We get a wood cutting permit and go up to the same place each year because there's tons of wood ready to cut, and the road leading up to it is terrible, so nobody else goes up there.

This year was no different.  We spent about 6 hours with the adults cutting up the logs with chainsaws, and the boys and some adults hauling the wood back to the trucks and trailers.  This year we had enough boys that were interested in, and strong enough to chop the wood, so we were able to chop about 90% of the wood we harvested!

It's a lot of work!  We all work hard, and really get worn out, but the boys love the work, and they love that we drive down into town and go to a recreation center to play Wally Ball (volleyball in a racquetball court), and then swim for a couple hours before driving back up to camp and spending the night.

Even though it's a very hard working campout, it's one of our scout's favorite camps!  Partly because they get to chop wood, and partly because it is service and we are able to bless others with the wood we harvest.

I think another part of it is that it's a lot of work, and we as males crave some hard work once in a while.  There's a sense of accomplishment that comes when you work hard for a day to accomplish a task, and you finish the day totally worn out, sweaty, sore, and tired.  When take the time to look back at what you've been able to do, you feel like you've achieved something worthwhile.  You've made your mark.  You've stretched yourself and found yourself up to the task.

Boys need to learn to work hard.  They don't learn that from video games, they learn that from going out and working hard alongside adults that work hard.  They'll probably be surprised to see that they enjoy working hard too.

High Adventure 2016 - Blanding Utah - Day 3-4 - Target Ruin & Ballroom Cave then Hammond Canyon

Day Three we hiked up a canyon and checked out two different ruins, the first one was Target Ruin because of a target that was painted on an inside wall of the ruin.  The whole ruin is too high to get to so we only looked at it from across the canyon.

Target Ruin

Here's a closeup of the target (shot with the camera looking through a pair of binoculars):

The Target Painted on a wall at Target Ruin

Then we hiked a bit further up the canyon and found Ballroom Cave and shot this silhouette shot.  The cave is actually quite large, and at least 20 degrees cooler than the 90+ degrees we were hiking in out in the canyon!

Ballroom Cave

After that we drove to Hammond Canyon to backpack in to where the Three Finger Ruins are.  It was approximately a 5 mile hike down into the canyon to where our campsite would be, below the ruin.  We made it there in time to set up camp and have dinner, but not in time to explore the ruin that night.

View of Three Finger Ruin from our campsite
Do you see it? Probably not, it's up on that cliff and quite a hike to get to.

As we started making dinner, about half of the scouts and leaders realized they had forgotten spoons to have our freeze-dried meals!  So they carved their own spoons to eat with.  They were pretty proud of their work and took some time to make them usable.  I don't think they'll forget the spoons next trip though.

That evening we took off our shoes and socks and soaked them in the stream that went by camp.  It felt so good to cool our feet off and clean the dirt/sand off of them!

Day 4 - we decided to not make everyone hike up to the Three Finger Ruins, so just took those that wanted to and left at 6 AM.  It was quite the hike!

View of Three Finger Ruin a little closer up

We were told by a Navajo woman in Blanding that this area is sacred.  She was happy to hear that we were going to see it.  It took us a good 40 minutes to hike up to it, but as we got closer we knew it was worth the hike:

Three Finger Ruin Closer Up

Inside one of the rooms at Three Finger Ruin

Fingerprints still on the "plastered" walls at Three Finger Ruin

View from the Three Finger Ruins

It was an amazing experience to see and wonder what it was there for, what the people did that lived there, how they got food and water, why they chose such a remote place, etc.  We sat there and discussed ideas and soaked in the beauty of the place and the view for over 30 minutes.  It's mind boggling.

Then we hiked back down to the campsite and had breakfast, packed up, and hiked back out to the vehicles.  We had left a truck in a different location so we were able to do a loop instead of an out and back trip.

Lessons Learned:

1. When it's 90+ degrees F outside, it's a good idea to carry a lot of water, and filters.  We did ok for water on the trip, but the weight of it was a lot to handle.  One of our leaders had the great idea to put some cut up watermelon and cold Gatorade in a cooler at the truck.  That was AMAZING!  Everyone loved eating the cold watermelon and gulping down the cold Gatorade!  It was exactly what we needed to lift our spirits after hiking up and out of the canyon.
2. Bring any utensils you may need for the trip - though it was a good experience for those that forgot to make their own this time.
3. Whenever you visit a place where people lived long ago, take some time and discuss with the scouts what it must have been like to live there at that time.  It's a great experience, and very insightful.  It brings the place alive.

High Adventure 2016 - Blanding Utah - Day 2 - San Juan Hill

On day 2 of High Adventure we went to a museum about the LDS Pioneers that settled in the area.  We learned about the Hole-in-the-Rock Pioneers and their journey across from Cedar City area to Blanding.  They planned on it taking 6 weeks to travel the distance, and it ended up taking 6 months because of all the obstacles along the way! See my post about the actual hole in the rock where they carved a road down to the Colorado River HERE.  

After they had gone through most of the journey, they got to comb ridge, that goes for miles and is impossible to get wagons and teams over, till they got to San Juan Hill.  There they had to build a road up a hill of slickrock that the horses & oxen could haul their wagons up.  It took a few weeks, but they did it!  We drove out to the hill and hiked up it and were amazed that they were able to get the wagons up there!

Hiking up San Juan Hill

 Up at the top, the pioneers were so grateful to make it to the top that they carved into the side wall "We Thank Thee o God".  It's hard to see so we dumped a little water on it to make it show up better.  It was amazing to us that these people were on a trip that took four times what it was supposed to take, but they still were grateful to God.

"We Thank Thee O God"
Carved into the sandstone at the top of San Juan Hill

 After that we found a shady spot to have lunch.  As we finished up lunch the leaders got together and decided the scouts needed a challenge.  So we got their attention and told them "We have bad news, the Bishop is unconscious and needs to be carried back to the truck."  to which one of the youngest boys responds "can I drive his truck?"  Quick boy! :)

We determined to let the boys figure it out and tried to keep our mouths shut as they worked out how to carry Bishop back to the vehicles.  It took them about an hour to come up with a way that worked the best (which meant that Bishop could lay down and rest for an hour - which he was ok with).  The picture below is the stretcher they came up with and which ended up working to carry him the whole way.

Carrying an "unconscious" Bishop back to the trucks

We were impressed with the scouts in that they didn't argue or complain.  They took everyone's ideas and suggestions and worked together to create a working option.  I think if we were to do it again they would come up with a working option quicker and more efficiently.

Then we checked out Riverside Ruin to see some ruins that were nearby:

Riverside Ruin

After that we decided they worked hard and we all needed to cool off.  We drove to a reservoir and swam for a while.  Unfortunately someone had left the head of an elk in the bushes nearby and the rotten smell was strong!  We named the spot "Elk Head Point" but then hauled the head off into the trees to make it a more pleasurable swim.

High Adventure 2016 - Blanding Utah - Day 1 - Fiery Furnace

This year for High Adventure we were a little worried and at a loss for what to do to keep the boys working together and building unity.  You see, this is the first year in 5 years that we haven't had Mitch along on our high adventure since he's serving a mission for the LDS Church for two years!  For the past 5 years we have had Mitch to serve and love and learn from.  So this year we decided to do things that would force the boys to help each other, and to set up at least one situation that they had to work together to accomplish.  We chose to go to Blanding Utah, and the surrounding area, where we could explore Indian Ruins, LDS Pioneer Sites, and the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park.

We started out the trip with exploring the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park.  This is an area that you have to get a permit to enter, and you have to watch a video about how to care for the area, and not cause problems - with the environment and with other visitors.  It was very informative and we followed the instructions that we were given.

Fiery Furnace from above

In the Fiery Furnace you can explore wherever you want, as long as you don't cause trails, don't step on loose sand around plants, don't step on the crust, don't stand on any arches or bridges, and don't make too much noise.  So it's a big jungle gym for the scouts to explore!  We made our way up canyons that required them to all work together to help each other up over obstacles and what some thought were "dead ends".

Exploring Fiery Furnace Canyons

At one point we worked together to get over a 12 foot obstacle, just to walk around the corner and see a staircase with a railing to use to get up!  But we wanted the boys to work together to get through hard stuff, so we were glad we did the obstacle!

It was a challenge for a lot of us as we spent four hours exploring and climbing and making our way through the furnace, and then finding a way back out again.  It challenged our endurance, and our bravery as we had to span across things, and chimney climb up or down places that were a little uncomfortable (but were safe with all of us working together).

Lessons learned:

• Bring more water than you think you will need.  We had each person bring at least 2 liters of water, but everyone wished they had more.  I had 2 liters of water and 1 liter of Gatorade but still wished I had more.  
• I like to bring a 2-3 Liter hydration bladder to drink out of, but also have another liter of water or Gatorade.  I've found that if I don't, then i tend to save the water for later "when I really need it" because I can't tell how much I have in my bladder unless I stop and check - and I don't want to run out.  With an extra liter in my pack I can go ahead and drink from the bladder as much as I need, knowing that when I run out I will still have a liter left. 
• Whenever we do a hike like this we like to stop when we're as far out as we can get and discuss our survival options.  It usually starts with "Well guys, I've got bad news" and then I tell them that we are stuck where we are for the night or sometimes even longer, and we go through our packs to see what we have with us to get us through the night, or or through first aid obstacles or whatever.  Typically the boys just have water and a granola bar or something like that, and the leaders bring a small survival kit with first aid stuff, fire starting stuff, sometimes a small water filter, etc.  As the boys get older and we keep doing this, they eventually start to plan ahead and bring things that they might need in emergencies - that way when they are older and taking people, they think about what they really might need in an emergency.
• Always follow the rules, no matter how inconvenient.  We got up to the top of an area, and stopped for snacks.  One of the leaders opened his pack and an orange rolled out.  We tried to stop it, but it rolled off a cliff.  Some said to leave the orange, it wasn't worth going to get, but the video we watched specifically said not to leave orange peels as they take 10 years to decompose.  So another leader and I hiked/climbed down to retrieve the orange.  We only found a small portion of it - it must have hit a ledge further up and exploded, leaving most of it on the ledge - but we found all we could, and left the boys with an example to follow.

Mitch Mobile News

It has been fun to see the affects the Mitch Mobile story has had on people.  The video went out on facebook and other sites and was shared and viewed all over the world!  It's up to 156,000 views now on facebook!

The Mitch Mobile was made for an Eagle Project in our troop, and donated to the Spina Bifida Foundation of Utah for other troops in Utah to borrow and use to help them to include people with handicaps in their troops, and it is having a busy summer so far!  It has been lent out quite a few times to troops in the area.

This weekend a troop contacted us asking for plans for the Mitch Mobile.  They have two boys in their troop with Spina Bifida and they wanted to make at least one Mitch Mobile to take and maybe borrow another one so they can include everyone in their troop on activities!

We have no patent on the design, in fact we would love other troops to make their own so that as many boys with handicaps can be included in all activities.

See link below for an article that was written about the Mitch Mobile:
Mitch Mobile Article

National Duty to God Banquet Recognizes Mitch Mobile

This was really neat!  The LDS Church came to us and asked if they could do a video about our scouts and their experience with the Mitch Mobile, and how it has affected them and helped them to do their Duty to God.  Of course we said that'd be great!

Elder Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints spoke at a national Duty to God Banquet to a group of 1,500 professional scouters in San Diego on May 26, 2016.  He spoke about how scouting helps young men (and older men) to do their duty to God.  He then presented the video they made about the Mitch Mobile, then invited Mitch and a couple others onto the stage.

It was an amazing event, and my wife and I were so blessed to be able to be there for it!  Watch the whole talk below, or you can skip forward to about 7:20 to where he starts talking about the Mitch Mobile and then shows the video and interviews the boys.

I'm proud of our scouts!  Of who they were while we were experiencing it all, and who they are now!  Of the boys in the group, all 12 have or are serving missions for the LDS Church!  They have or are serving in places like: Russia, Belgium, San Diego, Oregon, Alabama, England, Chile, and tons of other places teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in many languages!

To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, go to:
www.lds.org or
www.mormons.org

Backpacking Overnighter to Rudy's Flat

We went on a backpacking overnighter this last weekend to give our younger scouts the experience.  None of them had ever gone backpacking before.  This was an easy 8 mile round trip up a canyon to a meadow where we camped for the night.  It reminded me of when I went on backpacking trips as a scout, you know, when the pack was much larger than me?

Ahh, the memories. . .  Of course when I went I had an old army pack that had a hard belt on it that didn't stay tight so I had to either hold it cinched down tight till my hips felt like they were rubbed so badly they would bleed, or let go of the belt and just hike with all the weight on my shoulders.  

Packs are a lot more comfortable now, which makes the hiking more enjoyable.  In fact, I decided I would try adding weight to my pack to give myself more exercise!  I took a couple backpacking stoves (one MSR Butane/Propane stove, and one Coleman white gas stove), and took a bottle of denatured alcohol because one of the boys wanted to try out their pop can stove.   Then I was still glutten for punishment, so I added 1.5 gallons of water.  That did it, got me up to an even 50 pounds.  That ought to give me some exercise!

Then once I got my pack out of the car at the trailhead, I noticed that my pack was missing the plastic latch that holds the belt together - must have come off sometime!  So I ended up doing the 8 miles either without my belt support, or with me trying to hold the belt strap together - just like when I was a kid!

Oh well, it was good that I did bring the extra stoves and water, as the two water filters I brought didn't work - one was clogged, and one was missing parts!  So the extra water I brought up was what kept us going!  We did get some water from a stream, then filter it through a cloth and boil it for 10 minutes though, so that was a good experience.

Another unfortunate experience was that one of the stoves - the coleman white gas one - didn't work.  We were able to pressurize it, but nothing would come out!  So the MSR stove did all the water boiling.

Unfortunately, my son and I needed to be back in town around 6:00 AM so we got up at 4:30 AM and packed up and hiked back down to our cars.  I hear the rest of the boys and leaders made it out ok.

Here's a shot of the sunrise about 30 minutes into our hike in the morning:

What did I learn?  Check and recheck everything before a trip.  I had used both the filters and the stoves in the last year or so, but I should have checked both right before going up.  Even then the Coleman white gas stove could have clogged while we were up there, so an extra on hand is always a good idea.

The boys did good with the setbacks and I detected a hint of excitement as one thing after another didn't work - this was going to be a trip to remember!

Fairview Snowcave Campout 2016

It has been a few years since we've been able to do a snowcave campout because of lack of snow, and lack of a good location to go. We used to go up Farmington Canyon, but now they have a gate at the base that only allows snowmobiles through all winter.  So we had to search and find a new location this year.  Everywhere we checked out we were told we couldn't camp there, or there wasn't enough snow.  Finally we decided to drive 2 hours south to the location my dad's scout troop had just gone the weekend before for their camporee.

Unfortunately when we got there, the parking area was very muddy, and there wasn't much room left to dig caves.  We walked around and checked it out anyway, and were told by a guy there that they were going to have a vintage snowmobile race (with 90 vintage snowmobiles) there the next day, starting at 6 AM.  We decided that wasn't where we wanted to be, so asked if he had any other ideas.  He pointed us to a parking area down the road a bit and suggested we try there.  We checked it out and decided to go for it.

We ended up digging 7 caves right into the snow pile along the edge of the pavement parking lot.  (we had 8 boys and 8 adults)  The digging actually went really well, there was a small section of ice, but other than that, the snow was perfect for digging.

Some things we found useful were:

• to slide a sled into the cave and have the person digging fill up the sled with snow then push it back out when done.  The person on the outside dumps the sled over and slides it back in.  Then he shovels the snow that came out up on top of the cave.
• To use hand saws to cut out blocks of snow that were easy to throw out the cave opening.
• Inflatable, solar powered LED lanterns work great to lighten up the entire cave.

We did stew for dinner, and then ziplock omelets for breakfast.  You make an omelet in a ziplock baggie and then drop that into boiling water to cook.  Then you eat it out of the bag.  I tried a different recipe this time, and used my dad's Apple Omelet recipe.  It was really good!  Here's the recipe:

Apple Omelet:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 apple diced
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• Salt
• Sprinkle some Cinnamon & Sugar in there too

It was a great location for the 8 young boys who were all on their first snow cave campout because they could get off the snow, and the cars were right there (though we never needed to allow anyone inside the vehicles to warm up, they did great!).  Maybe next time we'll find a place to go where we can hike in a bit and really survive.  I enjoy doing that and the boys feel quite the accomplishment from it.

Crystal Hot Springs Campout

Every November our troop does a hot springs campout. Yeah, kind of crazy to go swimming in the winter when it's cold and dark (we either soak in the evening or first thing in the morning), but that's what makes it fun, right?

We've gone to Diamond Fork Hot Springs a few times, where you hike 2 miles to the springs to soak, then have to hike the 2 miles back. (we've done Diamond Fork a few other times, see Here, and Here)

Other years we've done Meadow Hot Springs, where it's more like a 1/4 mile hike to the springs from the parking lot.  It is also a natural hot springs - non-commercial.

This time we decided to go to a commercial hot springs where they have camping as well.  Crystal Hot Springs is great for scout troops, and they are full every November Friday Night (I guess other troops have the same November Hot Springs Campout tradition).

We set up camp and started a fire to get ready for tin foil dinners (yep, we changed the tradition we've had for ages of having beef stew and rolls for dinner).  Everyone liked it cause we had everyone make their own dinners - so they put in it what they would eat.

After dinner and setting up camp, we went to the springs and soaked & played for the next couple hours.  Crystal has two water slides that they run with warm-ish water.  The boys would rush up to do the slides a few times till they froze, then they'd get back in the hot tubs to soak and warm up.

Of course the scouts have to have competitions, right?  This time we challenged each other to who could hold their breath underwater the longest.  I thought I did pretty good with like a minute and 20 seconds, but one of the other leaders got over 2 minutes!  Luckily he wasn't a driver, so we didn't have to wonder if he fried too many brain cells to drive from starving them from oxygen.

Who's going to win?

Unfortunately photos don't turn out too well at the hot springs with all the steam - oh well.

We took a few younger scouts this time (just turned 12) and one of the issues we had was getting them to dress warmer around the camp!  I would think that logically you would put on clothes to keep warm, but some of them I guess didn't want to miss out on what was going around the campfire so they didn't change out of their wet swimming suit till everyone decided to go to bed!  They claimed they were warm, but they were sure huddling around the fire the whole time!  Oh well, they learn eventually, right?