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

High Adventure 2013 - Yellowstone National Park!

This year for High Adventure we went to Yellowstone National Park for a week.  We started out the week with an overnighter backpacking trip into the backcountry to Union Falls in the lower portion of the park.  This required back country permits and reservations, but it was worth it!  We backpacked in 6-7 miles to our reseved campsites, and spend the night, then did a day hike to Union Falls, the second tallest waterfall in the park!

Union Falls

After Union Falls we hiked back down and over to Scout Pool (also known as Ouzel Pool) to soak in the warm river there, sit under the waterfall, and jump off the rocks into the water.  After trying over and over again to swim upcurrent to the waterfall (you can go on the sides, holding the rocks, but we like to challenge ourselves), one of the scouts found out that you can drop down to the bottom of the river and swim along the rocks at the bottom up to the waterfall quite easily.  So we started doing that for fun and a challenge.

Scout Pool

After getting our fill with the falls there, we hiked back to our campsite, had lunch and backpacked back to the vehicles.  

So what was so amazing about this trip?  We did it with our scout with Spina Bifida, so we carried him the entire way!  We used our scout carrier to pack him up there and back, but that means that he, plus the two carriers don't have backpacks.  That meant we had to spread the weight of three people's equipment into the other packs.  Most people had their stuff plus someone else's stuff (I had all mine plus another sleeping bag for someone else).  Then as we went, we traded off on the scout carrier and with the packs.  It was an awesome experience!  It was very difficult for some of those involved, but that's what makes it amazing!  It WAS HARD, but everyone did it anyway, and nobody complained!  It was an awesome trip!

Timpanogos Peak Hike

First off, this wasn't a campout. We tried this last year and got rained out, but the other problem was that we had full packs, plus we were carrying our scout with Spina Bifida so everyone got tired too quick.  This year we decided to do the whole thing in one day with day packs.

I've always been up there when the flowers were in bloom, but this time the flowers were all gone.  Luckily the trees were turning colors and were awesome!

We did carry our scout with Spina Bifida with us in the carrier that was made for that purpose.  It was an awesome experience!  Some of our stronger scouts were unable to come, so we invited some adults to come help us, and we couldn't have made it without them.  They were great!

It was a challenge!  We only made it to the saddle and back (14 of the 16 miles), and we were at the trailhead at 7AM, and didn't get back till after 9PM!  But it is challenge that the scouts need (and us adults) to keep us progressing and feeling accomplishment!  I'd so rather go on a long hard hike and be able to enjoy the beautiful sights we saw on this one than to be lazy and sit at home and get nothing done!

Boys these days need to get that urge to feel accomplishment. So that they will work towards accomplishing things.  Too many of them are just coasting along with no direction or goal in mind.

High Adventure 2012 - Escalante

Looking down the Hole in the Rock

This year for High Adventure we went down to the Escalante Utah area.  Last year we learned about the Hole in the Rock Pioneers (Click HERE for more info on the pioneers), and were able to hike up the San Juan Hill.  This year we decided to go down to the actual Hole in the Rock carved out by the Pioneers to get down to the Colorado River.  They had walked for miles in search of a place where they could get down the cliffs surrounding the Colorado River to cross it, and had only found a crack, barely wide enough for wagons that dropped over 2,000 feet to the river!  They spent weeks blasting and chiseling out a path down the crack before they started taking their wagons down.  Coming from an Engineer, it was an Engineering Marvel!

Just to get down to the hole in the rock you have to drive 60 miles down a dirt road (4x4 is suggested, you may be able to make it in 2 wheel drive, but you'd have to be careful).  We stopped off at Devils Garden to let the boys (and adults) climb around and explore - it was a blast! Then we stopped at Dance Hall Rock for lunch.  That's where the Pioneers held dances to relieve their stress and relax a little on their journey.

Dance Hall Rock

The actual Hole in the Rock was a challenge because of the heat (it was in the upper 90's the day we did it). We were climbing down the crack, going over and around boulders with Lake Powell in view at the bottom. Our boy with Spina Bifida did this hike as well, and since it wasn't safe to take him in the Scout Carrier that was created to carry him around, he had to hike it on his own feet this time.  It was a challenge for him, but it was awesome to see his fellow scouts helping him all along the way and making sure he could make it.

Once we got to the bottom we of course jumped in Lake Powell, but wished it was a high mountain lake instead.  Lake Powell is very warm water!  We were searching for the cold spots in the lake to cool off.  It was refreshing, but it would have been so much better if the water was 10-20 degrees cooler!

Then we had the hike back up.  Again, it was challenging, and it was hot, but it was a little nicer since we started off wet (though that really only lasted the first 1/3 of the climb).

We also did two non-technical canyons on the trip, Spooky and Peek-a-boo canyons.  They're right next to each other (about 26 miles back down that Hole in the Rock dirt road), so we hiked up Peek-a-boo and back down Spooky.  They were really pretty canyons, with lots of cool formations!  Spooky was really narrow too, so that was fun!

Another day we did Lower and Upper Calf Creek Falls.  Lower Calf Creek Falls requires a 3.5 mile each way hike through sand.  It was a challenge, but it was so worth it when we got to the falls!  The water is so cold you can't stay in it long, but it was so refreshing!

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Upper Calf Creek Falls is more like 1.5 miles each way but involves more elevation change.  Both were so refreshing to jump into and swim around!  On each of these we used our scout carrier and took turns carrying to make sure we all made it.

We camped the whole time up at Posy Lake, which is 17 miles north of Escalante, up at 8,000 feet in elevation.  We didn't want to be stuck trying to sleep in 90 degree weather, so we opted to drive the extra distance in order to get a good nights sleep. It was worth it!

Blanding High Adventure - Lessons Learned

I learned a lot on this trip about the character of our scouts.  Some of these guys spend a lot of their time in front of the TV or video games, but when we got them outdoors, they changed.  They wanted to be challenged, and they wanted adventure.

We were rained on hard quite a few times, and when it wasn't raining it got pretty hot.  But the boys didn't ask to go back to camp, they were excited to do the next thing.  I heard very few complaints, and was impressed to see their energy levels.

Something that we determined about the scout carrier is that if the back handles were lengthened to allow someone walking behind to grab on and help get around obstacles or just to take the weight off for a few seconds would be nice.

We also learned that if you have a base camp, try to bring up an awning of some type to give you somewhere to go to cook and eat during the monsoonal rains.

We also learned that we can have fun, and learn something no matter what we're doing.

BACK

Blanding High Adventure - Canyoneering

We've done canyoneering before, but never with someone with spina bifida that needed help 90 percent of the way so this was a new experience!  We did 2 canyons and each of them required climbing quite a ways up a crack to get to the top of the canyon.  With each canyon we used the carrier to get our scout to the base of the climb, and then we helped him from below, above, and both sides where possible.  We also helped whoever was behind or in front of each of us as we made our way up to the top of the canyon.  Both canyons had a horizontal hike at the top to get over to the start of the canyon.

Whenever we didn't have the carrier we carried our scout on our backs

The last rappel was 100 feet, and our scout with challenges was a little nervous about it, but excited as well.  We had enough ropes that we were able to send him down with a top belay (and bottom), with his brother alongside him.  It was awesome to see the two of them working together as they made their way down!

Doing the last rappel

Back

Blanding High Adventure - Experiences Carrying a Scout

So, our main difference this year was that we have a scout with Spina Bifida in our troop now, that walks with a cane.  We really wanted to make sure he was included, especially in our High Adventure activities, so one of our scouts decided to make a stretcher type carrier, with a seat in the middle, for his Eagle Project.  He then donated it to the Spina Bifida Foundation of Utah for families of kids with Spina Bifida to check out and use.  We checked it out first to make sure it worked on our trip.

Hiking around Hovenweep National Monument

It worked great!  I was a little worried about some of the boys complaining about having to carry their troop member, but I had no need to worry.  The boys were practically fighting over who got to carry him, and going out of their way to carry the packs of the porters.  I had to force myself into the line to get a chance to try out the carrier, and carry our scout for awhile!

When it was too rough or narrow for the carrier, we carried him on our backs

There were times when the trail too rough, or too narrow, where we couldn't use the carrier.  In these circumstances we carried him on our backs, and kept on going.  He is the neatest scout you'll ever find, he was grateful for the help - maybe a little bit embarrassed, but grateful to have so much help from his peers.  And to have them fighting over who got to help him!  It was awesome!

I got the chance to carry him a couple of times (only because I cut in line and said it was my turn), and it was a really neat experience.  I carried him on a flat trail that was overgrown with weeds to the point that we had to keep lifting him high to get the weeds unstuck from the legs of the seat.  I also carried him going up a hill (San Juan Hill for those that know their Utah Pioneer History).  On that hill we had planned on switching off part way up, but the other leader and I just kept going.  As we got past 1/2 way up, the other boys gathered around us and each grabbed onto the carrier and lifted.  They helped us make it the rest of the way to the top!  It was awesome!  Nobody asked them to help, they just saw the need so they jumped into position to help!  I wish we had gotten photos of that part, but unfortunately we didn't.  Even so, it will be a memory that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Hiking up San Juan Hill

We had such a good experience that we have planned a trip soon to backpack up to the top of Timpanogos Peak with him.  We will be backpacking about 5 miles and then camping the night, bagging the peak the next morning, and then backpacking back down. It's 7 miles each way, with an elevation gain of 4,500 feet!  I wouldn't even try this if we didn't have a bunch of older scouts that are pretty tough, and up to the challenge of either carrying their pack with someone else's stuff, or carrying their fellow scout while someone else carry's their stuff.  It's going to be a challenge, but it will sure have rewards when we all get to the top of the peak!

It was such a great experience that I encourage any troop with similar challenges to definitely try what we did.  It has helped create so much unity in our troop!

BACK TO BLANDING HIGH ADVENTURE

Blanding High Adventure

This year for High Adventure we went to Blanding, Utah and did some canyoneering, and explored some Indian Cliff Dwellings/Ruins.  We experienced torrential downpours while at camp, and while driving, but didn't have much problem with the rains while we did our activities!  Our new challenge this year was that we have a boy with Spina Bifida, who walks with a cane.  High Adventure is supposed to be difficult, and hard, and really stretch the boys so that they can see what they're made up of, and what they can accomplish if they set their mind to it.  So, how do we have a difficult high adventure with a boy with physical challenges?  We include him in everything.  We still did the same things we would have done without him, but we helped him through it as well.  We were somewhat inspired by another troop that had a boy with Spina Bifida whom they carried everywhere they went - on all their campouts and everything.  So, one of the boys in our troop decided it would be better if we had some sort of carrier - like a stretcher with a chair in the middle.  That way we could carry the boy wherever we went.  So it was made as an Eagle Project, and donated to the Spina Bifida foundation of Utah for families to borrow for trips and stuff.  It turned out great, and was quite the asset on our trip!

Every year for High Adventure we try to have a theme for our trip, and this year's theme was "I will be my brother's keeper".  We chose this theme partly because we would be helping our brother, and carrying him along the way, but also because we wanted to become our brother's keeper.  Someone who is a brother's keeper is someone who watches out for other people, who helps with things and makes sure those around him are comfortable and taken care of.  We have far too few brother's keeper's in this world, and if we can help 16 scouts to become one, we're doing a world of good.

This trip was awesome!  We had no arguments, no complaining, no whining.  Most of the boys were fighting over who got to carry their brother!  It was one of the best High Adventures I have ever been on (and I've been on 10 of them!)

So, below are some of the logistics for our High Adventure.  What it took to get it planned, some neat experiences we had, some of my thoughts, and some things we learned along the way.

• Why go on High Adventure?
• Experiences Carrying a Scout
• Canyoneering
• Hammock Camping (yep, I slept in a hammock)
• Lessons Learned