Troop 225’s Colorado Trip

Pic's of Resurrection Trail, Swanson River,...and Our new friend Bill

2010-06-10T01:24:00.012-05:00

38 miles over a 60 hour period

2010-06-09T02:43:00.003-05:00

The Resurrection Trail and the Swanson River is why I came to Alaska, to experience the true wilderness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time at the Gone Fishin Lodge (GFL), but to be honest a campout at Larry's is more rustic than it was. We were being pampered, and it was time for an outdoor experience. Of course we did start this leg of the adventure with even more pampering. When our original charter company could not fly for us due to high winds, our good friend Dick at GFL, was able to hook us up with the Talon Air Charter Service. They had a bigger plane (a DeHaviland Otter) that could not only handle the weather, but they also got all of us and our gear to Lake Juneau in only two trips and saved us about $20.00! That Otter gave us all one sweet ride.

We could have not asked for better accommodations than the Romig Lake cabin. Great view of the lake, wood burning stove....and complete isolation. There were times (mostly when the boys were asleep) that it was possible not to hear a single man-made sound. Just the wind through the trees, the water gently lapping against the shore, the call of a bird, or the occasional slap of a beaver's tail. We spent two nights at this idyllic site. Fishing occasionally (to no avail), hiking along the trails, eating well..and sometimes doing nothing but relishing the moment.

We awoke on what would be our last morning at Romig Cabin, and began the chores of breaking camp. Tents and sleeping bags had to be rolled, backpacks had to be stuffed. Every member of the party was given a ziplock baggie that contained six cheese crackers, 3 pieces of beef jerky, a cup of trail mix, a box of raisins, a fruit bar, a granola bar, and 4 drink mixes. I gave them all these simple instructions that bright morning...."this is your lunch, I do not care when you eat your lunch, feel free to trade with your neighbor if you do not like something, this is the only lunch you will be given today, so plan accordingly." I am happy to report that these instructions, and this meal plan work smoothly. We finally started down the trail at 0950 that morning. We were 9 miles from where our cars would be awaiting us and were hopeful that we could do at least half of that this first day. At 1100 we had made it to the trailhead for Trout Lake and stopped for a long break. Some of our party took the 1/2 mile trail over to the actual Lake, while some of us knew we still had a lot of trail to cover and sat back and relaxed. While we were waiting a group of bicyclists came down the trail and stopped and chatted with us. They reported that news was that someone had killed a bear (yeah, right) at Bear Creek trailhead so reportedly there was heightened bear activity in that area. Once our party returned from Trout Lake we loaded the packs on our back and resumed our march down the trail. By the time we stumbled upon our campsite at Juneau Falls it was around 1500 and we had covered a total of 4.79 miles. The boys were in good spirits, but I personally was dog tired. Our home for the night did help to revive my lagging spirit. This campsite was on a canyon that dropped about 50-70 feet into the Juneau Falls, and like most of what we saw on the Resurrection Trail it was absolutely gorgeous! We feasted this night on beef noodles with diced Spam, mashed potatoes, and gravy...a meal for wilderness kings.

The next morning we awoke knowing we had to reach the end of the trail by 1130 so that Griff could fly out on a business trip. We had a quick breakfast of granola bars and nutri-grain bars, packed our things and hit the trail. We saw more people this day then any other...both bikers and day hikers...but no one loaded down with the burdens we were carrying. It being a Sunday, during one of our trail breaks we were even able to celebrate a religious service. There is really nothing like praising God than when one is in one of His natural temples....looking across a valley at a snow-covered mountain...awe-inspiring. Most of this days hike was generally downhill and we reached our destination 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Judy was waiting for Griff, and our nice friends from Talon were waiting with our vans. Judy wanted to take pictures of us, however, for once the mosquitoes were so bad that we just threw the packs in the vans and hit the road.

It was our understanding that we were starting the canoe trek the next day, however, the CANOE LADY WITH AN ATTITUDE had us down as starting that day. We had decided that we should go by and check in just to make sure we were all set up, and to put it kindly, she spoke rather directly. No big deal, we dashed to Fred Mayer (note to parents: each of your kids love this mega-store...pray that one never comes to Greater KC), replenished supplies, repacked our packs in the parking lot, and were back at the Outfitter by 1530. We made it on the Swanson River to start this leg of our trek and begin paddling at 1700. All went well that first day as I believe Gary & Steve were the only ones to sink their boat. We had made 5 miles by 2000 and found one of those rare camp sites on this river. Dinner this night was grilled steak, baked onions, grilled corn on the cob, and cinnamon baked apples...it was a night of feasting. After dinner, while we were waiting the dish water to heat, we were blessed with a truly amazing show. We heard what sounded like splashing down stream from us. When we looked that way we saw a moose cow and calf crossing the river about 75 yards away. They reached the far bank and then grazed across the field opposite of us. Then they recrossed the river about 50 yards up stream from us and vanished into the woods. Amazing that such a huge animal moves about so effortlessly.

We awoke the next morning knowing we had 22 miles of river left to contend with. Our new plan was to paddle all the way into Cook's Inlet and camp at Captain Cook State Park. Due to the use of GPS we knew we had averaged 2.2 miles per hour the previous day and would need to pick up our pace. Of course we were slowed down when Ed & Kevin sank their canoe, but fortunately, that was the only spill of the day. Alex and Bradley had problems of their own as the canoe they were in had a slow leak that required continual bailing. I have to commend these two young men as they never complained and never asked for a different boat. They just dealt with the hand they had received. After a long and tiring day we finally entered Cooks Inlet around 1500. As we did, I told my bowman Logan that this event is something that should be forever ingrained in his lifetime memory book. Canoeing down a river and into an ocean is an experience that not many people from Kansas ever get in their lifetime. I will use a word I probably use too often, but it was awesome.

There you have it. That's how we moved ourselves and our gear 38 miles in a 60 hour period. The canoe outfitter picked us up at 1000 this morning, we got in our vans and went to a laundry mat for some needed cleaning. Then off to Seward and hiked the Exit Glacier....then north to Anchorage and the Lake Jewell Nazarene Church. It is now 0045 and I am way past ready for bed. Sorry no pics tonight but those have not been downloaded yet. I will try to get some of those on here tomorrow plus some comments from the boys.

Sleep well, oh, and by the way....there are NO BEARS in Alaska!

Road trip to Homer

2010-06-03T02:57:00.004-05:00

Pirate Ed!

I do not know if this is a MAIL bee or a feMAIL bee...

Angler Steve

These are not real bears...the conspiracy continues...

We saw many strange and wonderful sights on the way to, in, and around Homer today. Strange animals, a rogue pirate, and a famous ship...but of course, NO BEARS! This will be the last post for several days as we begin the backpacking element of the trek in the morning. Pray for us all (especially the leaders), and look forward to all the tales you will hear of our exploits.

2010-06-02T12:55:00.005-05:00

Cody & Aaron looking for clams...Bradly reeling in a leviathan

Alex trying to open a Clam the hard way, and Kevin with a new friend.

Logan getting psyched up to catch halibut.

Matt & Aaron, both in search of the wiley halibut.

Devan by the Kasilloff River

Our rafting trip was cancelled today due to high water. Thought I would post a picture of all of the boys to document that they are still healthy and have not suffered any bear attacks. We are all having a great time. It is still under discussion as to what we will do today, but I think we are leaning towards a trip to Homer, and just spending the day as tourists. maybe some window shopping, maybe a museum, maybe hike a few trails. Some days it's good to not be too structured.

As you look at the pictures above, I think it is obvious that these guys are enjoying themselves. However, there is something missing in these pictures....can anyone guess what it is? That's right, no bears! Put a dollar figure on it. Our little group purchased four cans of bear mace at $30.....

2010-06-01T19:48:00.002-05:00

Today the 31st of May a few of us went on a wildlife/glacier cruise. We saw whales loke the humpback and the orca (which is actually a dolphin). We saw a black bear (I saw it first, no joke). The glaciers were pretty cool, especially when pieces started falling off. I was the only person to get sick, but sitting in the back of the boat I was able to see the hump back breach (which is when it jumps completely out of the water). We all saw so many birds, the best was the puffins, they were awesome. For now this is Matt signing off...

Today we went on a wilderness cruise. We saw a lot of animals. First we saw some sea otters. After that we saw a bald eagle. Then there were some puffins. Later we saw a lot of sea lions. The sea lions fought a lot. After that there were a whole bunch of orca whales and I learned that they were actually dolphins. Then we saw a glacier. It was huge and looked blue. Some ice fell off a few times and it sounded like thunder. After that we went to Fox Island to eat dinner before the cruise was over. We hiked to Exit Glacier and we could hear the rushing water below the glacier where the water melted....Logan

The boys are correct...it was an awesome cruise. I do want to comment on this suppossed bear. It is the only thing approaching the appearance of a bear that we have seen. It was on the shoreline about 300 yards away. It did move and act like a bear....however, knowing the strength of the Bear Mace Lobby, and the incredible work that Disney has done with animatronics. Let's just say I need more documentation that bears really exist in Alaska...

Clam Digging

2010-05-31T00:15:00.010-05:00

What a fantastic day (again). We spent most of the day digging for clams, and then getting them cleaned. We enjoyed them fried and also in clam chowder, along with Beef Tenderloin and Smoked Salmon. But that's enough information from me....let's see what a couple of boys have to say about today!

We arrived at Clam Gulch. We put on our hip waders and got our gear. Then we walked towards the water. We had no idea what we were doing. We asked many people what to do, and we still didn't know how to do it. We thought we would never get anything. Then we found a person that knew what they were doing. We looked for very small hole where the clams dug into the sand. After we found what we were looking for we started to catch a lot of them. At the end of the day we caught a total of 80 clams! We got back to the lodge and we cleaned and ate the clams. They were very tasty!.....Cody

Today all 13 of us went clam digging at clam gulch. We had a rough time at the beginning finding out how to find the clams. We asked around at the more familiar natives on how to find the clams. Once we got the hang of it, we got our first clam of the day. It was all easy from there on. We dug for about 2 and a 1/2 hours. By the time we were done we had about 70 clams. Later that day we cleaned the clams and made some scrumptious clam chowder and fried clams...Bradley

and now a word from some of the boys...

2010-05-29T23:24:00.007-05:00

Today in halibut fishing, we fished in the cook inlet. We ended up getting our limit for the day with a total of 14 halibut. The biggest fish that we caught in the day was 40 pounds and had to get beat with a club to stop flopping. We had almost no luck early in the day, but as the tides shifted, and we found a new spot, we got our limit really quick. After we were done for the day, our guide got the meat prepared and we ate it for our supper.------Aaron

A group of 3 boys (Cody, Alex, & Kevin) and 1 adult (Steve) went salmon fishing. While driving to the boat we saw 2 moose. Finally we started fishing. We caught a couple of dollys (small fish/trout). Finally I got a strike from a King salmon. It took a good 7 minutes to get it to the boat. But as we tried to net it the hook came undone. It got away and that was the only salmon bite we had all day. The guide said it was about 25 pounds…a good fish. So concluded the first salmon fishing day.-----Kevin

We drove towards KCI at an average rate of 65 MPH. The trees of Kansas that we would soon miss were rushing past us. We drove into a fast food restaurant they called “McDonalds”. “Ehh, I’ll take a #2 with just cheese and catsup”, said a boy named Alex. We gulped our drinks and scarved down our food, for this would be the last Kansas food we would have.
Later on, we arrived at our plane. It was a CRJ9000, Super Small. I sat down next to Bradley and across from Steve. We landed at the great city of Salt Lake City, Utah. We ate at the BL Lounge. Then we ran to our Anchorage flight like a speeding bullet. The plane boarded when we got there. We set our weary feet upon the aeroplane. Our eyes flurried with the sight of a gigantor flying dragon amongst our midst. BZ7-2570. It had an LED flatscreen TV on every chair. We watched Dear John, Hurt Locker, and Legion. We played Galagor, Poker, and Legion. It was fun.-----Alex

Today Me, my dad, and Mr. Knott were the only people not fishing. We decided to go and drive around look for a moose. We looked around and saw 3 moose. We then went to the town of Kenai and visited the flea market. There were many vendors and we looked at a lot of them. The one I liked the most was a fur vendor and they had all types of hats and things but the best thing was a black and white fur and tube like thing. It was about the size of a small pillow and it was the best thing ever. Later that day we walked along a rocky beach on the Cook’s Inlet and we found some really cool rocks. After all the driving around we sat along the side of a river and waited for the salmon fishermen and then went back to the cabin.----Devan

Alaska trip...Post II

2010-05-29T09:34:00.003-05:00

Here it is Saturday morning, 6:45, and I have already been up for almost 3 hours. Steve, Kevin, Alex, & Cody went King Salmon fishing this morning and I chauffered them to the river. Made it back in time to send off Ed, Gary, Bradley, Logan, Matt, & Aaron for their halibut adventure. Devan, Griff, and myself have nothing formal planned this morning so I thought I would catch you up on what we have been doing.

Ed, Matt, Bradley and myself made it to Sam's yesterday morning about 9:00 AM and loaded up on food. We spent about $650, that coupled with earlier food purchases still puts us several hundred under budget!!! Meanwhile, back at Lake Jewel Nazarene Church, the rest of our crew were working on service projects. Trimmed trees & bushes, painted a door & a cross, vacuumed, pulled some weeds, lost a pair of Gary's gloves....all in all a succesful project. By the way, this piture is from just outside the door of the church.

We left the church at noon and headed to R.E.I. for some last minute supplies, brown bag lunch in the parking lot, and then picked up the satellite phone. Finally left Anchorage at around 2:00 heading south for Soldotna. I must say it was one of the all time scenic drives. Tide was out, so on one side of the road we had the tidal marsh and on the other we had mountains with occassional waterfalls as the drained into Turnagain Arm. Pictures will follow in a later posts but as everyone that took pictures on the drive is now fishing...Ed did get a nice pic of a Moose with her calf....

We made it to the Gone Fishin Lodge in Soldotna around 6:00 last night. Nice place and nice people. Assignments were made, fishing arrangements made, and a spaghetti feast followed.

My personal moose count is 4 cows, 1 young bull, and 2 calves. So far no bears have been spotted. I am beginning to suspect that there are no bears. That the presumed existence of them is a plot by the bear mace industry to proliferate the marketing of more anti-bear materials...

In my experience these types of trips always end up with certain catch phrases that won't die. So far, this trip's seem to be: "aLASka"...& "it was the wrong sized pretzels"...

Now that we are at the Lodge, posts should come more regularly, but that's all for now.

Troop 225's Alaska Trip

2010-05-28T10:47:00.002-05:00

Good Morning

Anchorage is a beautiful city to fly into at night. All the lights reflecting off Cook's Inlet was an incredible way to end our first day. It was a long and uneventful day, that ended with us getting into bed about 1:30 AM local (4:30 central) here at Jewel Lake Nazarene Church. Most of the adults are already awake this morning as we prepare to get supplies and head to Soldotna. Let the adventure continue!

2010 Alaska

2010-05-26T08:22:00.001-05:00

Farewell

2008-06-14T10:59:00.000-05:00

From the driving, fishing, and camping to seeing a wreck and Mr. Davey stopping a bunch with his “truck issues,” we had a lot of fun. This was an amazing experience. People reading this blog have not realized the sights and scenes we have seen in person. One thing that we recommend when you come to Colorado is to bring warm clothing don’t let the pictures fool ya it is freezing but memorable. Now we are on the road again this time not to Colorful Colorado but to home. Don’t worry, we will visit again trust us. Thanks for being able to share the experience with us. This is where the road ends on our long memorable trip. Good bye Colorful Colorado we will be back soon.

Last night camping

2008-06-14T10:58:00.002-05:00

It was rather a cold night even though it is summer it got down to about 40 degrees but not as bad as how cold it was in Colorado. We got there about 8:00 p.m. but the people who went to Pikes Peak got back at 10:15 p.m. Of course to celebrate a great experience and fun time some kids stayed up late (12:00) and went wild. Jumping up and down in their sleeping bags and yelling. Even though the people who were trying to sleep were fed up with it they under stood that the very next day they would see their family and were excited. When we woke up it was hard Jack came through the camp site yelling “WAKE UP, IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP.” Everyone was annoyed and hates to hear that. We were planning to leave around 6:30 and guess what……….. WE DID IT. We actually left on time. After eating Cheerio’s and Raisin Bran of course. We headed out for the last drive of this trip.

Ugh Flat Tire

2008-06-14T10:50:00.003-05:00

Ok here is what happened to Mr. Davey we were driving down the highway when all of a sudden the trailer felt like it hit a bump. Mr. Davey pulls over and takes a look at it. First tire looked fine second did too. Then he went around the other side a saw what the problem was. The tread on the tire was worn down. It ended up flying up and hit the light out above it. See we do have some of issues with the trailer. Well hopefully there should be no more.

On Top Of the World

2008-06-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

Going up to Pikes Peak was one of the greatest sights you can ever see. Traveling up to an elevation of 14,110 feet, when you’re used to 750 feet is a huge difference. The oxygen is so little that just walking up to the gift shop can catch you out of breath. Only 10 of us went up the mountain; Tory Campbell, Tyler Spitz, Sam Rose, Aaron Phillips, Matt Kleinsorge, Bobby Wickwire, Nathan Weber, Dylan Magaster, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Bay, oh, and of course you can’t forget Armando. When we finally made it to the top the sight was amazing. And when you looked over the edge, the only thing that gets your adrenaline running more is the drive up and down the narrow path. Of course we also played hacky sack at 14,110 feet. A new troop record! And for all the people that didn’t go or weren’t able to, we strongly recommend it.

Crossing the Continental Divide’s

2008-06-13T20:06:00.003-05:00

We are very lucky to have been able to cross the Continental Divide more than once. One time it was in Cottonwood Pass the other was Monarch Pass. It was really cool and nifty. Armando had fun with us. He got some pictures with us. The thing was we did not like crossing it when we had to leave.

The right way

2008-06-13T19:46:00.003-05:00

Ed’s Backup

2008-06-13T19:45:00.003-05:00

Ed’s Got No Gas, That’s a first

2008-06-13T19:41:00.003-05:00

Well this was quite a story. Mr. Davey was driven down the road and Mr. Davey pulled to the side of the road and he got out and Jack said over the 2 way radio. It seems Mr. Davey is almost out of gas and can’t reach the gas station, we still don’t know what were going to do. He has a spare gas can and filled up just enough to reach the next gas station. This isn’t the first time its happened either; once on the way up here and once on the way back.

Friday the 13th...It Happened in Front of Us!

2008-06-13T18:31:00.002-05:00

We left Garden of the Gods, after eating another meal of cold cut sandwiches, and were on our way to Colby when we started having the truck trouble. Mr. Davey pulled the truck onto the shoulder and got ready to hop out to see what the noise was, when across the barrier a tanker truck merged into the adjacent lane forcing a sedan up against the barrier. The sedan slid about 50 feet before teetering to a stop atop the barrier. Mr. Meier jumped out to go help muttering something about being boy scouts, having first aid training, and how lucky it was he had his CPR mask with him. As it turned out no one got hurt, so as soon as Mr. Davey and Mr. Hill made a temporary repair to the truck we got Mr. Meier back in the truck and pulled out. In the end the only thing that came of the accident was one shaken woman driver, a totaled sedan, a good blog story and a tanker truck driver…whose insurance rates just went up.

Breakdown

2008-06-13T17:12:00.001-05:00

Remember when we told you that Mr. Davey’s truck slid into a ditch and messed up the muffler. Well we thought that it would not really hurt the truck and we would make it home. Of course we were wrong. About 12 miles from the Garden of the Gods Mr. Davey heard something from the back. At first he thought it was in the trailer and something was loose. So he went back and made sure that it was ok. It looked like it was fine so we took off. About another mile down the road he heard it again so he checked it again it still looked ok so took off one more time. Another mile down the road it was another stop this time Mr. Hill and Mr. Davey went under the truck to see what the issue was. They found that the heat shield was rubbing up against something and was cutting it in half so they had to find a wire of some sort to hold the muffler back. After 20 minutes we found one and helped it out a little. Finally we were on the road again.

Big Old Rocks

2008-06-13T16:45:00.003-05:00

At the Garden of the Gods, there were rocks, big rocks, and grass! It was a blast! There were big red rocks, and the grass was plentiful and green as can be. Jared, Jack, and Matt walked around the Garden of the Gods. The rocks were named too, The Kissing Camels, White Rock, and Balanced Rock. Sam Rose found out who won the NBA finals, and that Big Brown came last in the Horse Derby. We ever found out where those big red rocks came from. It was great how big those rocks were and we learn so much from it! I hope we can do it again!!!!!

Last Meal

2008-06-13T15:40:00.001-05:00

For our last meal we had a lot of meat. Mike, the cowboy and Patch the dog, came and ate with us. We had all the meats from steak to ribs and chicken. As a side we had green beans. It was the tastiest meals we have had in a long time. Thanks to Mr. Hill and Matt K. the meat was cooked well done and perfect. MMMMM it was scrumptious.

Where did we hike?

2008-06-13T15:25:00.006-05:00

That was the question Cal, Tory, Sean and Tyler had by the end of the climb. We started our hike at 11:01 in the morning. Are goal was to climb Fair View Peak which is the second tallest mountain in our area. We started our hike on a road leading us up the mountain. We were hiking along and came across a stream that ran down Henry Mountain which is right next to Fair View Peak. A little farther up the road turned in to a creek. Water was gushing down the road making a stream carrying away the lose dirt. We hiked on whatever looked to be the driest spot on the road until we came to a beaver dam that was made across the road. It had broken so the water was running throw the opening. Farther up we came upon the site of the peak and “man” was it high. The stream we were following had snow all along the bank. But as we came to a ravine with a few scattered trees, we noticed that the peak we where hiking wasn’t Fair View Peak, it was Henry Peak. We took out the map and saw that there was a hill to the other side of the ravine allowing us to cross over to Fair View. But the map is not the same as what it looks like in real life. The hill was steep and it took a good 20 minutes to climb 150 feet. At the top of the hill we saw the other peak. It was at least 2 miles away. We ate lunch at 1:20 on the top of that hill. During that time we decided to climb the last half of Henry’s Peak. So we started hiking up on a road leading us through flat spots until we came to a hill. The hill had the same incline as the one before lunch but not as tall so we decided to take the challenge. We climbed the hill very slowly and when we came to the top we saw snow banks that where 3 feet high and 7 feet wide. And these banks were in strips so we had about 2 feet of dry land before him next. This was surprisingly one of the shortest distances of that terrain we came to that day. When we rounded a curve in the road we saw the peak. But before we could reach it we had two more obstacles. For our first obstacle, we had to hike over a quarter mile in snow where only 15 feet of trees were sticking out of the snow. Every now and then we hit a lose spot of snow and we would fall waist deep in the snow and hearts pounding from fear we would fall clear through. We came to our second obstacle which was a side of the mountain that was all rock for about another 800 feet to the top. As we climb we stopped every 100 feet to catch our breath. At the top there was a 30 foot face of rock that we had to climb. As we got to the top, we were met with a 40 mph wind blast. Henry’s Peak stands at about 13,200 feet so we saw all around as stood in awe. We saw nothing but a mountain range covered in snow. We saw 2 other peaks that were only within 20 minutes so we walked to each with ease. As we came to the last peak we saw a way down that wasn’t as steep. We walked down to the tree line and saw something that was too good. In front of us was an endless sight of a winter wonderland. Surrounding the trees was a 4-foot snow bank. We fell through snow banks so often that it became a blessing that you could finally stand on it. Mr. Spitz and Mr. Campbell fell once and it took them 3 minutes to dig there way out. When we finally got out of the blanket of snow we were met with a hill that was on the other side of the ravine as the first. The only problem was that it was bigger. It took us half an hour to get down this hill and at the bottom we were on the road we started on. When we got back to the van we were exhausted. It was 8:30 p.m. We hiked a total of 9.5 hours. Just because we were done with the hike didn’t mean we wanted to learn more about our experience. On our last night in base camp, we had the local rancher come and eat with us. That’s when we learned that it wasn’t Henry’s Peak that we climbed it was Cross Peak. Cross Peak stands at 12,459 feet in elevation. That’s why the question, where did we hike?

Cowboy Mike

2008-06-13T14:53:00.001-05:00

He was a nice man with a great attitude. He came and visited us for our last dinner in Colorado. His dog Patch came with him too in fact Patch goes everywhere with him. Cowboy Mike lives in the valley of where we were camping his house looks like he built it by himself. He has a few horses I don’t know about cows. After he came and ate dinner with us he ended up taking 4 bags of meat back home. Don’t forget about the bone for Patch.

Rocky Mountain Rock Climbing

2008-06-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

Only two of us went rock climbing. It was a fun experience for them. They climbed pretty darn high. It was really hard and tiring too. For three hours they kept this up. It was kind of cool because they came back really tired. Although very tiring it was a blast.

Fishing with Fishes

2008-06-13T12:17:00.002-05:00

The fishing was excellent. Plenty of fish in the Taylor Reservoir. At least 30 fish this trip. Cody held the record for the most fish caught on this trip at least 10 in a row. Mr. Bay holds the record for the longest on this trip a 20 incher. Mr. Hill was close behind with an 18 incher. Not much people went fishing but whoever did caught at least one. It was a blast.

Horseback Riding

2008-06-13T12:15:00.001-05:00

When we went to a horse’s farm we saw a couple goats and a dog named Lille. But that’s not important, we saw about 20 horses and lots of farmhands. The farmhands got each of us a horse and we saddled up and followed the horse in front of us. My horses’ name was Merlyn, and I got us stopped like 2 times, once for my saddle slipping, then for my wallet falling out of my pocket. Joe’s horse also ran up off the terrain and went into the field because the horse in the back of him decided to back up into his butt and he didn’t like to be manhandled so he ran into the field. It was a slow smooth course through the valley and it was a good time.

Taylor Park

2008-06-13T12:12:00.003-05:00

When we first arrived at Taylor Park we were all excited and ready to go camping. Down where we were supposed to be camping was a little issue. A big snow bank was in the way. Our scout leader, Mr. Davey, took his truck and decided to see if he could get through. As he was passing through the tires started to slip and spin all of a sudden the truck’s rear end moved and fell into the ditch, almost flipping. About 30 minutes later we got the truck unstuck with a messed up muffler. We felt that maybe staying at that campsite was a bad idea so we found another one that was good to stay at. It was easier to get too. Because of all that trouble we did not get to go fishing. Oh well maybe the next day. Armando had a lot of fun too.

Tower climbing

2008-06-09T10:42:00.003-05:00

After we rafted we rested for a little bit. Then Jared, Tory, Tyler, Jack, Joseph, Isaac, and Dylan started a preplanned hike. We wanted to walk up to a radio tower about 1000 feet above base camp. We started by grabbing day packs and radios. Then everyone rendezvous on the end of camp and we began climbing. Jack was leading us followed closely by Jared. Our order changed every now and then. But getting up the first hill was our objective. Once we were there we took a rest to wait for the others to catch up. Joseph even found a deer antler. Then, we decided the easiest way to go was over the ridgeline then down. The biggest problem was the cacti. There was over 100 on the whole trip! So we hiked and started climbing up a steep hill about 2 meters steep. Then, we took another break to go pee and wait for the others behind us. Climbing up the next hill was the toughest. We started at the same time and started using our hands to climb up the steep incline. Jared and Tyler reached the top of the hill. We spotted wildlife! The, right in front of us was a grown deer, a buck. Jared tried to get a picture but it ran away before the others could see him. We took over 200 pictures with all of our cameras put together and got some very good scenic pictures. The view from the top of the mountains was beautiful. But we decided we can’t stay here too long, it was getting dark. The leaders were telling all the hikers to return be we had a mission, and we didn’t come this far to turn around and go home, Jack had the idea to turn back when the sun reached the mountains. We climbed up the next mountain and that was not too steep and we could easily walk up it. We made it to the radio tower! It took us and hour and thirty minutes to get there. It was beautiful from the top; we could see four mountain ranges behind us and the Royal Gorge. We took 40 of our pictures just up there. Walking back was pretty straight forward, until jack started running and Jared and Tyler and the rest tried to keep up. It took 30 minutes to return to camp. The whole trip took two and a half hours. But it was worth it.

Royal Gorge or White Water Rafting?

2008-06-09T10:31:00.001-05:00

Wow, what an experience. Rafting down the Colorado River was one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done. We started off by getting into our wet suits, some we cold and uncomfortable, but the lucky people got the dry suits. Then, we got our helmets and then our booties. Once that was settled, we got onto the buses and drove toward the Gorge, or for the younger boys Big Horn. But the fun doesn’t start until we got on the water, rafting down the life threatening rapids and the dangerous rocks. The only thing that bothered most of us was the temperature. The water was freezing! So getting splashed didn’t help the cold, it made it worse. But being tired was the best part because it took no time at all to go sleep.

Church

2008-06-09T10:30:00.005-05:00

The next morning after breakfast we went to a Nazarene Church down in Canon City. The pastor was a really nice man with great prayers. Some people in our troop started to fall asleep or nod off. In the back there was a man who made all of us giggle a little. He kept saying “That’s right, AHMEN” after every sentence the pastor said. It was a good laugh. Besides that all of the people in the church (not very much) were extremely kind and respectful to us.

Camping at 6800 Feet

2008-06-09T10:30:00.003-05:00

Our campsite was located next to the Royal Gorge in Canon City Park. It had a great view. Some of our troops went on hikes in to the foot hills and an amazing view of Canon City. Food at the campsite was exultant. We had warm scrumptious chili, hot steamy spaghetti, and warm mouth watering Chris cakes, sausage, and bacon!

USAAF Chapel

2008-06-07T17:38:00.003-05:00

Down a little trail was a gigantic triangular figure with sharp edge on the top. It was the Chapel of USAAF. It has an upstairs church for Christian and Catholic persons. The downstairs area was for Jewish and Buddhist. It was at least 100 feet tall it was an amazing sight. Amazing place for church.

Visiting the Visitors Center

2008-06-07T17:35:00.002-05:00

After the Falconry we headed back to where we ate lunch which is the Visitors Center. It’s full of amazing stuff. From shirts, coffee cups, and golf balls too small scale airplane collectible’s. When we got there we just on time for a 14 minute movie about the USAAF’s history. It was cool but it was not as fun as it would have been with Armando. On to the next tour site of USAAF.

Flaming Fast Falcon

2008-06-07T17:24:00.002-05:00

After eating on Uncle Sam’s lawn we headed out for the USAAF Falconry. It was a small building. Inside it looked rather big though. We meet over 10 falcons. Some of these were free flight birds which on the USAAF football halftime shows they perform. The others are just for demonstrations. One of the Peregrine Falcons was Oblio who was one of the academy’s mascots. He was the demonstrator for us. We were glad that we went it was fun!!

Lunch on Uncle Sam’s Lawn

2008-06-07T17:18:00.001-05:00

Arriving at The Air Force Academy we were all very hungry. So we stopped at the parking lot of the USAAF and ate some (deli)-icoius cold cut sandwiches. With (deli)-icoius ham, salami, turkey, with American cheese and white American cheese, cheesy Doritos chips, and some good ol’ fashion, delicious, purified, and clear as crystal water. It was good lunch for and on-the-go snack.

Crossing the Colorado Boundary

2008-06-07T09:34:00.007-05:00

About 1 hour and 30 minutes into are trip after we left the John Deere lot we came across a sign we loved to see. “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” it read. We were all excited to finally be here. We all got out of the car and lined up under the sign to take a picture all of us including Armando. We made it. We made it to Colorado. Soon we will arrive at the next stop!

Sleeping at John Deere’s House

2008-06-07T08:52:00.003-05:00

When we arrived at John Deere about 9:00 p.m. there was still some light in the sky. We wanted to get all are sleeping gear set up before it was too late. TAPS was at 10:00 p.m. The next morning cooks had to get up at 6:30 a.m. We had some burritos made of eggs, onions, peppers, and tortillas. The rest of the group got up at 7:00 a.m. and ate about 15 minutes later. At 8:00 we left the lot and headed out for another lengthy trip to Colorado Spring Air Force Academy.

Windy Windmills

2008-06-07T08:45:00.003-05:00

Traveling down the road between Salina and Colby, we passed a large windmill farm that some of us have never seen before. It was quite a sight. Standing about 100 to 200 feet tall, with propellers as long as a semi truck, and metallic colors shining in the sun, it was an experience we will not soon forget. Next stop, Colorado Springs Air Force Academy!

How Many Burgers Can You Eat?

2008-06-06T18:08:00.003-05:00

Traveling down the road was both exciting and tiresome. Armando kept us company though. While most boys slept others chatted or listened to Journey. But once we were all settled down we reached Salina, Kansas, home of the America’s smallest burgers! While there were six burgers in a package a lot of boys ate up to four or five. We filled up on tiny burgers then we were on the road again. Heading straight for Colby, Kansas.

The Beginning of a Long Road Ahead

2008-06-06T17:28:00.005-05:00

Getting at Collage Church of the Nazarene an hour late was expected for most boys. But once everyone was there and shakedown was completed, bathroom trips were finished, pictures were over, and coolers were filled to the brim, we were ready to go. Packing up all the gear, boxes, and everything, this was the beginning of a long trip ahead. We have all been looking forward for this trip for a very long time.