Alpine Adventures

Instead of doing a traditional scout camp complete with daily flag ceremonies, merit badges and competitions, this year we combined with the other young men in the ward for an expedition to climb King's Peak, the highest mountain in Utah. We thought the boys would benefit from doing something challenging instead of the usual waterskiing at Lake Powell type of trip. Unfortunately, the result of that is participation was a little less than 50% of the young men in the ward. If it's not non-stop fun and entertainment, most people don't want to do it.

I only had 4 scouts this year, and just one came on the trip, Aidan Rice. He usually has a good attitude and is open to new experiences. I'm almost relieved that Gavin didn't come. He's shaped like a beach ball and has proven to be a slow hiker. Also missing were Jack, who I am sure has some sort of learning disability as well as a habit of missing every activity, and Travis, a new kid who just moved in the week before the camp.

We had plenty of adults on the trip. Brandon Taylor (assistant scoutmaster), Matt Staker (varsity coach), Dave Tanner (YM president), Dale Maughan (bishop), and James Harvey (YM 1st counsellor) all came.

Wednesday

Right to left - Jared Szymanski, Tyler Clark, Brandon Taylor,
James Harvey, Kayden Staker, Aidan Rice, Bennet Harvey,
Adam Blank, Austin Rice, Derek LeCheminant, Matt Staker.
Spencer and Paden Jorgensen, Soa Rosales and Dale Maughan
joined us Thursday.

We drove 3 hours to the Henry's Fork trailhead in a rainstorm, then hiked all day in a light, misting rain that ended up soaking everyone after a few hours. The trail follows a creek and climbs gradually for the first 5 miles. My pack was only 33 lbs, but I was concerned because I strapped my sleeping bag to the outside and it was getting wet. Pine forest surrounded the wide trail and we saw a moose at one point. The group stayed together reasonably well until the fork. The sky was solid gray with no visibility beyond about 1/4 mile so we had no sense of the majesty of nearby peaks and ridges.

At the fork we went right, a little longer 4 mile route that climbs up to a bench with several lakes. We trudged across a meadow through intensified rain and wind and were happy to get back to the shelter of forest. Several other scout groups had camped along the trail near the lakes, and told us that the weather had been like this all week. One group had even summited in that weather. Their view from the top was not majestic. We had to cross several little creeks and the trail passed through high grasses and bushes that totally soaked us if we weren't already. The group got a little strung out at this point with the Rice boys and Tyler lagging way behind.

When we reached Henry's Lake we were dismayed to see signs informing us of fire restrictions for 1/4 mile around the lake. We continued on up the hill to where we could legally have a fire, but that meant a long walk every time we wanted water. Our camp was just below the sheep herder cabin at the top of the ridge. Everyone set up their tents and then Brandon took charge of lighting a fire. He had a tinfoil dinner so a fire was a necessity for him. I helped find semi-dry wood by looking under logs, then dried it some more by using the backpacker stove as a sort of flamethrower. It was no simple task to get the wet wood to burn but Brandon pulled it off and the fire cheered us up.

Everyone complained about the Mountain Home backpacker dinners. The biggest problem was most of them didn't let the hot water cook them long enough. Undercooked rice and pasta isn't that appetizing. They weren't great, but properly cooked they weren't bad either.

The first night Aidan was in charge of the devotional so he said a few words and had me do a scoutmaster minute. I talked about ethics and used the example of the book I just read, "Five Days at Memorial" that told the story of doctors making decisions about who would get rescued after Hurricane Katrina.

My sleeping bag was damp but I slept well enough the first night. We all went to bed wondering what it would be like to feel sunlight again.

Thursday

Henry's Lake

Cheerful sunbeams greeted me when I awoke. I could see that we were in a basin surrounded by rocky ridges with King's Peak looming to the south. Steam rose out of the ground and wet logs in the early morning sunshine. This was our acclimation day, except for Matt and Kayden Staker who would be heading back a day early for a swim meet. They left at about 9 for the summit. We went up to the sheep herder's cabin where another group was camped. They were leaving early and putting extra supplies in the cabin, which is apparently the place where people exchange leftover supplies. I scored a nice piece of summer sausage from them. Bennet Harvey took Matt's fishing gear and actually caught some fish. Adam Blank had some fishing line, a hook and lure and he made his own pole. He also caught a couple of fish.

Bennet Harvey fishing

We took a little hike past a nice waterfall and up to a higher lake around noon. Bennet tried fishing again, this time wading way out in the lake in his underwear, and getting soaked to his neck. It wasn't exactly a warm day either with wind and partly cloudy. When we got back to camp I taught mammal study merit badge in about half an hour. Then I took about a 2 hour afternoon nap.

Soa Rosales, Bennet, Derek and Adam at the campfire

Matt didn't make it back until about 5:30. They didn't stay on the trail all the way and Kayden thought it would have been better if they had. Shortly after that the Jorgensens, Soa Rosales and Bishop Maughan showed up after hiking in a day late. We did the usual backpacker dinners and then the boys were off to fish and play in the lake again. After another fireside devotional, I stayed up until about 11:00 again, waiting for the fire to die. Aidan and Brandon kept me company, but most people went to bed about 9:30. I like to go to bed as late as possible because I hate having to get up early to pee. There is nothing worse than getting out of a warm sleeping bag in the early morning chill.

Friday

Heading up Gunsight Pass

I wanted to get an early start, but we didn't get out of camp until 8:20, and then we had to do a big water stop at the first creek. That involves pulling the pump filters out and laboriously filling every water bottle. We had to hike about a mile to get to the junction with the trail to Gunsight Pass.There was some talk about climbing up the Chute, but by then we were at least a mile east of it. It looked like a miserable climb anyway. At the top of the pass we could see Painter Basin, and the trail descended sharply down near some lakes. One option would be to traverse across the boulders, then up and over a ridge to avoid losing altitude. That's how Matt went. We opted to stick with the trail.

Painter Basin from Gunsight Pass

We went way down into the basin. It was pretty but also annoying to lose so much altitude. The trail winds way around to the south before climbing back up to a big flat valley between King's peak and another ridge. There was lots of water in sparkling clear rivulets even that high up. We zig-zagged back to the north across that flat valley. At the north end was the Chute, and a quick way back down, and on the northwest was a trail up to Anderson Pass.

Anderson Pass

The view from Anderson Pass was worth the entire hike. Another basin opens almost underfoot and beyond that a bunch of high Uintah peaks are visible stretching into the distance. From there the trail was no more, and about 1/4 mile of boulder hopping was required to reach the summit. There were about 30 people on the summit. It wasn't too cold except for when a cloud passed over. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and waited for the rest of the group. I stayed with the fast group. Dave Tanner was the last to make it to the summit. Austin Rice gave up a few hundred feet below the summit complaining of headaches and altitude sickness. Bishop stayed with him and they actually made it down before we did, staying on the trail.

King's Peak summit

I enjoy boulder hopping going up, but not so much going down. I was glad to get back to the trail. Brandon and I went with all the boys down the chute, while Dave and James took the trail back. James had hurt his knee on the hike in and it was a triumph for him to get to the top.

The Chute was great going down. It wasn't big boulders, but more dirt and loose rocks. I looked for the places with the small rocks and dirt, treated my feet like skis and jumped and slalomed my way to the bottom. It only took me 30 minutes. The boys took their time picking their way for an hour. From there it was further than I thought to get back to the trail. We made our way cross country through bushes, across creeks, forest and swamps for about an hour before reaching the trail. We got to camp around 5 PM, about an hour and a half ahead of Dave and James.

Descending the Chute

Saturday

Facing a 10 mile hike back to the cars, we made an early start, leaving camp a little after 7. I stayed in the rear for half the hike talking to Dave Tanner about everything from travel to politics. We stopped to talk to a couple of guys who were heading up to the summit, and one of them called me by name. I was surprised to see Tim Yazzi, a friend from medical school who I haven't seen since graduation. He moved to Ogden recently. I would have liked to talk to him a little longer and find out if he ever married but our friends were eager to get going. Tim started from the parking lot this morning. I would like to do the hike like that someday.

With about 3 or 4 miles to go we caught up to Austin, who was wearing down again. Brandon and I decided to try and catch the fast group, almost jogging down the trail. We caught James, who was swinging his bad leg in an awkward stride. He said he was fine as long as he walked "like a weirdo". We made it to the parking lot before 11 but not before the advance group.

We stopped for lunch in Evanston at Wendy's. There were about 100 scouts in there, some that we had seen on our trail. The place smelled like a locker room with a campfire. The boys had fantasized about food for days so we all got our fill of greasy fried food and sugary drinks.

King's peak lived up to its stature as the highest mountain in Utah. It's a formidable and scenic hike and it made a fun high-adventure activity.

Looking West from the summit

Dave Tanner enjoying the summit