Hike to the Top

In late September, Troop 683 - the Eagle Patrol - headed to Four Peaks to hike to the highest of the four peaks - Brown's Peak.  After a "good night's sleep", Adam, as the troop bugler, played reveille and the troop started to stir and prepared for the climb.

Sunrise.

 

Breakfast burritos by Brother Lamoreaux.  A hearty breakfast before the climb.

 

 

Here is the troop ready to take on Brown's Peak.

Off they go.

 

The first part of the trail.  The trailhead was at 5700 ft. and the peak is 7657 ft in elevation.  The troop would gain 1957 feet over 2.5 miles.

 

The troop paused to take a picture just before reaching Brown's Saddle.  The mountain peak behind them was their goal. 

They are on their way.

 

Stunning views along the way.  That is Saguaro Lake in the distance with Gilbert in the haze beyond that.

Adam before the steep climb.  That is Brown's Peak behind him and you can see the crevice they will have to climb to reach the top.

 

Jake found a snake.

 

They also found a horned toad.

Carlos wore the horned toad as an earring.  Ouch!

At the end of the trail is a CLIMB.  Straight up.  Belly to the rock.  One step at a time climb.  Everyone made it at least this far.  Nine made it to the top.

 

Almost to the top.

 

Adam is almost to the top.

 

He made it!

 

 

Drew was next!

 

They conquered Brown's Peak!

 



Adam and Drew - the newest scouts - on the top of Brown's Peak, the highest of Four Peaks.

 

Some earlier climbers left their mark.  Check out the year - 1867!

 

Dan and Adam at the top.

 

The actual benchmark is missing, but this is where it used to be.

 

Brother Lamoreaux and Tyler at the summit.

 

Adam and his awesome scoutmaster, Edwin Lamoreaux.

After all that climbing, they took some time to admire the view.

Here are the ones that made it to the top.

 

Adam was quite happy to complete the climb.

 

Brother Lamoreaux always brings along a copy of the Book of Mormon tucked safely in a ziplock bag.  The deacon's quorum had each signed the book, and they hid it for some curious climbers to find in the future.

The troop has hidden a copy of the Book of Mormon on several of their hikes.  Adam is pointing to where they left it.

 

 

Once you reach the top, there is no way to get home but to climb down the way you came.  Coming down the steep rocks was pretty scary, but everyone made it back safely.

This is the more friendly part of the trail.

 

Close to completing the hike.

 

Troop 683 hiked this mountain.  They can do hard things!

Scout outing to Apache Lake

At the end of June, Adam's scout trip had a 3-day camp-out scheduled for Apache Lake.  With all the other activities and vacations tossed into the mix, it eventually became a day outing.  The scouts left early in the morning, but since Dan was coming off of 24-hour call at the hospital, he wasn't able to leave until a few hours later. 

Bryce went along to help with the boat and took his friend, Austin.  They drove the Apache Trail and went fearlesslly down the infamous Fish Creek Hill.

Apache Lake is on the Salt River chain of lakes, but is not as easily accessible as the others, and therefore is not as crowded.  It is a beautiful lake.

Austin and Bryce on the bow of the boat near the dam.

Of course the scouts found a spot for cliff jumping - or in this case ledge jumping.  Here is Adam checking out the situation.

Brother Lamoreaux is an amazing scoutmaster as are his assistants.  This is Brother Lamoreaux's boat with Brother Rojas on the back and several scouts (including Adam - in the middle) on the water weinee.

Bryce has had lots of practice this summer on the wakeboard.  He caught some air in this shot.

Touching the water.

More air with Brother Lamoreaux and the scouts hot on his trail.

Adam at the swinging tree.

Bryce out in the water giving instructions to Adam on how to wakeboard.  Was Adam listening?  Adam has made great progress in water sports.  He used to only ride in the boat and now he will try almost anything.  With a little more practice, he will be a solid wakeboarder.

Dan even got a turn and took his trusty ski down the lake for a run.

Taylon on the wakeboard.

Nate watching his brother, Austin, wake surf.

A military helicopter flew by and got everyone's attention.

Tyler taking a turn holding the flag.

Everybody's favorite - tubing!  Left to right Austin, Tucker, Tyler, Carlos and Bryce.

Woo-hoo!!  Dan can give the tubes a wild ride.

A spectacular crash.  It's not very often that the big tubes turns over.  What a ride.

A memorable scout trip to Apache Lake.