Red Riders

Cooking!

2011-06-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Our campout in May was the annual Fathers and Sons campout, and while it was fun and many Scouts were able to attend with their fathers, we managed to not get any pictures from it. So we're going to post up pictures from a merit badge, instead !

The Scouts had the chance to complete their Cooking merit badge thanks to the amazing cooking skills and knowledge of Randy Nelson. After a night of learning cooking safety, hygiene, kitchen terms, and menu prep, the Scouts got the ingredients together and cook some pizza. And not just 1 pizza . . . . they cooked 4 pizzas! And the best part is that all of the pizza was very, very good! After we had stuffed ourselves with food (and root beer), the Scouts learned about the other important parts of cooking - cleaning up! Everyone was able to take home leftovers, and it was quite the learning experience for everyone.

Thanks Randy!

As always, click the picture below for more pictures.

Aviation Merit Badge

2011-05-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

We don't often put up pics and info on the merit badges that we do, but this one was very cool and since the Scouts got to take a trip to finish it, we thought we'd post up some photos.

For the last several weeks the Scouts have been working on their Aviation merit badge. They sure have learned a lot, thanks entirely to Chad Lofton and Dave Hepworth, who have been instrumental in the boys achieving this goal.

After a couple of Scout nights spent in the classroom, we headed out to the airport to get some hands-on experience. The boys got to sit in the cockpits of helicopters and planes, head to the top of the flight control tower and see the operations center, and then they had the chance to climb inside of the Embry Riddle flight simulator and take a plane for a virtual flight!

Click on the picture below to see more!

Snow Camp - in April!

2011-04-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

After a slight change in location due to bad weather in the forecast (swimming and freezing temps don't mix), we travelled to the juniper covered hills near Cherry Creek. After hiking a few miles in, we set up camp and were even able to get some .22 shooting in before the sun went down.

The campfires continued to get bigger as the air got colder and the wind started to blow. After lots of crazy Boy Scout run-around-in-the-dark games, it was time to hit the bedrolls. At about 2am the rain started in and it came down hard. Then when we all awoke in the morning, we were greeted by a wintery wonderland - in April! The snow had piled up between 4 and 5 inches, and it made for a great snowball fight before we had to pack up and hike out. I think the boys all learned what "make hay while the sun shines" means, as the leaders all stayed warm and dry all night in our well-prepared shelter, while most of the boys . . . . not so much.

It kept snowing on us while we hiked out, but seeing as how a lot of the Scouts were already wet (from the night before and the snowball fight) they didn't seem to mind too much! There was much celebrating when the trucks came into view over the last hill, and after one last snowball fight we climbed inside, turned up the heaters, and headed home.

Click on the picture below for more awesome pictures!

Scout Camp Fundraiser

2011-04-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

As in previous years, our Scouts will be selling t-shirts again this year in order to earn their way to Scout Camp. We have some new designs this year, so please take a look at what we've got. You can either contact a Scout or visit our web store to see what we have and place your order. A huge THANK YOU to Arizona Cap Company, owned by Assistant Scoutmaster Stine, for sponsoring our fundraiser, as they have in the past. Arizona Cap Company has been very generous to the Scouts in regards to this fundraiser, and it is greatly appreciated.

So don't delay - order some Scout shirts today!

Scoutmaster Stilson's favorite shirt designs:

Shooting Merit Badges

2011-03-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, the Scouts have been learning about firearm safety, types of actions and ammunition, range safety, and the basics of marksmanship. This last weekend at our campout we finally got to put some rounds downrange and get these boys dialed in!

Once we got the range and campsites set up, we had each Scout fired their "first shots" - three rounds from a shotgun at some clay pigeons. This helps to get the bug out! Once the sun went down, and the fire roared high, we had the privilege and honor to retire somw American flags. As always, the Scouts did a fantastic job and showed reverence and respect as this was done.

Saturday morning we were up early and ready to get the firing line hot! The day progressed well, and the Scouts rotated through the shotgun and rifle stations as they each got qualified for their merit badges. We had some very excellent shooters out there!

We shot until well into the late afternoon, and then we set up some "organic" targets to shoot at with 12ga slugs. Each of the Scouts got to shoot, and fruits and veggies really blow up when they are hit with that much force! It's all captured on video, and I'll upload it to the blog as soon as time allows.

The Scouts (and leaders) all had a very excellent time, and we're looking forward to getting back out there and heating the barrels up again!

I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to all of the donors that made this great shooting event possible - you have done more than you know!

Click on the photo below for more pictures of shooting fun.

Scavenger Hunt Food Drive

2011-02-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight our Scouts were in charge of the combined activity, and they planned a really great one: a Scavenger Hunt Food Drive.

12 names of known families were put on a list, along with 8 clues that were based on those names or addresses. Obviously only 8 of the families had food for the food drive, and the clues held the secret to which ones. We split all of the youth into 7 teams, each with an adult driver. The first team to collect their food and return it would get a stash of candy!

Everyone had a great time, learned a lot about how to get around our town, and got to know the people on their team better. But the best thing about this activity was that we collected 56 food items for the Yavapai Food Bank, which will be delivered tomorrow.

A big thank you to all of the drivers for their time and energy, and a big thanks to all of the youth that showed up - they were competitive, lively, and most of all, they were charitable tonight with their time.

Court of Honor Campout

2011-02-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's not often that we car-camp. Our Scouts are used to carrying everything they need and hiking in for miles before we find a spot to nestle in for the night. But sometimes it's nice to have a cot to sleep on and a stove to cook with, especially when it's 15 degrees!

We headed into Powell Springs for our 'Court of Honor Campout', where the boys can bring some extra comforts such as tents, extra food, and chairs. Most of the boys still live out of their packs, but the leaders take advantage of it and bring pounds of bacon and bags of chocolate!

Thank you to David, our head cook, and all of the other Scouts who helped out with breakfast. And I appreciate all of the Scouts who showed their great respect for the outdoors by cleaning up the large trash pile that we found so that we could haul it away.

After the campout, we headed back into town to get cleaned up quickly so we could get to the Court of Honor. We awarded 4 rank advancements and 32 Merit Badges to 7 different Scouts. We had the opportunity to use the flag that was flown for us in Afghanistan (see the 'Signalling' blog entry from December) in our flag ceremony, and it was officially presented to the Troop. We also got a very special certificate of thanks from the VFW and AL for our help with the Veteran's Memorial.

Thank you so much to the Boy Scouts and fine young men that make up our program - we appreciate their hard work and diligence. And thank you also to the parents, family and friends of our Scouts who continue to push them to new heights and inspire them to be great.

Get more pics by clicking the picture below (I know it seems crazy, but David can actually cook!)

Fox!

2011-02-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

The Scouts wanted to learn about skinning an animal and what to do with the hide, so after spending some time looking at different types of animal hides and talking about how to properly take care of them, we grabbed the skinning knives and got to work. The wind was howling outside so we had to move it in the garage, which was a little cramped for space. But we got it done nonetheless and each Scout got his hands dirty in the process. It was a fun and educational night, and gave the Scouts a healthy respect for animals and hunting!

Click below to see more!

Tanner is an Eagle Scout!

2011-01-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

He has hiked in the rain, slept in the snow, eaten bugs, and started fires with flint and steel. He has fed the hungry, helped the widows, and served his fellow man. His current merit badge count is 36, and he is an unstoppable force of truth and righteousness. He is Tanner - Eagle Scout!

It was a great day as friends and family of Tanner gathered together to watch as he was awarded the highest rank in Boy Scouts. It was a great honor to pin that medal to his chest - he never looked better standing tall in his uniform.

What's even more, though, is that Tanner truly does understands the meaning behind getting his Eagle Scout - it is a commitment to a life of service and appreciation. I have watched this young man do so many great things, and I am so proud of his accomplishments.

You Rock, Tanner!

As always, see more pictures by clicking below.

Snow Camp

2011-01-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

Snow camp was, as usual, very cold! The Scouts made mostly improvised snow trenches, which we termed "snow graves", while the leaders made some warm and toasty snow caves! There was plenty of snow on the ground up near Walker, and we had a fun time pushing the sled around with the tools on it - I think it tipped over a few times!

But despite all of the snow, the Scouts had a great time and learned important lessons about the proper gear, as always.

To see more pictures, click on the group photo below.

Signalling

2010-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Instead of our normal monthly campout, we instead hiked to the top of Glassford Hill to complete the Signaling Merit Badge. First we headed into the darkness of the cultural hall to learn about morse code and send messages between the two groups. Next we sent one group to the south side of Glassford Hill and one to the north side, which separated us by several hundred yards. So far, in fact, that we needed binoculars to see each other. We then used handheld signals to send "semaphore code" messages to each other. Putting each signal in a certain position signals a certain letter or number, and after a little practice we were able to communicate pretty well with each other.

One of my friends flys recon and close air support missions over Afghanistan, and during one of his combat missions he flew with an American flag in the cockpit, which he then gave to our Troop, along with an awesome citation signed by the pilot and the mission commander. So I unveiled that flag on to the Troop on top of Glassford Hill, and as it waved in the breeze I read the citation to the Scouts. It was a cool experience.

On the way back to the vehicles we found a deer skeleton, a young buck who wasn't able to fend off a predator - and Aaron just couldn't wait to take the head back home! Thank you so much to Ed and Tim for helping us with some extra leadership - it is very much appreciated.

Click the picture below for more.

Granite Creek

2010-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

If you haven't headed up into Granite Creek, you should. It heads into an amazing canyon filled with vertical rock walls, petroglyphs, caves, and sandy washes. As usual, we hiked in the dark to get to our campsite - about 7 miles in. Finally we came to a huge sandy river bottom, which made for a great place to camp.

There was so much dry wood along the wash banks that getting a couple of roaring fires was no problem whatsoever, and sure helped to keep us warm throughout the night. In the morning we were able to enjoy the scenery much more, and we found even more caves and indian petroglyphs on the way out.

We didn't get many pictures from this trip, but there are a few if you click on the campfire below. The dark picture with all of the little dots, the one that looks like a picture of the stars, that's a picture of headlamps as the Scouts scrambled over rocks and climbed through brush during the hike in.

Veteran's Memorial

2010-11-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

The American Legion and Veteran's of Foreign Wars have been trying to get a Veteran's Memorial built here in Prescott Valley for the last few years. As they finally approached their completion date for the walkway part of the Memorial, they needed a little help with a fundraiser dinner, so the Scouts jumped into action! They helped to serve a fine spaghetti dinner to a LOT of people, and the Veteran's were very grateful.

A couple of weeks later, they were needed again to handout programs at the unveiling of the Memorial walkway, and were also selected to unveil the Walkway during the ceremony. The Walkway is composed of bricks with the name, service branch, and service dates of military Veterans from the Quad-City areas. It was a very special honor, and a great ceremony.

We are very proud of our Scouts for their continued willingness to serve their fellow man, and we are very grateful to our Veterans for their service and sacrifice.

Click the picture below to see more pictures.

Wilson Mountain

2010-10-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Once again we headed to the Red Rocks of Sedona in order to tame Wilson Mountain again. The scenery is always breathtaking and the rock formations are amazing. The Scouts hiked to the top in the dark, and we camped on the top of Wilson Mountain where we could see the lights of Sedona. Tanner and Josh entertained us with various nursery rhymes and Primary songs, which were all kind of jumbled together but highly amusing. And what an awesome, star filled sky we had to look at.

In the morning we headed back down, though this time we could see a lot more of the scenery in the daylight! We worked on finding and identifying animal sign as we hiked down the trail, and about halfway down the mountain, we encountered a black-tailed rattlesnake right next to the trail. It was acting pretty aggressive so we decided it would be best to serve it up breaded with sugar snap peas and cranberry juice. The snake was pretty good-sized, and totalled 55" in length.

Click the picture below for the full picture album of the trip.

Court of Honor - July 2010

2010-07-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

If the rain won't stop for Troop 95, then Troop 95 won't stop for the rain. We hiked into the Wolf Creek area while the rain kept us cool, setup camp, had dinner, and continued to enjoy the rain until the late evening when it eventually stopped. Staying up late in the night discussing the finer points of life with the other leaders while the Scouts run amok (in this case playing capture the flag in the dark) has always been one of my favorite parts of Scout trips, and this night was no different. But we had to get up with the sun this time, as we had to be back in town and ready to go for our Court of Honor at 10am. But even though the trip was short, more good memories were made and more great stories were formed (just ask Josh!) and we were happy to have some of the 11-year-old Scouts and some Teachers and Priests with us as well.

We didn't have a lot of time to get changed once we got home, but everyone still managed to get back for the Court of Honor and it is always a pleasure to see all of the parents and family of the Scouts together. We gave out 130 merit badges and 8 rank advancements to the Troop, which they have accomplished since our last Court of Honor in January. It was by far the most awards we have ever given out! A big thanks to Satchel for conducting the Court of Honor, and to Josh for another solid flag ceremony.

As we move forward into the second half of the year, there will be more great opportunities for our Scouts to continue to grow, learn, and become great young men. Thank you to the leaders, parents, family, and friends of all of the Scouts - your support makes this program possible.

And a huge thank you to all the Scouts - I am proud of all the hard work you put in, the good character and strength that you demonstrate, and for the example you are to all of the leaders, especially me.

Scout Camp 2010 - "Camp Silvestre Herrera"

2010-07-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Scout Camp this year was one of the best outings we've ever had! We decided to put on our own Scout Camp instead of attending a formal BSA Camp like we normally do. Wow - what a lot of work that was to organize, but the payoff was so tremendous that looking back, the work pales in comparison.

We had 11 Scouts, 2 Junior Leaders, and 5 Adult Leaders that were able to be at Camp this year, as well as 3 additional Adult Leaders that were able to come up for some of the week to teach Merit Badges and share their experiences with us. I want to say how much all of the Scouts and Leaders are appreciated by Troop 95 - without you, there is no Troop. A special Thank You to Josh, who served as our Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) this year at Camp.

All of the Scouts earned multiple Merit Badges - and Zach led the Troop with 9 Merit Badges earned! We offered only 8 badges a Camp, but Zach took it upon himself to add 6 extra miles to a Troop hike in order to get his 20 mile hike completed for the Hiking Merit Badge. Congratulations to Austin, Taylor, and Brayden who accompanied Zach on his extra mileage so that they could also complete that requirement. Brayden, in fact, did the extra loop twice in order to get his 20 miles!

The Badges offered this year at Camp Herrera were: Archery, Archaeology, Geology, Astronomy, Wilderness Survival, Automotive Maintenance, Cooking and Indian Lore. In addition to Merit Badges, we completed a 14 mile hike from our camp location to the rim of the Grand Canyon, visited multiple historical and archaeological sites, learned about the Grand Canyon and its history at the Park museums, and hiked down into the Canyon to Indian Gardens (9 mi trip) and Plateau Point (12 mi trip).

The Scouts got to learn a lot about building and maintaining a group campsite when you are out in the woods for a week. When they weren't working on Merit Badges, like studying the stars, building survival shelters, practicing archery, or studying ancient indians, they were hard at work at camp! Maintaining the latrine, filling the water jugs, keeping camp clean, cooking and cleaning up every meal, and keeping track of their buddies kept these Scouts busy!

Every morning and every evening we had a Flag ceremony. Displaying and retiring the American Flag with respect and dignity, these Scouts made the leaders swell with pride. We sang a different hymn every morning (thank you Wes!) and "Called to Serve" every night. And every morning Bro. Stine would present a small portion of the life of Silvestre Herrera, our Camp namesake, to the Scouts. Then on the last morning in Camp, Bro. Stine told the heroic tale of how Pvt. Herrera earned the Medal of Honor by serving his fellow soldiers in battle, saving their lives while disregarding his own safety. Please click on the picture of Silvestre Herrera shown below to read more about this great Arizonan.

All the Scouts and Leaders had a great time at Camp! 2011 will find us back at Camp Geronimo, but you can bet that in 2012 we will once again be forging our own paths and creating our own destinies somewhere in the Arizona wilderness!

As always, you can click the picture below for the full album from Camp Herrera. There are a lot of pictures, but they are all worth a look! Thank you to Cameron, our Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, for his excellent photography and for being our JASM one last time.

Click the below picture of Silvestre Herrera to read more about this great Arizona man.

And at the request of the Scouts, here is the Archery Merit Badge Qualification table, starting from the highest score. Brayden was the only Scout at Camp that already had the Archery Merit Badge, and it wasn't hard to see why - he was shooting a bow every chance he got, including late into the night!

Fathers and Sons 2010

2010-05-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

This year's Commemoration of the Aaronic Priesthood Campout, better known as Fathers and Sons, produced a great experience and everyone enjoyed their time in the beautiful outdoors! Between kickball, softball, horseshoes, card games, Bishopric devotionals, great food and excellent company, the campout was an enormous success.

A few of us went to Dogtown Lake, just a mile from where we were camped, and enjoyed the excellent fishing that the lake provides. It wasn't long before fishing limits were reached, and shortly afterwards some of us enjoyed a fine meal of baked fish!

Most of the Scouts from Troop 95 were able to make it with their fathers; and for the few who's fathers couldn't make it, they were able to participate with another family.

Thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this campout a success! As usual, please click on the below picture to bring up the rest of the event pictures.

Scout Camp Fundraiser

2010-05-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

This year we will be attending a special Scout Camp at the Grand Canyon, and we are really excited about it! The Scouts are doing a fundraiser for this weeklong event by selling shirts. These shirts are awesome! Please check them out at our Online Ordering Site.

If you would like your shirt purchase to go toward a certain Scout's Personal Goal, please put that Scout's name in the "Special Instructions to Merchant" field when you are about to checkout.

We are a very active Troop, so please help us get to Scout Camp! Thank You for your support!

The Red Riders hit the Crossroads

2010-04-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

The Scouts needed to do a little fundraising for Scout Camp this year, so we got together with Bro. Stine and Arizona Cap Company, put a couple of new Scout shirts together for this year, and decided to head down to the Crossroads Gun Show in Phoenix. Five Scouts were able to attend and run the booth, and what a fun time they had! Bro. Stine is the Counselor for the Salesmanship Merit Badge, and on the way to Phoenix he covered most of the material for the badge, and the Scouts were able to do the rest throughout the day as they learned selling and advertising techniques. The Scouts did a hard day's work and at the end had a lot to show for it - we raised a good amount of money for Scout Camp, they earned the Salesmanship Merit Badge, and a lot of them walked away with a souvenir of some sort from their time at the gun show.

Congratulations to Tanner who was our top salesman of the day - way to go! In the linked album below you'll find the shirt designs that the Scouts were mainly selling, which includes our two new designs. In addition if they sold anything from Bro. Stine's booth they got the money for that, and he was displaying shirts and hats from his Conservative Shirts.com operation. Our Troop will be selling these and many more shirts as part of our continued fundraising efforts. The info sheet is being designed now, as well as an online checkout system, so look for that information to be posted soon!

A 20 mile hike with a dash of helicopter

2010-04-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Troop 95 has been working on the Hiking Merit Badge, and for the culminating event we needed a 20 mile hike. Back in December we had headed down to the Superstition Mountains and approached Weaver's Needle from the south side, but we wanted to see what it looked like from the north side. What a great opportunity for a 20 mile hike!

It's a long drive from Prescott Valley to the Superstition Mountains, so by the time we got to the trailhead and got going it was almost 8pm. There was no moon so the only light we had was from our headlamps. The trails are pretty well maintained and clearly marked, and we were able to keep our feet heading in the right direction, even when we had to climb Bull Pass - which makes for a pretty good hike at midnight! As soon as we got back to level ground we called it good for the night, even though we were only at the 6 mile mark. The Scouts sacked out right away, but 6:30 came quickly and it was rise and shine and back on the trail.

We left our packs and took a small 2 mile detour into La Barge Canyon, where the wildflowers covered the hillsides and the water flowed clear and plentiful. Once we got back to the campsite we rucked up and got back into the hiking groove - we still had another 12 miles to go! As we headed for the very tough climb to the Weaver's Needle north base and then an even tougher climb that would be cross country through canyons and thick brush to another trail, one of our newer Scouts and his father decided it would be best if they headed back to the vehicles due to some fatigue and comfort issues. It was a 6 mile walk back for them, and we gave them a map and bid them farewell for now.

The next 6 miles were a real treat! We got to the northern side of Weaver's Needle and had lunch, but then rocky terrain, steep canyons, thick brush, and thorny bushes of every description awaited us as we cut cross country in order to reach a trail on the other side. Once we finally got there, we discovered that the trail was rarely used and almost unrecognizable as a trail, so we hiked out through a dry river bed. The temperature all day had been warm but comfortable, but nonetheless we were starting to run low on water and were eager to get back on the trail, which was comparably easier than cross country hiking in this terrain! Once we got back to the main trailhead we still had 6 miles to go in order to reach the cars, so we buckled down, sucked it up, and pushed on. At times it seemed as if someone was taking the trail from behind us and putting it in front of us, but we finally made it back to the vehicles. Much to our dismay the father and son that had left us earlier were nowhere to be found, and after a couple hours of waiting and sending Scouts back to the main trailheads to search around, we had some dayhikers come out and tell us that they had seen the father and son, but they were on the wrong trail. Once again the Scouts headed out to look for them, but to no avail. Finally a county Deputy came by and informed us that the father had been able to get out on his phone and make a call to the 911 dispatcher. A helicopter was on its way and would have to locate them and then extract them. It took a couple more hours for this to happen, but in the end everyone came out okay. A wrong turn at a trail signpost and then misunderstood directions from the dayhikers had sent the father and son headed in the opposite direction from the vehicles, and finally with fading sunlight and limited resources they decided to call 911. As we climbed in our vehicles we were relieved to be heading back home together, despite a minor setback. This just goes to show that even a small error in navigation can be compounded if you are unfamiliar with the area, and helped to remind us that we always need to be prepared and trained for the possibility of getting lost.

The four Scouts that made the whole 20+ mile loop will be getting the Hiking merit badge, as well as another Scout that wasn't able to make it but had already completed a 25 mile hike in the Grand Canyon earlier this year. Good job boys - we're proud of you!

Luke AFB Tour and Ben Avery Shooting Range

2010-03-17T22:01:00.001-07:00

Since it's Spring Break we really wanted to take the boys to do something really great since we could have an all-day outing. Luckily I have a friend in the Air Force who was able to set up an AWESOME tour for us at Luke Air Force Base. Thank you so much, Corey - you outdid yourself on this one!

First of all we were able to secure an Air Force van so that we wouldn't have to use our personal vehicles, or rent a van. Our first stop was at CATM, or Combat Arms Training and Maintenance. The airmen there were able to take us into the armory, where the Scouts got to see and handle some of the various weapons, such as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, the M240B machine gun, M203 grenade launcher, and even the longe range M82 .50 cal rifle. We weren't allowed to take any pictures here, but I'm sure the Scouts will have a good lasting impression of it.

Next up was the Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD teams. We got to head into their training room and see just about every type of rocket, mine, grenade, or detonator you could think up. But the best part was when they took us outside and showed us all of the high-tech gear they use for identifying and possibly disarming explosives. Most of these airmen had been deployed overseas, so we got to hear some great first-hand stories. They demonstrated their x-ray equipment which they use to identify a possible bomb, and they also showed us the robots that they deploy in the field when they need to get close to something that might be dangerous - a shotgun can even be mounted on the larger robot just in case they need to destroy an explosives case or breach a door! These robots cost over $150k, but the Air Force guys were more than willing to turn them over to our Scouts, who all got a chance to remotely operate the robots around the parking lot - picking up hats, leaves, and anything else they could find! The final piece of gear they showed us was their bomb suit, which is what they wear when they have to go in themselves and disarm an explosive device. This suit weighs 78 pounds, but has lots of armor, lights, radio equipment, and even built-in fans to keep the EOD tech cool. A few of the Scouts got to try it on - it turned out to be pretty heavy for them!

After we thanked the EOD techs, we moved onto the softball fields where we were able to watch the K-9 team go to work. "Crash" was the K-9 of the day as he simulated hostile takedowns, prisoner escorts, and even how he could be at his handler's side in an instant, ready to defend his handler's life with his own. It's important to realize that these dogs are not aggressive in nature - they are friendly animals that love to play and be petted just like any other dog. The difference is their breeding and training - they respond only to certain commands, but make no mistake that they respond instantly and to great effect. This was an especially exciting part of the trip for Bro. Stilson (the older one), since he was in the K-9 Veterinary Corp during his time in the Army, and worked closely with the dog handlers and trainers while deployed to Vietnam. The K-9 team is made up of some great guys, and we really enjoyed our time with them.

The EOR, or End of Runway, was our next destination. Here was another spot where we weren't able to take any photos due to our close proximity to the planes while they were on the ground, but again - memories like this don't need photos! Our group was able to be as close as safely possible to the jets while they took off and landed. Luke Air Force Base is a training facility for F-16 pilots, so in addition to the single-seat F-16s, which are the standard combat variety, we were also able to see the two-seat F-16 which can also carry an Instructor Pilot. Over 20 planes took off or landed as we watched, and when an F-16 takes off when you're that close, not only can you see the engine glow but you can feel it in your chest! During all this Corey was able to give us great information on Luke AFB history as well as information on the F-16 and how rigorous pilot training is. Did you know it takes over 6 years for someone to become a fighter pilot in the Air Force?

One more stop before lunch: the static displays. Not every plane that has ever flown at Luke AFB has a static display at the Air Park, but most of them are there, and the Scouts could get as close as they wanted to these jets. At every jet there was a bronze plaque describing the jet, it's capabilites, and when it was at Luke. There is also a memorial in the center of the park for every Air Force serviceman who has earned the Medal of Honor.

Our last stop at Luke AFB was chow! We went over to Club Five Six for their excellent buffet. This club serves enlisted men and women as well as officers, retired military personnel, and base family members. It also serves hungry Boy Scouts! With our bellies full, we bid farewell to all the fine men and women serving at Luke AFB, and headed north. But not back home - we were destined for the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.

Once we got to Ben Avery and got checked in, we had a quick safety briefing and I am glad to say that it worked! We had no safety violations the entire time we were there. We setup with basic targets at 25 yards, and the Scouts opened fire with their .22s. We kept our focus on tight shot groups and accurate shooting, and the boys who were already qualified with Rifle Shooting got even better. We had three Scouts that had not yet qualified and I am happy to report that all three of them qualified quickly and were able to move onto some of the shooting games. Our Luke AFB guide Corey was even able to join us for a little while! Everyone got lots of trigger time as the Scouts shot up almost 1500 rounds of .22 ammo. When we were all done, the Scouts did a fine job of cleaning up the range and securing their own shooting lanes. Then we jumped in the cars and headed back home - tired but happy.

Troop 95 wants to thank Corey and all the servicemen and women serving our Country at Luke Air Force Base and around the world. We owe you our freedom, and you have our gratitude.

(make sure to check back soon, as there will be more pictures from different cameras uploaded)

Movie Night

2010-03-17T21:49:00.001-07:00

It's not often that the Scouts get an easy trip for their monthly campout, but with a Church trip early on Saturday we needed to stay close. And what better way to car camp than with a blow-up movie screen, a projector, and some hot dogs and hamburgers! We headed out to the Stine's backyard, setup our movie gear, and watched "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail". Throw in some grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and you've got a fun night for Scouts. Of course when it's about 20 degrees outside, you'll also need some warm blankets and sleeping bags.

We had to get up pretty early on Saturday to make it in time for the Church trip, but the Scouts were up and squared away before the leaders were! And thanks to the Glassford Hill Troop for coming and hanging out with us.

Shotgun Shooting Merit Badge

2010-03-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

It was brought to my attention by one of our Scouts that I hadn't done a write-up on the Shotgun Shooting merit badge that the Troop completed in November of 2009, so here it is!

After our August campout which included qualifications for the Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting merit badges, all of our Scouts had qualified for rifle but not all had completely qualified for shotgun. We headed back to the range in November to make sure all of them got a chance, and of course Troop 95 got it done! Every Scout that went back to the range got qualified for their Shotgun Shooting merit badge, and then everyone had a great time shooting the .22 rifles at distant targets, as well as playing various shooting games and competitions. The night we spent at the range included a very up close and personal visit from some coyotes in camp, but that experience, a beautiful starlit night, and the opportunity to gather together and shoot firearms to our heart's content helped to remind us all how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful and free Country.

Yucca Camp 2010

2010-02-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

Snow camp this year brought some challenges that we hadn't encountered before - hidden yucca! There were a lot of these nasty plants just below the surface in the deeper snow, and one of the Scouts had a couple of bad run-ins with them, one of our leaders buried a number of yucca thorns into his leg, and we all spent a lot of time avoiding them while running around during snowball fights! Due to the effect these plants had on our campout, we decided to re-name 'Snow Camp' to 'Yucca Camp'!

We headed up onto Mingus mountain where the snow was still very plentiful. After a short mile hike in from where we parked, we set up camp in a nice clearing and had a great evening filled with a nice big fire, lots of yucca, a beautiful clear night with no moon, and temperatures in the low teens. Throw in an exhausting snowball fight and burying Scouts in the snow, and we were all ready to turn in to our beds, even if they were covered in frost.

The next morning we woke up early, ate breakfast, and got right to the business of a snow ball fight! Too soon it was time to go, so we packed up and headed out. We reached the trucks with no problems, but as we headed down the road we discovered that someone had come in after us the day before, but had gotten their truck stuck sideways in the road, effectively blocking us in. The snow was deep on the side of the road, over 3 feet in most places, so we knew we'd have to dig a road. We got right to work but just about the time we were done the owner of the truck showed up and was able to get pulled out. This sure made it easier for us! We headed off the mountain with more great memories and another adventure for the books.

A big thanks to Bro. Colby and his scouts for coming with us, we really enjoyed having them around.

Court of Honor and Campout

2010-01-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

We had a great time this last weekend! We went to the Powell Springs area for a campout to which we invited the 11 year old Scouts as well as the older Scouts. A lot of boys came out and so did a lot of leaders as well as some fathers, and it was really great to get everyone together. Friday night we had a night compass course with some very "sweet" treasure at the end, and we also did fire starting with flint and steel. I'm happy to report that every boy got a fire lit with flint and steel! Then the boys all played capture the flag and eventually we all found our bedrolls in the wee morning hours. Saturday we got up, cleaned up camp, and got prepared for our Court of Honor. Our very dedicated parents and Troop supporters drove the distance to come out and honor the hardwork of our Scouts, and we are very appreciative of that. We awarded three of our Scouts with the Life rank, one with First Class, and four with Tenderfoot, and we passed out over 30 merit badges! We also had the honor to once again dispose of worn American flags - our Scouts are always so respectful with this, and they do a fine job. Then we ate lunch, mingled, and enjoyed a beautiful winter day in the pine trees.

Troop 95 wants to express our deepest gratitude and warmest wishes to the Ellis family, who have been such a strong support and foundation for us the last few years. They are moving back to their home state of California at the beginning of February, and they will be missed greatly. Scoutmaster Ellis, Committee Chair Ellis, and the awesome Ellis Boy Scouts - you will always be part of Troop 95.

Weaver's Needle Campout

2010-01-06T12:52:00.001-08:00

We headed down east of Apache Junction, AZ to the Superstition Mountains. Our objective was to hike to Weaver's Needle, and we would be doing it in the dark. We got to the trailhead just as the sun was setting, but our boys were prepared with headlamps and steady feet and we hiked to the saddle overlooking Weaver's Needle without any problems. We camped in the saddle, and awoke to a beautiful sunrise that slowly illuminated the Needle. After some breakfast the Scouts climbed on every rock they could find, and then we packed up and headed over to a point that was closer to the Needle. Once there we found that someone had packed in a wooden picnic table to that location - what a hike that must have been! There were also some Christmas ornaments hung in the trees nearby. That spot was so cool that if we ever go back we'll be sure to camp there! The Scouts again found their inner mountain goat and scrambled all over rocks, even hiking down into a canyon and back up the other side just so that they could sit on one particular rock they had picked out! Eventually we had to pack it up and head out, and we met a lot of people coming up the trail as we were headed down. We got back to the truck and headed into town for some Chinese food (a Scout favorite!), and then headed home with a great desire to visit the Superstitions again!

Wilson Mountain Hike

2009-10-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

Wilson Mountain was named after a hunter, who emptied his rifle into a grizzley bear. That didn't stop the bear from mauling him to death before it died.

This trail was 11 miles, round trip. We ascended to 7000 feet elevation, including a 2400 foot elevation gain. We saw plenty of juniper, manzanita, and cactus. The view was spectacular. We saw all of Sedona, Steamboat Rock, and Secret Mountain Wilderness Area. This was the hardest hike we've accomplished as a troop. The boys had high spirits and hiked very fast. We were very proud of them!

Afterwards, we went for ice cream and took Ike's Jeep on Broken Arrow.

Here are the pics:

AWESOME TIME AT THE CRACK!

2009-09-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

All the scouts had a fantastic time on the Wet Beaver Creek hike. They stopped at the crack and went cliff diving. Afterwards, we all went to all-you-can-eat pizza that was really great.

Here are the photos:

August Combined Activity - Thumb Butte Hike

2009-08-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

The Deacons Quorum took the rest of the Young Men/Young Women's program up to the top of Thumb Butte. There they gave a presentation about how high places give us a heavenly perspective, require lots of effort and preperation, and resemble the temple mounts. They also cited all of the biblical stories about when prophets went to high places to speak with the Lord.

The week before this hike, they did a preperatory hike to verify things like hike length and physical effort. The boys should be applauded for all of their time, effort, and energy.

Click the below photo for more pictures:

From 08ThumbButteHike

Shotgun and Rifle Merit Badges

2009-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

The boys spent the better part of July participating in safety and instruction classes for the Riflery and Shotgun Merit Badges. On August 1st, they finally got to shoot to qualify. Every boy qualified on a rifle. Satchel, Tanner, and Alex qualified on the shotgun.

Special recognition goes to Satchel Clifford, who was the best shot of the day. Recognition also goes to Tanner who was the safest scout of the day and never had to be reminded about the safety rules. All the scouts had a great time and learned a lot.

At the end of qualifying, the scouts shot shaving cream cans and watched them explode. Brother Stillson then showed them what the impact of a shotgun has on a watermelon as a special safety demonstration.

Troop 95 heartily thanks Dan Malachowski. He created targets, trained youth, was a calming influence when safety violations occurred, and an all around great scouting volunteer.

We also thank all of the people who donated and contributed shotgun shells, clay pigeons, and .22 ammo for our shoot. It cost the troop a fraction of what it would otherwise cost because of the generosity of so many people.

Please click below for more photos:

Cookstove Hike

2009-07-13T15:45:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we hiked up the Harding Springs trail in Sedona. We camped on top of the ridge and then hiked down the Cookstove Trail.

Harding Spring is named for O.P. Harding, a pioneer. He came to Flagstaff in 1884 and worked in construction. In 1889 he moved to Oak Creek, homesteaded, and planted hundreds of fruit trees. He brought his fruit to Flagstaff using this trail. In 1910 the Flagstaff newspaper reported that Harding, age 76, had walked from Oak Creek to Flagstaff. At his death in 1915, it was learned that he had been a distinguished Union General in the Civil War, a face he kept hidden during his life in Arizona.

We saw lots of scat from black bears during our hike, but never saw a bear. After our hike, the boys played in Oak Creek for several hours. Everyone had a fantastic time.

Court of Honor

2009-07-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is Glen's voice:

The CoH went very well. We started off with Gary Taylor from the VFW talking about what the flag meant to him as a combat veteran and then he gave a little history on what happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Then we retired the flags, about 15 of them, and that went off without a htich. I had Cameron come and I gave him a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster badge and Stacy and I told some good stories about him from Scout Camp. We presented the "Big G Gold" award and had Wes come up and point out that his name was on the ribbon since he was the SPL, then I had him tie the ribbon onto our Troop flag. After that we gave out a lot of merit badges and ranks! Dawn Craner gave Annie and Christina (and Jessica, in spirit) a dozen roses for being the wives of Scouting men and putting up with us being gone with our Scouts a lot. All of the boys now have merit badge sashes, which they paid for, and all of the parents are on board with the shooting merit badges and the fact that their boy needs to earn $35 for ammo. Alex is set on ammo and is still going to buy a box of clays; everyone else will probably just pay $35. I'm working on getting some more donations for shotgun ammo and clays but so far we at least have the 2k of .22.

We are gonna go kayaking again for sure!

Scout Camp at Geronimo 2009

2009-06-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic time at scout camp this year. Our boys were widely believed to be the best troop in camp. We had numerous comments from numerous leaders about how the scouts held themselves and behaved. They are confident, hard-working young men who had a terrific time at camp this year. All of our boys earned all of the merit badges they applied for. Scout camp was a fantastic success. The highlight for Brother Ellis was doing the best service project we've ever done at camp. Please read the captions of the photos for more info:

Service Project at the Tisdales

2009-05-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

Our scouts went to Sister Tisdales house and removed a bunch of painting supplies and pulled weeds. Sister Tisdale was very grateful and fed the boy's donuts. Click below for the pics:

Stake Basketball Tourny

2009-03-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Our boys advanced to the second round of the Stake Young Men's Basketball Tournement. We only had two boys who were older than Deacon age, so we're quite proud of how they did. Congratz to our boys! Click below for the pics:

Kayaking!

2009-03-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

We spent the night on Lake Pleasant. In the morning, we volunteered at a Kayak Symposium. Everyone had a great time. For more details, look at the captions of the pics.

Click below for more photos:

March Temple Trip

2009-03-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

The youth arrived at the Prescott Valley building at 9am. The young women had a 12:30pm session, while the young men's session was at 1:30pm. Afterwards, we all went to CiCi's pizza. Everyone had a great time.

Click the link below for more photos:

Older Guys Go Camping

2009-03-02T07:29:00.001-08:00

Glen and Ike took the older guys hiking and camping this weekend. Well, it wasn't much of a hike. Only about 1 mile from our cars. I know, I know, you boy scouts would give us no end of grief for that short hike. It doesn't count if it's not five miles. It was a lot of fun, anyway. One group of us saw a yearling black bear on the way into the campsite.

Click below for more photos:

Klondike 2009

2009-02-25T07:54:00.000-08:00

The boys had a fantastic time. They had one exciting activity after another.

They:

-built a snow fort.
-participated in a fire building competition with flint and steel.
-raced to save a life at the first aid station.
-built a wilderness survival shelter.
-raced their Klondike sled.
-threw axes.
-saw HET trucks after the Klondike at the Navajo Army Depot.

Hit the link to see more pictures of Klondike 2009. There are also some photos of Glen and Ike fourwheeling. Well, not really of Ike. Someone has to take the photos.

Building the Klondike Sled

2009-02-11T05:53:00.001-08:00

The boys came over to the Ellis' house to build the Klondike sled and review packing for a cold weather camp. Here are the photos of our sled.

Notes for Tuesday

2009-02-04T04:28:00.001-08:00

Last Night, Brother Stilson invited Josh Cobabe, an Army Combat Medic, to come speak to the boys about cold weather injury prevention. Ask your boys what the C.O.L.D. acronym mean. They were all perfectly behaved for our guest speaker. Brother Stilson and I were very proud of them.

They have a couple of pieces of homework this week. They are supposed to practice their knots and lashings. We'll be quizzing them next Tuesday. Also, they are supposed to continue working on their journals. If they complete their journal entries, they will earn three Eagle merit badges by the end of April. Most of them will advance in rank due to those three merit badges. The three they are working on are Personal Fitness, Personal Management, and Family Life.

Here are the requirements for those three merit badges:

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Personal_Fitness
http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Personal_Management
http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Family_Life

These pages have been printed for them and included in their journals.

The fund raiser is moving right along. Our lead boy has sold 17 shirts so far, with most of the boys selling about 5 - 10. And that's after only one week! At this rate, most of the boys will have no problem paying for their own scout camp, which is a great milestone for them as young men. We appreciate their work and dedication.

Remember to check http://redriders.blogspot.com for photos of the last campout. Brother Stilson also made his last post one http://yetis95.blogspot.com. If one of your boys was a yeti last year, you might want to check that out.

Backpacking Gear

2009-01-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Brother Stilson mentioned that if you needed any gear for your boys, you might go to the REI Outlet. He also mentioned that there is a 20% discount coupon available right now. Here it is:

http://www.rei.com/outlet/coupons/20pctcoupon.html#exclusions

Combine this coupon with the sales, and you can get a $200 backpack for about $70. Remember, in order to have a good time backpacking with the troop, your boy only needs five things:

-Food
-Water
-Appropriate hiking shoes
-Sleeping bag
-Backpack

All the other gear that your boy will mention are just "wants", not "needs." Birthdays and Christmases are a good time to get pocket knives, light-weight stoves, fire-starters, headlamps, bivy sacks, etc. Also, we strongly encourage that the boy earns the money for his own gear. We've found they tend to appreciate it more, and treat the gear better, when they've worked for it.

As a troop, you can count on us bringing a water-heating stove. It's called a JetBoil, and it can heat water really quickly. That means dehydrated backpacker meals, cup of soup, ramen, and oatmeal are all excellent choices for food for your boy. On a typical outing, here's what I do.

I eat an early dinner at home and then meet at the church at 5pm. I bring a light snack and hot chocolate for the evening. I eat oatmeal for breakfast (using the JetBoil.) I have trail mix for a hiking snack. If we're far away, like in Sedona, we usually stop for lunch. It would be a good idea for each boy to have $5 for lunch with him.

Please don't hesitate to ask me or Brother Stilson any questions you may have.

Ike

Future Calendar

2009-01-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here are dates that you should know about:

February 20th - 21th - Klondike
March 14th - Our scout activity is cancelled. On this day, we'll be taking all the deacons to do baptisms for the dead at the Mesa Temple.
April 11th - Thumb Butte hike
May 8th - 9th - Wilson Mountain (Sedona) hike.
June 13th - 20th - Scout Camp at Camp Geronimo

Also, our next court of honor will be in May. If they work hard, Tanner, Satchel, Alex, Travis, Wesley, Dallin, and Brody all have the opportunity to earn their Star Rank. Enoch and Miles could be a first class. Tobey and Zach could be a second class.

In addition to these dates, there are a few dates that are not official troop activities:

Feb 7th - 8th - Brother Stilson knows about a great family camping activity for Arizona Fish & Game. I've forwarded that email to you.
Feb 14th - A national black powder shooting competition is at the Ben Avery BSA Shooting Range. It's about an hour away.

http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/ben_avery.shtml

-Ike

Snow Camp 2009

2009-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

On January 9th and 10th, we took the boys to the top of Minghus Mountain. We camped in about 18 inches of snow, and it was cold! As always, the boys never complained about minor discomforts and were always in good spirits. Click below for more photos.

Scout Camp

2008-07-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Scout camp was a wonderful experience and everyone had a fantastic time. Everyone earned at least three merit badges and most of the scouts earned four.

Some of the highlights include:

Horseback riding

KP Duty

Building outside shelters for the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

Having Steve deliver pizza to us

Church in an outside chapel

Capturing gigantic bugs

Playing in the creek and lake

We built a trail sign for a poorly marked trail as a service project for Camp Geronimo.

Mitch was selected for a commercial showing all the great things that Thunderbird Charities has built for Camp Geronimo. He was chosen because he looked like the best boy scout.

Click below for a million pictures.

Wet Beaver Creek/Bell Trail/The Crack

2008-06-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

This was one of our best hikes and campouts. We parked right off of I-17 by the Wet Beaver Creek ranger station, south of Oak Creek. We hiked in about 3.5 miles down the Bell Trail, taking the Weir Trail fork. Out camp site was stellar, right next to Wet Beaver Creek, on a sandy beach. The boys had a great time skipping stones and playing in the water.

Another youth group told us about "The Crack", off of the rim trail. We hiked another mile and a half to The Crack, and discovered some fantastic cliff jumping. The jumps ranged from 6 feet to 32 feet. It was 107 degrees out and we jumped into the ice cold water, which felt great and refreshing.

The photo below is a great example of the areas natural beauty. You can see the Sedona-like red rock on the bottom of the hill, crowned by lava rock on top. Without the lava rock, this area would look just like Sedona.

The Bell Trail, which we took, was made by a local rancher to get his cattle up to the Mogollon Rim. It is now an old jeep trail, which means it is very wide and pleasant for hiking.

Mooney Trail

2008-04-21T06:30:00.001-07:00

We went to Mooney Trail, which is between Sedona and Cottenwood. It parrallels Loy Canyon, the trail we did last month. This trail was originally built to drive cattle to and from summer pastures on the rim and is still used for this purpose.

During his talk the following Sunday, Brother Dalton did a great job summarizing our experiences on this trail. It wasn't well-marked, but we had fun exploring and finding the trail. I don't think anyone was worried when we veered off. Everyone but Wesley Stine had to go to the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, afterwards. We each had either a brother or a son competing in the event. Included are photos of the trail, the pinewood derby, and the SunDogs playoff game that night.

There are there photos of note. One, we stumbled upon some animal tracks and took two pictures of it. We don't know what kind of animal it was, but the main part of the paw was larger than my hand. Any help in identifying it would be appreciated. Two, you can see how close Brother Dalton came to the edge of that cliff he talked about. And three, my friend John dressed up as a buck hunter at the hockey game because we were playing the Laredo Bucks. The mullet is fake.

UPDATE: The tracks we found were from a black bear. Look at this site to compare: Black Bear Tracks

Teacher's BBQ

2008-04-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Teacher's Quorum put on a BBQ for all the YM/YW. After eating, we played volleyball and capture the flag. Everyone had a great time. Thanks, Teacher's Quourum! Click on Brody to see all of the photos.

Calendar Events

2007-10-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

Coming up for the Red Riders:

October 16th - Combined activity. The Laurals are putting it on. Come to the church at 6:30pm.

October 23rd - We are making our patrol shirts at the Stines. We will meet there at 6pm. If you'd like me to drive you, meet at my house at 5:45 and I'll take you back there.

October 30th - TBA

November 9th - 10th - We'll be car camping. Please plan on doing your meal preperation for first class, tenderfoot, and cooking merit badge.

Golf Saturday

2007-10-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Red Riders had a great time golfing on Saturday. Antelope Hills gave all of us complimentary rounds of golf. We are very grateful to them for doing that.

The following boys earned their golfing merit badge:

Aaron

Brody

Mitch
Travis

Dallin

Tuesday Night - WE'RE IN CHARGE!

2007-09-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we're responsible for youth night. We're going to play games and have an ice cream sundae bar. Here are the individual responsibilities:

Mitch - Bowls and spoons
Brody - Candy, toppings, nuts, etc
Aaron - Chocolate and butterscotch syrum, whip cream, and cherries
Steve - Ice cream scoopers
Ike - Games and ice cream

The evening starts at 6:30pm. We're going to have a great time!

Court of Honor Report

2007-09-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Court of Honor was awesome. Here are the ranks the boys made:

Aaron - 2nd Class
Mitch - 2nd Class
Brody - 2nd Class
Barrett - Star

In addition, most of the boys earned at least one merit badge. Six boys and leaders earned the Sedona/Oak Creek hiking badge. They are:

Dallin
Mitch
Wesley
Stacy
Randy
Me (Ike)

Our next Court of Honor will be in three months. Let's all make rank before then!

Cancelled October Campout - New October Plan!

2007-09-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

We have a busy month in October. Instead of camping out on October 12th and 13th, we are going to spend that Saturday making our Class B uniforms at the Stine's house. After we are done making our very cool Red Riders T-Shirts, we'll be golfing at Antelope Hills so the boys can finish their merit badges.

Expect lots of cool photos on this blog of both events!

Thomas Point Photos

2007-09-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

This trail was built in 1890 by the Thomas family so that they could get from their place in West Fork to Flagstaff. Thomas Point was named after J.L.V. "Dad" Thomas, who bought the West Fork Ranch in 1888. Before 1914, when Thomas built the road from West Fork to Flagstaff, people who wanted to visit Oak Creek used the Thomas Point Trail. Flagstaff to Thomas Point was a 4-5 hour wagon drive, and then travelers parked their wagons and walked the horses down this trail. Thomas build a lodge in 1900. It eventually became the Mayhews Lodge.

We had a great time on this trail. When we setup camp, we had a bat that bothered us for about 20 minutes, buzzing our heads and wrecking havoc. At 5:30am, we were awoken by a truck gathering firewood along the rim. Before that, we had no idea it was possible to drive up the rim, but there must be an access road on the back side of it, since on the front side, we hiked up a narrow trail to get there. Since we woke up so early, we went down and played in Oak Creek for an hour. Afterwards, we ate breakfast at McDonalds and rushed to help Cameron with his Eagle project.

September 7th - 8th - Campout

2007-09-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Meet at the church at 4pm on Friday, September 7th. We are going on the Thomas Point Trail.

We'll be back around 10am on Saturday, September 8th. I'll post photos up here after the hike is over.

Soldier's Pass

2007-08-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

In the 1880's, after the Apache Indians had been secured, Camp Verde officers often went to a small camp to find good hunting and fishing. It was called Camp Garden, but is now called Sedona. Soldier's Pass was used by them to travel from Camp Garden to Brin's Mesa and the upper Dry Creek area.

At the beginning of the hike we saw this amazing sink hole. A little farther in, we saw the seven pools area, which looked like huge, flat steps descending from the trail into the valley. As we hiked into the dusk and the evening, we gradually lost light. At the end of the hike, we were in the most technically difficult area and in almost total blackness. The absence of the moon made hiking difficult and we slipped and slided our way to an edge of a cliff. It was just barely big enough for all of us camp for the night. Exhausted, we setup camp and made dinner.

We fell asleep while watching the meteor showers. One shooting star was so bright, it woke me up.

Stacy and I talked about how far back we'd have to backtrack to find the Soldier's Pass Arches. We wanted to take the boys there in the morning, but we figured we'd passed it by about a 1/2 mile. In the morning, we discovered that the cliff we camped on was actually INSIDE THE ARCHES. We had the most spectacular campsite imaginable We all woke up amazed at the grandeur and beauty.

The campsite.

Dallin climbed up into one of the arches.

Mitch's tent almost blew right off the edge of the cliff. At the last second, Cameron caught it.

Aaron and Wes at the edge of our campsite, overlooking the valley of Soldier's Pass.

Dallin and Mitch climbed up onto the window of this arch.

Randy is climbing up this slot canyon.

The next day, we hiked Brin's Mesa. Old Brin was a huge bull that refused to be caught. He liked to graze up on the mesa and survived up there for five or six years, always evading capture. On the final attempt, two cowboys roped Brin and were dragged quite a ways. Rather than risk being killed, the cowboys shot Brin, and the mesa was named in honor of the bull's memory.

The boys are on their bellies, overlooking a cliff that is on top of the arches.

Mitch, Ike, and Dallin on the trail coming off of Brin's Mesa.

Dallin, Steve, and Mitch on the same trail.

Geranimo

2007-07-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

Geranimo was a total blast. The boys earned plenty of badges and several advanced in rank. We discovered we've got guys who love to hike. They hike fast and without complaint. Next year, we want to do all the major Geranimo hikes and bag the afternoon activities.

Ike, Grayson, Spencer, Brody, Mitchell, Dallin, and Randy going to the morning flag ceremony.

Barrett, Ike, Cameron, Max, Mitch, Brody, Spence, and Grayson on a difficult hike up East Webber Trail.

A spring feeds this pool of freezing water. Only Spence, Grayson, and Barrett were willing to jump in. They could only hold their breath under water for about five seconds.

Too smart to jump in the ice pool.