2009 Priesthood Encampment

We just completed our Summer Priesthood Encampment that was put on by the stake. This was the best stake ran summer camp that I have ever seen. There were two divisions at camp; one division for the deacons that were working on merit badges and another division for the teachers and priests that were participating in high adventure activities (which is where I hung out). The high adventure activities included rappelling 100 feet, caving, strong men competition, team building games, and a 20 mile hike. I have to say that the hike was the toughest hike that I have ever done because of the amount of elevation that we covered. In the two days that we hiked we changed a total of 10,000 feet! There was also a strong emphasis on the spiritual side of life. The boys were challenged to memorize scriptures, teach morning devotionals, and listen to great firesides put on by guest speakers including a general authority. Each boy had one event or activity that he loved and if you asked any number of them, you would get a different answer as to what was their favorite. The stake did awesome!

A nap along the trail.

The Spencer Kimball Tree. If you look closely you can make out the name Spencer Kimball that was carved by the prophet when he was a boy at summer camp.

Church in the top of the mountains.

What we looked like at the end of the hike.

Snow Campout - Greer, AZ

For this year's snow campout we decided to do a three day trip like last year but to spend the first night in a cabin and the second night in snow caves. We had a blast! The trip started off a little rough because the hidden key that we were suppose to use to get into the cabin was gone and so we had to break into the cabin with a screw driver. Once we got that behind us we were able to enjoy the trip. We did our junior leadership training in the cabin and then played in the snow near Sunrise Lake for the rest of the time. We spent several hours on Friday building snow caves. The younger scouts decided to not sleep in the caves but to go back to the cabin. While the varsity scouts decided to rough it in the caves. They actually only made it about half the night and then gave up to sleep in the even colder van. So the assistant scoutmaster and I were the only ones who actually slept in the caves the whole night (and quite comfortably at that). The boys learned that they needed to have more insulation underneath them. They learned the next day that the other troop that was there had put straw underneath their sleeping bags. We will have to give it another shot next year. Enjoy the pictures.




Me in my snow cave

Romero Pools

This month we went to Romero Pools which is located in the Catalina State Park. The last time that I can was with an eleven year old patrol that had a really difficult time doing the hike. I was impressed this time at how well all of the boys handled the hike and the speed that we were able to maintain. What was more impressive was the fact that all of the boys got in the water for a lunch time polar bear. Even though it was lunch time, the water was super super cold. The water source is the packed snow on the top of Mt. Lemmon that has come trickling down the mountain. Needless to say, we didn't do a lot of swimming, just mainly dipping. But it was a nice reward for a 6 mile round trip hike.

Mt. Wrightson

On New Year's Eve I went on a hike with my brother Brandon as well as one of my really good friends here named John. I have always wanted to do this hike because of how close it is to my house (30 minutes to trailhead) and because it is the highest peak in the Tucson area. The hike was about 11 miles round trip and was beautiful. The change in terrain was really fun because it went from shrubs and bushes at the bottom to pine trees and snow at the top. The change in elevation really pushed me but I was impressed at how fast we were able to complete the hike (just over 6 hours with rest stops). But what made the hike memorable was the great view from the top. We could look out at one end and see all of Tucson. We could also look in the opposite direction and see Patagonia and the Mexican Border. There was even an observatory pretty close that we could see on Mt. Hopkins (shown below). John mentioned that in the spring and fall that the whole mountain is full of wildflowers. So I will have to make a trip when the flowers are blooming.


Mt. Hopkins Observatory


The summit


Looking South


We came across this hiker on the right named John Wayne. The name was fitting!

Picacho Peak

This month we went to Picacho Peak. I was glad that the boys decided to go there because I have driven by the peak about a million times going between Phoenix and Tucson and I have always wanted to hike it. The peak is located almost equally between here and Phoenix and was a great weekend to be hiking. Several other scout troops thought the same thing because we ran into boys from all over the state including Tucson, Sahuarita, Gilbert, Tempe, and Mesa. We made the accent in about a hour and a half but it only took us 45 minutes to go back down. The boys started moving really fast when I promised them Dairy Queen if they beat the eleven year old scouts to the bottom. The hike was really fun too because there were some challenging spots that had cables to help support our climb. I would recommend the hike to anybody looking for a short adventure during the cooler months of the year.






I was acting like I was falling. I ended up just looking dumb.

2008 Stake Young Men's Campout

Last weekend we had our annual Stake Young Men's campout. This year it was held at the Double-V Scout Ranch near Old Tucson Studios. The focus of the camp was how small decision can have a huge and lasting effect on the boys life. All of the skits that the boys did were based around the theme as well. Our boys (shown above) did really good at the wilderness survival workshop. I was surprised at how well the held up considering that they went to bed around 5:00 AM and I had them up at 5:30 to get ready for breakfast. They really enjoyed the fire starting part of the workshop. Especially when they found out that they could burn holes in shoes (shown below). Stake functions have been sporadic at best lately but this activity definitely was a great event. I think that things are starting to look up for the youth program here in the stake.

Rose Canyon Lake 2008

After our great fishing success last year with the Eleven-Year-Old scouts we decided to go again this year with the High Adventure Scouts. The picture above sums up the entire trip; we caught one small fish (which I caught). The boys learned a valuable lesson about sleeping in and missing out on the good fishing. I tried to wake them all up with my beatiful singing voice at 6:00 AM but was unsuccesful with most of them. We didn't get to the lake until about 9:00 AM. At this point most of the trout weren't interested any more with our bait and the lake was full of anglers around the entire lake. While last year, the boys were up at 4:30 AM and we were fishing by 6:00 AM. We caught 25 fish on that trip.

Eventhough we didn't catch many fish, we still had a lot of fun. Some of the boys went down stream and found a nice little watering hole to relax in while others soaked up some sun and relaxed. I hope you enjoy the pictures.