Rose Canyon Lake

Fish, fish, and more fish! We went to Rose Canyon Lake which is located near the top of Mt. Lemmon. The boys and I had a great time. I prayed that we would catch fish and we caught so many that we struggled to eat them all. In total we caught between 20 and 25 trout. The boys then gutted all of the fish and cooked them in the fire. The boys were grossed out the whole time they were cleaning the fish. Needless to say, they weren't in the mood to eat a whole lot. All of the boys ate at least one fish though. I loved watching the excitement in their eyes as they were pulling the fish in one after another. The surprise of the day came when John Jewkes (Age 4) caught the very first fish and showed up all of the boys. All in all, it was a great outing. Enjoy the photos!

Never fear, the Boy Scouts are here!

On Saturday, our eleven-year-old patrol was out for another adventure. We went on what started as a normal eight mile hike in Bear Canyon (next to Sabino Canyon). The hike in took us around two hours and was rewarded by the flowing cool water at seven falls. The boys enjoyed swimming, rock climbing, and exploring the area. We then decided to hike back. As we were leaving Steve Gay noticed a lady relaxing under the shadow of a rock and asked if she was doing okay. Her response led Steve to offer her our services escorting her all the way back to the trail head. The woman's name was Connie and after about one minute of hiking we knew that our hike was no longer going to be ordinary. The boys helped Connie every step of the way by providing a strong arm to hold when she became unbalanced and providing her with Gatorade and Skittles. It turned out that Connie was on a diet medication that made her dehydrated and she is 65 years old.

The situation grew worse and worse until we decided to rest under a tree. At that point I could tell that we were not going to be able to get her out by her own strength. We called the ranger station who quickly told us to dial 911. Within an hour the Southern Arizona Rescue Association (SAR) arrived and continued handling the situation. A horse and mule were en route as well, but the volunteers of SAR decided that she wouldn't be able to make it out by horseback and decided to call in the helicopter.

I was impressed with how well our boys handled the situation and how they were able to apply the skills that they learned in scouting. The boys are currently working on their Emergency Preparedness merit badge and this trip provided an excellent opportunity to apply their skills. This is just another example of the positive influence of the scouting program. However, the numerous stories like this don't make the evening news, while the stories not supportive of scouting somehow find their way in the lime light.

Jeremy Baldwin
Troop 331

A neat cave underneath one of the water falls

A view of our boys and the beautiful Bear Canyon

The Calvary has arrived.

Southern Arizona Rescue Association arrived.

A desert tortoise found along the trail.

A natural shower.

If you look close you can see four of the seven falls

A staircase waterfall

Waterfall number six

A natural water slide.

The water was naturally this color... right Cade?

Fossil Springs Adventure

This last weekend, Kaylee and I went to Fossil Springs with our friends Brock and Tara. What an adventure! I had so much fun the entire day. The 6.6 mile round trip hike was well worth the destination. Our adventure included 2 rope swings, cliff jumping, a hidden cave behind a waterfall, an underwater tunnel leading to an opening in a hollow rock, and a water filled cave that was entered by riding the raging water currents. The best part was that I got to share this trip with my beautiful wife and the best man of my wedding and his wife!

Background:

The following background of Fossil Springs comes from the Coconino National Forest website:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/red_rock/fossil-spgs-wild.shtml

"This 11,550 acre Wilderness boasts what has been described as the most diverse riparian area in Arizona. Over thirty species of trees and shrubs and over a hundred species of birds have been observed in this unique habitat. The stream seems to appear out of nowhere, gushing 20,000 gallons a minute out of a series of springs at the bottom of a 1,600 foot deep canyon. Over the years these calcium laden waters have laid down huge deposits of a material called travertine. That rock-like substance encases whatever happens to fall into the streambed - forming the fossils for which the area is named."

Directions:

To get to Fossil Springs take the B-Line highway (AZ HW 87) to Payson. From Payson go north on HW 87 to Strawberry. Turn left on Fossil Springs Rd (FR 708 at the Strawberry Lodge) and go west for 5 miles to the trailhead. At the trailhead do not stop with all of the other cars but vere right and go another mile down the road. This will save you a total of two miles (round trip) of hiking along a road that you can drive on.

This was the coolest rope swing because after I let go of the rope I fell another ten feet into the mists of the waterfall.

This is the underwater tunnel leading to an opening in a hollow rock. There is a rope that helped guide me through.

This is Kaylee showing off her skills at the first rope swing that we came across.

If you look closely you can see Brock and Tara in the water filled cave.

Kaylee and I at the top of the hiking trail.

A picture showing the pure glass-like spring water.

A map of Fossil Springs from the National Forest website.

Mount Graham Trip

This is my first attempt at posting a blog page. But this last weekend I took our eleven-year-old scouts to Mount Graham which is in eastern Arizona near the towns of Safford and Thatcher. Mount Graham proved to be an awesome adventure for the boys. We followed the ash creek trail to slide rock and then to a 200 foot waterfall! I have been told that this is the largest waterfall in Arizona. Our campsite was at Soldier Creek Campground at an elevation of 9500 feet.


The boys wanted to prove how tough they were so they went swimming in the chilly (understatement) mountain spring water. All of the boys jumped in without much hesitation. I submerged myself in the small waterfall feeding into our swimming hole and got the brain freeze of my lifetime.


The trail to the waterfall was fun because we had to cross Ash Creek several times in order to stay on the trail. We had to repair a dam along the trail to minimize the amount of water that was accidentally being diverted right onto the trail.


On our way back home to Sahuarita we stopped at "The Thing" rest stop. There were several billboards along the way and so we submitted to the wonderful marketing scheme and decided to stop. I will not disclose what the thing is in order to protect the wonderful attraction. But let me just say the one dollar admission fee was well worth it.

Since this is my first post I will keep it short in order to see if it actually worked. But below are some pictures of our outing

One of several creek crossings

Quick, somebody save Cade from going over the edge!

200 foot waterfall

"The Thing"

Breakfast at camp

One of the many beautiful views along the trail