For all of you who want to know what happen on high adventure please click here for pictures. You can double click on a thumbnail and run through a slide show. They are somewhat in chronological order. Click here to go to YouTube for a bunch of High Adventure Videos
Itinerary:
Monday - Leave from Richardson, Texas and drive to Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo. We took a 5.75 mile hike out to the Lighthouse with fully loaded packs. This was a shake down hike for all scouts and leaders. We all quickly learned that we wanted to drop weight back at camp. Brother Lyman made chicken and potato stew in the dutch oven for dinner, and I made peach cobbler in the dutch oven. All enjoyed the food and slept well.
Tuesday - We woke up early and drove to Clayton, NM. In Clayton we decided to call the ranger station in the San Juan National Forest in Colorado. None of the trails were open because they had just received 2 feet of snow a couple of days earlier. We quickly re-routed to northern NM around Taos/Angel Fire/Red River. We called the ranger station in the Carson National Forest, and they indicated that most trails were open. They said Wheeler was open all the way to the summit. In Eagles Nest we picked up a trail book and found the loop that we wanted to do. It started at the Taos ski basin and went up Long Canyon Trail over Gold Hill and down the other side into Goose Lake. We planned to camp at Goose Lake for a couple of days and then hike out and camp at Meadow of the Bull before going up Mount Wheeler (the highest point in NM). Read on and you will see how our plans panned out.
We got on the trail around 1:00pm. Trail head was at about 9000 feet. At about 10000 feet we were in thick trees and encountered lots of snow due to the shade and the deep canyon that we were in. Snow was deep and many of us were sinking into our knees and more. By 7:00 we were all exhausted and wanted to call it a day, however there was nowhere to camp due to the thick snow. We needed to push on and try to make the ridge to set up camp. Once out of the trees it would be easy to find a good camp site. By 8:30 we were at 11800 feet, it was getting dark and many of us were wet from the snow. We needed to find a site and start a fire and get everyone dry and warm ASAP. As we came to a clearing, off on the left side there was a small camp site with a fire ring and dry ground enough for all of our tents. It was somewhat sheltered, and we all believe it was heaven sent. We quickly got a fire going (which was difficult because we were near the top of the canyon and the wind was whipping). Once the fire was going the wind stocked it real well for us. We all got dry and warm and then went to bed. Temperatures dropped to the mid 20's and the wind had to have pushed it down into the teens with wind chill. I believe winds were sustained at 30-40 mph that night with gust up to 60-70 mph.
Wednesday - We all awoke to a chilly morning. Many of us waited for the sun to come over the mountains to warm us up before we ventured out of our tents (that happened around 10:00). That should give you an idea of the terrain we were in. We broke down camp and got our packs all packed up and headed off up the mountain for the ridge. Things got really steep really fast. As we pushed on it was very hard to keep your breath because we were at 12000 feet plus. I was bringing up the rear. At one point I looked up, and one of the scouts was in front of me on his knees gasping for air saying that he couldn't go on. I talked with him and convinced him to continue. 10 steps later we had the same conversation. 10 steps later the same conversation occurred again. After 3 or 4 times of the same conversation he just started to go on his own. As I watched him hike and stop and hike and stop I looked around and I thought "Wow - this is amazing. Here I am standing at the top of the world and the mountains, trees, snow, sky, etc. were all testifying of the power and strength of our God. But the thing that testified more of His goodness was the perseverance of that 15 year old scout in front of me." We had pushed him to his physical limit and then pushed him a little further. He had to be relying on powers greater than his to carry him up that mountain, and I could see it. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about how important this experience would be in all of their lives. They will look back on this moment as one of the defining moments in their lives. One of the moments that they will look back on and say "I can do anything. I climbed that mountain and it was hard, but I never gave up." As we got up on the ridge we could see a good view of the canyon that we just came up. There was a reason they called the trail Long Canyon Trail. A few of us made it to the top of the ridge and were able to look down onto Goose Lake. Goose Lake was completely frozen over and all around was snowed in. We decided that going down to the lake was not a good choice. We stopped for lunch up on the ride in a little outcropping of trees. We then followed the ridge above Long Canyon back toward where we came from. This was an easier hike as long as we stayed on the ridge which was above tree line and not much snow remained. However, again we got into thick trees and encountered even more snow because we were at a high elevation. We knew exactly where we were and knew exactly where we were trying to get to (we had a GPS) yet we couldn't seem to travel faster than 1 mile an hour due to the snow. This made our situation desperate, and the sun started to go down. We continued to press on. At one point we offered a prayer that we would be safe and able to make it to our destination without troubles. About 45 minutes after we offered that prayer we started to descend off of the ridge. As we dropped elevation the snow quickly began to clear. We were all very excited to see dirt and be able to follow a trail that was very well marked. By 7:00 we had made it to Meadow of the Bull and set up camp. Again it was getting dark and cold. We started a fire and set up tents. All of which were significantly easier due to the reduced wind. We sat around and ate dinner and discussed the trials on the trail of the day. This was a great experience to openly discuss the things that we all thought were hard or difficult. We all thought the snow was one of the biggest obstacles. We all slept well that night and it was quite a bit warmer due to the lower elevation (9800 feet) and the lack of wind. However, there was still ice on the pond when we woke up on Thursday.
Thursday - Thursday was set aside as a R and R day. We slept in, relaxed by the creek, read our books, talked, and explored the area. This was a much needed day and we all enjoyed ourselves. At night we prepared our packs and day packs for the morning.
Friday - We woke up early and packed up our camp except for our tents. We left our full packs in our tents and took our day packs to summit Mount Wheeler. This is a 10 mile hike from where we were camped. The trail was clear most of the way and we only encountered snow in limited areas. Often times we had to encourage one another and provide moral support. One trick we all found useful was what I call 50/30's You take 50 steps and rest for 30 seconds. 50 steps 30 second rest. It is slow, but it gets you there. By 2:00 we were on top of the world. At 13160 feet we could see into southern Colorado and all of the surrounding mountains. We saw Marmots and Big Horn Sheep. We spent 30 minutes or so on the summit and then returned down. Descending is a lot easier on the lungs, however it is a lot harder on the knees. Those of us with bad knees had a hard time. We made it down to camp by 5:00 and quickly packed our tents and day packs so that we could get to the car another 2 miles away. This portion of the hike seemed to fly by as it was all downhill, and there was a very well defined trail the entire way. We made it to the car and we were all exhausted. Luckily we had planned ahead and there was an ice cold cooler full of refreshing sodas. Due to our time constraints we had to quickly load up the gear and get on the road. We traveled all the way to Clayton Lakes State Park in NM. We pulled in at 10:30 and found the closest camp sight. We had one reserved, but we did not know which one was ours. We moved the picnic table out of the pavilion and we all set out our sleeping bags and mats on the concrete floor of the pavilion. We all slept very well again. Concrete had never felt so good before.
Saturday - we got up early and packed up our stuff. We drove on to Amarillo where we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch. Brother Lyman provided a couple bottles of spray paint and we all left our own mark on the piece of art. We pulled into Denton around 6:00 where we stopped at the Golden Corral for dinner. Everyone feasted because anything would be a feast after you ate what we ate for a week. We made it back to Richardson around 8:00.
All in all it was a very rewarding experience for all of us. We had some hard times and some fun times. As Brother Lyman puts it - "If you can do it with your mom, dad and sisters it is not High Adventure." I guarantee you that what we did none of these boys would have down with their families. It was gruelling hard work that pushed us all physically and spiritually. Thank you for all working so hard and making it a success. Maybe next year when we tell you that you need to be working out every day for 3 months prior to our trip you will believe us.
