1999 JOHN MUIR VVILDERNESS 50 Miler
TROOP 253
NINETEENTH ANNUAL FIFTY MILER OUTING
JOHN MUIR WILDERNESS
AUGUST, 1999
SUMMARY
The purpose of this adventure was to open the horizons of the back packing scouts of Troop 253 and introduce them to new environments. The following pages show that these goals were met even though the trip ended before all of the destinations were visited.
This year's 50 Miler took place in the East central part of the John Muir Wilderness. The total distance actually covered with full packs was about 18 miles for reasons that will be discussed in detail later.
Preparation for this annual event included 35 (minimum) prep hike miles for the scouts (with packs) selected from about 106 scheduled miles. The traditional prep camp was omitted from this year's agenda due to the abundance of seasoned scouts on this trip.
As noted in the financial report, we completed this year's Miler in the black. The excess funds will be used to upgrade and refurbish the troop's camping equipment which has been neglected for the past few years.
TEAM
Seniors:
Kathleen Journalist
Jenny O Funds & Food & Quarterrnistress
Karen SPL
Jenny H Food & Quarterrnistress
Sharmini SPL & Food & Quarterrnistress
Leaders:
Paul Sidenblad Trip Coordinator, Route, Photographer, & Prep Hikes
Heber Slusser First Aid, Report, & Photographer
Laura Wilbur Administration
Suzanne Taylor Assistant
ROUTE
The scouts, with Paul's advice and direction, after considering many other areas selected the John Muir Wilderness area. The criteria for selection included:
TOPOGRAPHIC VIEW OF THE ROUTE
The predetermined route is ploted as well as the actual route hiked
ELEVATON VIEW OF THE ROUTE
An elevation plot of the route provided an accurate picture of each day's effort
The actual route hiked has a different elevation plot
MENU
Each day's menu was preplaned by the Food team.
PREP HIKES
Each scout and leader was required to hike 35 prep miles prior to the 50 Miler. 106 miles of hikes were scheduled.
The Troop's 'tried and true' equipment list was adheared to 'to the letter' This year we left home with the lightest packs we have had in years.
This trip started off with adjustments and alterations. Paul had an emergency at home that prohibited him from attending the pack inspection on Wednesday as well as the departure for the mountains on Friday. The rest of the scouts and leaders drove to Mammoth Lakes, CA on Friday for a half day and night of acclamation at the Cold Water camp grounds. After the first day's assent from 9,000 feet to 11,200 feet then back down to 10,700. By this time some of us had already started to experience various degrees of altitude sickness. Two of the scouts and one of the leaders were experiencing AMS and I (Heber) had developed a minor headache. On the second day, after some route modifications, only one scout and one leader had symptoms of AMS but the weather had changed from nice cool mountain summer to rather cold threatening winter. Lightning, thunder, hail, wind, and sub freezing temperatures greeted us in the evening and continued through the night. Paul caught up with us on Monday to help with the decisions that would confront us later on. Tuesday greeted us with more threatening weather and another route change. By noon on Tuesday we were deep into winter weather again with hail, cold, wind, and a wonderful pyrotechnic show in the sky. The bear that took our food during the night had nothing to do with our decision to leave the wilderness early. That decision was primarily due to the AMS that wouldn't go away and the effects of the cold weather. All of the details of these events are covered in the evaluations and journals in the next section.
1999 John Muir Wilderness 50 Miler Official journal by Karen
1999 John Muir Wilderness 50 Miler - viewed through the eyes of Kathleen
Paul's Journal
Heber's Journal
Evaluation submitted by SPL Karen
Evaluation submitted by Laura
Evaluation submitted by Jenny
Evaluation submitted by Kathleen
Even though trip was shortened, many beautiful sceens were captured.
1999 50 Miler Picture Book
