The purpose of this 8 day adventure was to experience a wilderness area new to the girls attending this years event. Many of the back packing scouts had done similar treks in the Sierras but none had experience the Marble Mountains, a trek that was taken by previous 253 scouts seven years earlier. The other purpose was to introduce our youngest and very enthusiastic scout to the thrill of an 8 day mountain experience and form a strong patrol with the 4 scouts in attendance. The mileage was set at 30 miles, as is the tradition of Troop 253 when Cadette Scouts are participating in the event. The purpose was met and the trip was enjoyed by all.

This year’s 30 Miler took place in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, in Northern California, West of Yureka. The total mileage covered by all members was ________. The original plan included an extra loop which would have increased the mileage to just under 40 miles. Since we had 3 strong Senior backpacking scouts on the trip we wanted to have that option available if the Cadette Scout seemed strong, able and interested.

Preparation for this years trek was very non-traditional. A Sierra Prep Camp of 3 days scheduled in June (10 - 12 miles) along with 40 miles of day hikes, were available to hike during July and early August. Twenty five miles were required for conditioning. Conditioning hikes are done with the backpack loaded to at least 20 lbs. and hiked in the boots that would be worn on the hike.

Due to running in the red last year the miler fee was increased to $100.00 from the previous $90.00. The financial report came out with a surplus and a refund of $25.00 was given to all of the members. The troop is covering an additional unexpected expense (hotel stay) from the general troop fund.

This year the patrols divided into the leader patrol and the scout patrol as is shown above

The Patrol cooked as a group but sleep where they wanted. The scouts often clustered in one general area so as to share stories and song into the evening. Occasionally, the camp was such that space only allowed for one person and everyone found his or her own special rock or space.

MILER LEADERSHIP TEAM JOB DESCRIPTIONS

(Communication done by email this year- Phone calls to Laura)

The group was small this year and doing a Miler at all was in question. Kim and Tim suggested opening up the Miler to other Cadette and Senior Troops. It was decided that we should tell other troops about the event and see if we could draw some interest. The hope was threefold. One was to find those Cadette and Senior girls interested in exploring backpacking and have them condition with us and then join us on the miler. Second was to get the word out about our troop and encourage girls to join us on a backpacking trip to give the sport a try. Third was the hope that some girls would find what we do as a troop exciting and consider joining our troop. Our troop had become dangerously small and its future was look glim.

Paul put together a slide show and Kim and Kathleen took it to Troops, High Adventure Girl Scouts, the Cadette Senior Planning Board and Kim made many phone calls. Fliers were created and posted. This activity took place throughout April and into May.

In March, we started discussion the summer Miler. Information was gathered about who was interested. At that time 2 cadettes were interested; Priya and Juliette and 3 Seniors; Jenny, Kathleen, and Sharmini. Since we had cadettes interested in the trip it was determined that this years miler would be a 30 miler. Paul went off to study maps and come back with some trip ideas.

In April Paul returned with 3 proposed hikes. They were in Desolation Wilderness, Emigrant Wilderness, and Marble Mountain Wilderness. An email vote was sent to Paul from the girls and Marble Mountains was chosen.

In May we had our first Miler meeting. One new girl showed up, Laura. Laura Bennet had learned about the Miler from the presentation at the Cadette Senior Planning Board meeting. She is a Cadette in 7^th grade and very enthusiastic. I received calls from two parents from Troop 400 who said their daughters were interested but could not attend the meeting. There were two girls from Troop 321 also very interested. Kim had backpacked with them previously and knew they were very strong and a great addition to the group. They too could not attend. One other girl got excited about the troop from hearing our talk at the High Adventure Meeting, she was doing the backpacking camp put on through the council and not able to come on the Miler but interested in joining our troop in September. At first I felt very excited because it sounded like we added five more girls to the group. This was going to be a good size group and all felt enthusiastic. Gradually, all but Laura backed out due to availability to commit the time to the conditioning hikes and family scheduling conflicts. So although our presentations got the word out, it did very little to grow the Miler group. We did have 6 scouts though and that was still nice.

At the May meeting we showed the slides and talked about packs. We also sent girls off to get back with us on summer availability so that a date could be set for the trip. We had very few options available due to the full calendar of the Thurgate’s and schedules of the Senior Scouts.July would work for some of the Cadettes and Sharmini, but Kathleen and Jenny were at other activities in July and the Thurgate’s only had a 2 week pocket in July. Kim, Kathleen, Sharmini and Jenny were away in August until the 13^th. So the Miler date was set for Aug. 18 -26. We were under the belief from talking with various school districts that school would begin on the 28 or 30th. It was the middle of May before we learned all the school start days. Cupertino School District had moved up the start date to the 24^th which greatly affected the Miler participation.

Juliette had learned that Marching Band was starting up while we were away and had to back out and Priya needed to start school on the 24^th. This left the Miler with 4 scouts. Also, Paul later learned that his daughter would be needing to move to Colorado to start college also during the scheduled Miler dates so it was decided that the trip leaders would be Kim, Tim and Vern.

The 3-day Sierra hike went wonderfully well, though it turned out to be a much tougher hike than the leaders thought it would be. The Emigrant Wilderness guide book led us to expect rugged terrain, and what we encountered was that and then some. Still we had lots of great exercise, a fair amount of fresh trout, a truly magnificent sunset, and plenty of time with our feet at some steep angle up down or sideways on huge slabs of granite. Everything we hope for in a Sierra outing in abundance. On the hike were Laura Bennett, Juliette Wigley, Paul Sidenblad, Andrea Slusser, and Heber Slusser.

We left early in the morning on July 14th, had an uneventful drive, picked up our wilderness permit at the Forest service office on Highway 108 at the intersection of the Pinecrest Lake turnoff, and were at lakeside in time for lunch. The first part of the hike follows the South shore of the Pinecrest Lake, which is populated with cabins on land leased from the Forest service. Then the trail forks at the inlet stream, and we hiked along the South bank on good trails up to the falls which descend from Cleo's Bath. The trail is quite clear all the way up to the falls, and so we spend some amount of time trying to figure out how to get up the large boulders there, until we finally backtracked a bit and found the ducked trail which leads to Cleo's Bath about 50 yards back from the falls. This section of the "trail" is actually a rigorous scramble up some chutes between boulders and along granite slabs. It is marked by orange arrows painted on the rocks--not the usual means of marking, but it would have to be pretty thoroughly ducked otherwise. I guess I would still prefer ducks to the paint, even if the result were a harder route to follow.

On Saturday we rose early and got a nice early start, following ducks out of camp and up stream. It turns out, and as is typical especially in the Emigrant area, there's a duck for almost any direction you might think of walking, and some of them will lead you on a route you can actually use. The ducks we followed on Saturday took a much lower and trickier route than the ones we followed coming out on Sunday. It took us about two hours to cover the half mile between Cleo's bath and First Forest. (Coming back was somewhat quicker, but not by a lot) The reason is that the canyon is quite steep all the way down to the stream, so finding a route that is level enough to walk is challenging. Along the way we stopped to do some foot care, most notably on some truly impressive blisters Laura had developed on the bottoms of her feet. We stopped for lunch a short distance above First Forest, and then proceeded up the stream to Second Forest. By the time we got to Second Forest it was bout 2 PM, and we had already spent a lot of time in our packs. Finding a nice level campsite South of the stream about 100 yards tipped the scales, and we decided to camp there for the night. Everyone's feet, especially Laura's, were in favor of that decision.

The stream through Second Forest levels out and slows down in a series of wide pools, which are well populated with an assortment of small trout. Heber and I set off fishing, and he came back with his limit of 5, while I brought back 1 fish and a hand full of excuses. Having successfully provided a culinary supplement for the evening meal, Heber and I took a short walk further up the stream. As it turns out, the terrain above Second Forest is what I had envisioned the whole hike to be like. There the valley is wide enough to hike in along the stream, and the grade is steadily climbing but not difficult. We hiked as far as Third Forest before heading back to camp. Our original destination for the hike was to be Waterhouse Lake, which is some distance above Third Forest, along unknown terrain. What we saw above Second Forest led us to believe, though, that a really pleasant and quite a bit easier outing would be to start at the Waterhouse Lake trailhead and hike down to Second Forest by way of Waterhouse Lake, camping above Second Forest and fishing Waterhouse Lake and the pools in the stream along the way.

Heber and I returned and we cooked dinner, with fresh trout hors-d'oevres. Juliette and I, did a little more fishing, but no catching. That hardly mattered since we were at the head of a canyon looking west over one of the Sierra's magnificent sunsets. Downed wood was plentiful, so we built a modest campfire and just enjoyed the flames and each others' company 'til bed time.

Sunday morning we rose early, ate breakfast, tended sore feet, and broke camp under skies that were not threatening but cloudy enough to watch closely. There's almost always something for a leader to fret over, and Sunday it was those clouds and the thought of how slick those steep granite slabs would be if we got any rain. Fortunately, the clouds did not produce any rain, and we had an uneventful hike out. On the way we found the preferred route, which climbs about 200 feet above First Forest and then traverses at about that elevation above the stream almost all the way to Cleo's Bath, well marked by frequent ducks.

Just up stream of Cleo's Bath the trail becomes less clear, and we had a bit of a scramble down to stream level where we stopped for lunch. Since we knew we would be on marked trail the rest of the way out, we took our time eating lunch at Cleo's and enjoying the rushing water and the views of Pinecrest Lake in the distance. By the time we had hiked from there back down to Pinecrest Lake, we had worked up enough of an appetite to have room for an ice cream cone before climbing into the minivan for the long ride home.

My overall summary of this outing is that it was more challenging than I would take on with novice hikers. I'd reserve it for scouts whom I had had the opportunity to observe on steep terrain, if possible. We were fortunate that Laura and Juliette are strong hikers and have the courage to trust their footing on steep granite. I've hiked with adults who would not have done as well as they did. Because of the challenging nature of the trail just below Cleo's Bath, and the uncertain marking and steep granite slabs in cross-country, the hiking goes quite slowly. We didn't push ourselves too hard, but we did hike until we were tired and still only made it 4 miles up from Pinecrest and back, for a total of about 8 miles.

Due to the busy schedules of those attending the Miler this year, we did not do our traditional Wed evening hike to Prasek’s Ridge. All of the hikes were on Saturdays.

Other Miles accumulated on own time:

Kim Alaska 21 miles, Day Hike 8.5 Miles @ Arascadero Preserve

Tim Alaska 21 miles

Kathleen Day Hike 8.5 Miles @ Arascadero Preserve

Jenny Backpack Camp at Menzies 10 miles

Sharmini Backpack Camp with teen group 20 miles

Total Miles earned of Miler Participates

Vern 20

Kim 29.5

Tim 51

Laura 40

Kathleen 8.5

Jenny 10

Sharmini 30

This year some scouts did not meet the conditioning requirements. An unusual exception was made. The exception was made for Senior Scouts who have previously shown strong hiking skills and conditioning. Omitting these scouts from the trip would have jeopardize the trip for the others since the group was so small. The daily mileage was low due to the fact that it was only 30 miles which also made the conditioning miles less critical for these scouts. This exception could not have been made for a Cadette or new scouts or if the miler was planed as a 50 mile event.

Paul narrowed down the options to 3 choices and the Marble Mountain Wilderness was voted in.

This interested the girls because it was different from the Sierras which many of them had experienced.. Paul met with Tim, Vern and Kim to pass off the maps and books and reviewed his ideas for the route. After studying the maps, Tim came up with an alternative route and shared it with Paul during one of the prep hikes. It involved daily hiking without layover days. Each day was short with 5.5 miles being the longest day. One day included some cross-country travel over a pass. Paul agreed that the route looked good and gave the girls plenty of down time at camp. The plan was reviewed with Kathleen and her suggestions put into the plan.

1. The route had options to create a layover day, should it be needed
2. It gave the girls the opportunity to see a lot of the area and Black Marble Mt from many angles.
3. It stayed under the required altitude for a 30 Miler
4. Many lakes were visited
5. 3 Different Peaks were available to climb for those with the energy and willingness to do them
6. It provided the girls with a varied perspective on how different the wilderness can be within California.

Initial Planed Route

Servings were divided as follow: Patrol 1 (scouts) received either a serving for 4 -if package said 2 servings or 5 if the package said 2.5 servings. Patrol 2 (leaders) received either 4 servings or 2.5

Turkey Tetrezine and Sweet and Sour Pork were very big hits! All of the food was enjoyed though. Laura dislikes spaghetti -real or f.d. but ate anyway. Chili Mac was spicy for Laura and Kathleen. Kathleen ate anyway Laura offered hers up for trade.

This year Kim increased the amount of Peanut butter to 6oz and I added honey to it for more flavor and moisture. Rye wafers were added for 5 lunches, and energy bars available for 6 days. Tiger bars and 40-30-30 bars took 2 to = the cal/carb goal.

A total of 4oz of peanut butter came back out of 42oz sent. Although the wafers did not stay wafers for very long for most of the people due to the stuffed food bags, they were still eaten by most. The crumbs were added to the peanut butter and eaten with fingers. (I used Crystal Lite container this year vs Tubes which made this possible). One oversight was that with these containers people could use a knife too. (I opted not to use tubes due to the high failure rate I have experienced on trips)

One Cliff and One Power Bar were taken from the troops back supply for each person along with 4 Harvest Bars 3 more Harvest Bars were bought fresh. Two girls refused to eat the Cliff Bars as soon as they saw them 2 adults and 1 scout took a couple bites and then ate something else too. They were much worse then their normal bad, then Jenny read the expiration date of 1998. The same was true for the Harvest Bars those with the old ones could only take a couple bites or chose to skip them due to the 1998 date. Only a couple people had the Power Bar. One came back and one had major complaints from an adult. All the other bars were enjoyed. ProMax seemed to be a favorite and the Jenny Craig bars were also enjoyed. For some people there were too many bars but for others, it was just right. For Laura, not enough at all and she ended up eating some power bars, and gorp from other members so everything balanced out. I think Vern enjoyed having the extra added bars too and were critical for him on his last day.

It seems that the dates on Energy Bars is IMPORTANT and should be paid attention too. I feel it is also very important to bring bars that will be eaten. If it has the highest calories and carbos., but no one eats it then it was extra weight for no purpose and the people are deficient on that day. We did not control who ate what during each lunch but everyone ate well and very little food came back.

We left home with 62.25 lbs of food and came back with 5.5 lbs of food (1 lb of dried fruit that Tim forgot to take out on our last oatmeal breakfast - bad Tim - of course none of us missed it until later) We had the 4 oz of peanut butter + 8 oz of containers, 4 cliff bars, 2 Harvest Bars, 2 Power Bars, 1 ProMax, 1 40-30-30 bar, .8 oz of gorp, 7 oz of jerkey

I think we did very well on food usage this year.

Due to the busy schedules of those attending the Miler this year, we did not do our traditional Wed evening hike to Prasek’s Ridge. All of the hikes were on Saturdays.

This year some scouts did not meet the conditioning requirements. An unusual exception was made. The exception was made for Senior Scouts who have previously shown strong hiking skills and conditioning. Omitting these scouts from the trip would have jeopardize the trip for the others since the group was so small. The daily mileage was low due to the fact that it was only 30 miles which also made the conditioning miles less critical for these scouts. This exception could not have been made for a Cadette or new scouts or if the miler was planed as a 50 mile event.

Unfortunately, the Troop’s ‘tried and true’ equipment list from the 1999 Miler was not sent to this years group via email instead an older version was used for packing. Fortunately everyone caught that the whistle was missing and added it. Because this list would contribute to even lighter packs I have printed it here as the ideal list. BUT...the following modifications need to be made to the next Miler list: Thermals or sweats should be Synthetic Thermals, Toilet paper should include 4 qt.size zip-lock bags for carrying out soiled T.P, Chopsticks. Omit, Stove a spare stove incase of failure, Fuel (2 cans/patrol). + 1 spare canister, Ground cloth should be moved to group Required Personal Gear. Everyone needed one on this years event.

125 feet of 9mm climbing rope

USGS maps of the area hiked plus surrounding areas - carried by each of the leaders.

Copy of TOPO program map with highlighted route - carried by every member

Miler Med. Kit

GPS

Walkie Talkies (left in the car but recovered for the last day to increase communication between members)

This year the miler began with pack inspection on the evening of August 16th. All of the girls packs were unpacked and then re-packed checking each item off from the check list, as each item went back into the pack. This years inspection went very well, with all of the girls having no more or no less than the pre-approved items. After the packs were inspected the patrol gear, i.e. shelters, cooking kits, stoves, gas, suntan lotion and food was added to the packs. Each girl and adult carried approximately twelve pounds of the common gear. After loading up the packs with the food, etc., the packs were weighed. The girls packs weighed between thirty and thirty-five pounds each. The food committee did an excellent job in keeping the weight down this year.

This years food plus troop gear came in at an average of 12.5 pounds for each girl everyone,(this is lighter than past years) and yet we brought more lunch food. The adults averaged about 15 lbs of troop gear,due to carrying extra gear like first aid kits, rope, and individual shelters. The adults came in heavier than 1999 but very similar to 1998. Had the adults emptied their packs too, I think we may have eliminated another pound or two. Scouts also a couple pounds over last year. I think it is important to keep in mind that much of the troop gear stays the same for a small patrol of 3 or 4 as compared to 5 or 6 in a patrol. The same number of tarp shelters, fuel and stove, and billy kits are needed yet there are less people to divide up the weight. With that in mind, I would expect packs to weigh more for a smaller group than a larger group. If the patrol got larger than 6 members the equipment needed would then increase too.

I think we did okay on weight though there is still room to improve!. In the future, I feel strongly that adults should also empty packs. I think we could have saved a couple pounds had us adults seen what the other adults brought. I also think it is important to show what extras you want to bring and be able to justify it to the group. I think the group can also help each other reduce weight through talking about what they choose to bring. Sharmini definitely has mastered keeping her weight down and others can learn from her. It is also important to be sure no one is leaving something critical out to reduce weight.

We came out very good this year. We had increased the fee for the Miler from $90.00 to $100.00 because of running in the Red last year.

We had quite a bit of food left over from previous Milers which we put to use this year. Plus Kim had a lot of food items left over from her BS Alaska trip that she sold to the troop at a reduced rate. This decreased the total cost of food for this year.

The total trip cost came in at $75.00 with the troop picking up an additional cost for the hotel we had not planned to use.

$100.00 was collected from: Vern, Tim, Kim, Kathleen, Jenny, Sharmini, and Laura for

Travel Snacks and extra lunch: $52.36 - Kim Gas: Donated

Patch estimate $110.00 * Hotel: $145.80 covered by the troop

* Actual Patch cost came to $124.33. The difference was paid by the troop account.

As in the past this years group took along the Troop First Aid Kit. This kit consists of every common item one would use for the ordinary cuts, scrapes and other minor things one would expect to need in an urban area. In addition the kit contained other items that the usual home kit would not include. These items are geared toward the situations one might run across in the wilderness and where medical attention is not immediately available. The basis of the kit was derived from the recommendations set forth in several mountain medicine books and the various MDs' that conducted the Wilderness medicine Classes several of the Troop leaders attended. The kit weighed about eight pounds.

During the eight days on the trail we had to treat and re-treat one set of blisters and a case of bronchitis. For these two items we found the First Aid Kit was sufficient.

In reviewing the contents, it was noted that several of the items had expired. Before future milers we should take an inventory of the contents and replace those items that may no longer be effective for their intended purposes.

Meetings & Preparation I didn't participate, but everything turned out okay, so whatever happened must have worked.

Leaders It was interesting with new leaders, some new philosophy was introduced, but as a whole they made a good team.

Equipment Excellent, not much to be said here.

Route Food Most of the food was good, there were a few dinners that could have used some help to make them get eaten up.

Prep Hikes I didn't participate here either.

SPL Wow, Kathleen really had everything under control.

Patrols The one patrol we had, worked nicely.

Pack Inspection Even though our group was honest, it should be more strict in the future with more inexperienced girls.

Miler Hiking Most of the days were fairly easy, nothing was beyond the ability of anyone.

Transportation Worked out fine, especially with the walkie talkies!

Meetings & Preparation The meeting that we had in the beginning were informative. I liked that everyone had a copy of the map.

Leaders The three leaders that came on the trip were very good. But then two of them were my parents so what else can I say. I also really enjoy Vern.

Equipment I liked having all of the equipment divided up prior to the inspection. Equipment was in good condition.

Route Food I thought all of the food was delicious. There was a lot of variety and even if someone didn’t like something there was plenty of other items to fill up on. Some items were spicy. The Sweet and Sour Pork was the groups favorite.

Prep Hikes I did not go on any of the planned prep hikes. I know a lot of us girls were away this year so I’d say that they were poorly attended. But it seemed like everyone did fine since the hike was easy.

SPL I was the SPL! I enjoyed doing it a lot even though I was very busy. I liked reviewing the route and giving my input. I also liked knowing the menu and routing the map. I think it was nice that everyone had maps. I think it is important to involve senior scouts or the SPL in the planning phase of the Miler (even if we are busy). The SPL should try to make time for this responsibility somehow. The miler needs to be at least partially girl planned. I liked it a lot.

Patrols There was a girl patrol and an adult patrol. I think they worked well.

Pack Inspection It seemed to go faster this year but I think it went well and covered what it needed to.

Miler Hiking Good. The scenery was more similar throughout the trip. I think I still like the Sierras better.

Transportation Transportation worked well. I’m glad all the girls went in one car.

Highlights Even though it was not a highlight at first, I think the experience with Mr. Tucker getting lost was the highlight of the trip. We learned a lot and it made us talk a lot about safety. It also showed us how well we could handle an emergency. I think we all did very well. I was very happy to see Mr. Tucker when he got back to us.

Here is my evaluation as I promised. The miler was great. It is hard to say what was the most fun. I liked the hiking, the fishing and making the raft. Most of the food was good. I would do it again.

Meetings & Preparation I wasn’t with the troop during this phase.

Leaders Great job

Equipment No problems everything seemed fine.

Route Food Some food was too spicy. I think banana chips should be added to the gorp

Prep Hikes Very good. They helped prepare me for the miler

SPL She did a great job too.

Patrols I enjoyed how we did our patrols

Pack Inspection Went well

Miler Hiking I enjoyed all of the hiking

Transportation I had plenty to do so the long drive was fine.

Highlights This trip will be remembered for the beautiful scenery and for the opportunity to learn more about Search and Rescue because of losing Mr. Tucker.

Meetings & Preparation Although the meetings and preparation steps were not as they had traditionally been done, I feel that all of those who attended were well prepared for the miler. I would prefer following our traditional steps but was glad to see that we showed flexibility to make the miler happen.

Leaders The leaders worked well together and kept communication open between themselves and the girls. Each one knew the days plans and alternative possibilities.

Equipment This year we did not need to put our shelters to use at all, due to the beautiful weather. All of the other equipment was in good condition and did well.

Route Each member was given a map to follow and to assist at route finding. Since we followed well maintained trails, the route was very clear. We were able to adjust the route when we added the lay over day to allow for a day of relaxation and recuperation. We did not do much map and compass since we omitted the cross-country day from the plan by choosing to layover.

Food The menu chosen seem to be happily enjoyed by all. There was plenty if someone disliked an item.

Prep Hikes Very few members were around enough during the summer to take advantage of the conditioning hikes. This was sad and took away from some of the planning that would normally happen as a group. Since most of the girls were seasoned scouts, it didn’t create a problem. The newest and youngest scout did get in all of her required miles plus more.

SPL Kathleen Thurgate was the SPL. She did an excellent job at knowing the daily plans, and communicating what needed to get done. Although she was gone most of the summer, she took on the responsibility of selecting the menu from the surplus we had already and created enjoyable menus. She attempted to get the opinion of other scouts when needed during the planning phase. She also gave a lot of input in to the route.

Patrols This year we had an adult (3 members) and scout (4 members) patrol. Both patrols ran smoothly. The girls worked together very well even with the age differences and skill differences. The Senior Scouts were careful to keep the newest girl involved in the patrol and tasks.

Pack Inspection This went well but next time adults should also go through the process to attempt to decrease more weight.

Miler Hiking The hiking paces varied a lot this year but everyone was willing to wait for each other. We always waited at each trail junction to regroup. The team work, calmness, focus and maturity that went into the hours around the search for Vern were very impressive. It was because of the skills of all members and the team work that everything stayed positive and smooth.

Transportation We needed two cars this year so that we could do a car shuttle. There were no problems on the road. We made regular stops to stretch and have snacks.

Highlights It was a beautiful trip with fantastic attitudes and willingness to be flexible. The highlight would definitely be when Vern re-appeared tired but safe.

Long Drive. Lots of sleepy day dreams. Visited Weed, Ca. (Got ice cream there.)

Food-

Spaghetti, sauce and bread, and way, way to many leftovers. Brownies for desert.

Note-

Camp site needs a recycle can.

Wow, what a hike. One and a half miles, and all I have to say is wow. So… wow. I almost blacked out, a little altitude sickness has pushed it's way into my already not up to par health. We saw a scorpion this morning, he was just a little guy. Paradise lake is cute and small, and warm, but not fuzzy, oh well.

Dinner- Turkey Tetrazzini (everyone ate it all up.)

Weather- A few clouds this afternoon, and some more menacing tonight, so we did a dark and gloomy, no not so gloomy, shelter job, that surprisingly turned out.

One dewy morn, we left Paradise lake. And that dewy morn we lost our adults, but we really didn't, because you see, they had to talk to the cool man with dreads. Once we were all reunited again we hiked way down hill, then uphill through some beautiful meadows and around on the side of the ridge to a few dry creek beds. We thought our destination had dried up, but it wasn't, the creek was just a little farther. It turned out to be cute also, but not fuzzy either. We camped on the side of a mountain, on what looked to be quite uncomfortable un-flatness, but turned out to be one of the most comfy nights. We saw a deer, and made a spider web bear bagging job.

Dinner- Turkey and Mashed potatoes, corn and three berry cobbler.

Turkey was bland.

Potatoes were excellent.

Cobbler was way to messy and gross.

Breakfast took way to long. (Omelets) But everyone slept good on the hill. Oh, we undid the spider web. The hike to Shadow lake was nice and down hill until it went straight up to the top of a ridge. We saw some old guys. Then it was nice and down/flat to the junction. We split in half to get to the lake before the old guys got there first. We lost the other half of the group because they went around the other way. They couldn't find the same trail. All that and the old guys never showed up. We relaxed too much playing in the water on a log, cuz there wasn't enough day light to bear bag and wash dishes.

Dinner- Spaghetti (eatable)

Dessert- Chocolate cheesecake (yuck)

Change of plan. I did not sleep well, up coughing all night, so so very tired. So today is now the lay over day. A lazy day, hash browns for breakfast (very tasty) but they could have used some salt. Then nap time and swim time and lunch time and then raft time. It wasn't completely and totally successful, but it floated and was fun and the family who came down must have thought we were nuts. Oh and Shadow lake echoes quite well. The best part about the place was the view off the cliff and Laura's and my apartment.

Dinner-

Chili mac (to spicy for some)

Apple delight-excellent apple pie filling

Up early. Ate, packed left, and hiked up. The up some more, then down and down and down and down and some trail workers and baboons, and down and down and down. Then lunch. Then up and up and up and up to the top of a mountain. Then down and down and down and down to little elk lake. I had never played hackysack backpacking before, but there is always a first. We all slept in cute little corner slots separated by logs. We were all quite comfy.

Dinner-

Lime chicken- tasted oriental, no carrots in it next time.

Dessert- Blackberry Cheesecake, quite tasty!

Freeze dried granola for breakfast and it was great. Hiked fast. Deep lake reminds me of Devils Punch Bowl, cuz it is almost like the end of the world. (see reference to the 98 miler.) A little bathing and swimming in the lake, which was not so cold.

Dinner- Lasagna, excellent!

Dessert- Cinnamon apple sauce, not so good.

The rest of the days- (Day 7 and Day 8)

The rest of the days are now a blur of panic and joy. I hope some one wrote more on these days than I.

THE FINAL DAY ON THE TRAIL: a personal account by one of the leaders

Saturday, August 27th, turned out to be a rather interesting day. After spending Friday night at Lower Wright Lake, we got a fairly early start on the trail looking forward to a rather short 3-4 mile downhill hike. (Approximately a 3000 foot elevation drop.) We were hoping to be out by late morning, giving us time to clean up, have lunch, and drive home after stopping for pizza. This all occurred but not exactly the way we had planned.

As usual, one of the leaders, who just happens to have over forty years of backpacking experience in all types of back country, brought up the rear.

I was following approximately 100 feet behind the others, and as usual I was lost in my own world, taking in the beauty of the mountains when I came across a lovely spring that the Forest Service had improved to make an easy place for hot and thirsty backpackers to fill their canteens. After filling my canteens and partaking in the fresh cold water I proceeded on my way, not realizing that I had left the trail somewhere behind. The area I was in began to get very steep, and by the time I realized I was no longer on the trail I had dropped, rather quickly, some 200 feet in elevation. After evaluating the situation, I realized that the terrain was too steep to go back, thus leaving the only option to continue on down the slope. The good part of this exercise was that I had my topo maps with me, and I knew from looking at the map all of the drainages that were in the area all crossed a road somewhere on down the hill.

The forest was very dense, with little or no view of the sky above, thus off with the dark glasses and on with the clear. This writer is very nearsighted. The drainage basin I was headed down had better than a 60% grade. Every 8-10 steps I would slide sideways several feet. A lifetime of skiing helped me with my balance as I slipped. Several times I fell with branches between my legs. On other occasions the terrain was too steep to hike, thus leaving the old fashioned way sitting down, with full pack on, and sliding on my seat some thirty to forty feet at a time.

Shortly after realizing I was no longer on the trail I began to yell, " Where is the trail", Or " I am not lost but the trail is"! I was hoping someone would hear me and respond so that I could get a sense of direction where the trail was. For some six hours no one answered me.

After descending down the dry creek bed for an hour or two, I heard running water to my left, and the headed toward the running water, to find a nice flowing creek. I had remembered from the car shuttle the week before that the road crossed several running creeks, thus I knew if I followed the running water I would find my way out. After following the creek for a couple of hours, and taking my time boulder hopping, as the creek bed had become much steeper than the dense forest I had previously been in, I noticed several things, one the temperature had gotten warmer, the vegetation had changed in that I began to see several oak trees and their dropped leaves, and the terrain had flatted out a little. As I proceeded further down the creek, I came across two other items that indicated to me that I was almost out. One was a sign on a tree that I was on the boundary of the Marble Mountain Wilderness and that no motorized vehicles were permitted. This seemed a little ridiculous to me, since the terrain was still such that it would have been impossible to even have a horse in there let alone some motor vehicle. The other sign was some tape on some trees that the loggers eventually were going to cut down. About 30 minutes later I saw the road. I had exited via the "Second Valley" drainage instead of Bolder Creek. I was some 300 feet in elevation below and some 51/2 miles via the road from where the trailhead was.

After exiting on to the road, I began hiking toward the trailhead. Fortunately one of the few travelers that might have been on that particular road came by. I flagged him down, explained that I had just spent the previous six hours cross-country hiking and that the rest of my party was probably looking for me. Please take me to the Boulder Creek Trailhead. Although my new chauffer did not know where the trailhead was I did and part way up the dirt road to the trailhead the sheriff was coming down with Tim. Obviously we stopped, exchanged information and the sheriff called off the search for me. While waiting at the trailhead for Kim, (she had gone down to phone home saying that we were going to be a little later than expected. I suspect she phoned Heber and gave him a lot more details), the helicopters were flying back home.

In hindsight, I should have realized that when I left the spring that the trail should have been more visible. All week we had been hiking on very well defined and maintained trails, and even the trail to the spring was well defined, thus why in my mind I thought anything different is beyond me.

During the six hours of hiking down the drainage, I took my time, I knew that if I fell and broke a leg of banged my head, it would be a long time before I would be found, thus I was very careful with each step.

If you hadn't guessed it, the "I" referred to above is Vern Tucker.

By Kim Thurgate

It was day 8. We had roughly 4 miles to go to get back to the trails end. This is an approximation since the trail had been rerouted since our map and depending on which guide or sign you read the mileage ranged from 3 miles to 5 miles. After hiking a mile to the first trail junction, we waited for everyone to gather. It was about 9:30 am. The trail sign read 3 miles to the road. The next 3 miles would consist of many switchbacks down the hill since we needed to drop about 3000'. We agreed to take our time and travel at our own pace. The trail seemed clear and there were no trail junctions to be concerned about. We were fairly evenly spaced, everyone with someone else or within sight of each other or about a switch back apart. I (Kim) had just looked back at about 10:00 and Vern was about two switchbacks behind me. I could see him occasionally. The rest of us had bunched up again during a water and foot break. We had waited a bit for Vern but then since I had just seen him, it was decided that he may have also stopped for water and to go ahead. Note: Vern did not like us to wait for him and would often stop when he saw us stopped, so as not to join up. He enjoyed his pace and the peacefulness of hiking alone. He also didn’t like to feel like he was holding the rest of us up. It was about 11:00 when the first of the group reached a fire road. A sign read that the trail’s end was only 2/10 th of a mile away. The girls decided since the road was a junction that they would wait here for everyone to get back together. By 11:30 we were all together except for Vern. We were pleased to have made such good time. We had some snacks and figured Vern would be to us within 30 minutes. It was 12:15 and I voiced concern to the others that Vern should have been here by now. We thought about other times we had waited and thought that we should give him more time. At 12:30 all of us were feeling concerned. We sent our two strongest scouts (and the one’s who had the longest rest) back up the trail to see if they saw him coming. At 1:00 we decided something had to be wrong. We left our youngest scout and one other with the gear. The rest of us gathered whistles and the first aid kit and started our trip back up the hill. After hiking about a 1.5 up the hill, and not finding him, we knew that if we found Vern injured, we would not be able to get him down this step terrain without professional help. If Vern had somehow gotten lost then again we would need assistance. We wanted to find him before night fall. Tim and I as the adult leaders made a judgement call and decided we would need to get a Rescue team to assist us. We then rounded up the girls and told them of our plans and to best use our resources and energy. Jenny was sent ahead with Tim joining her. They were going to hike to the trail junction and then continue back down looking for any signs of a fall or indications of possible places that Vern could have mistakenly left the trail. Sharmini was to wait at the present location, Kim returned to the packs to let Kathleen and Laura know the plan. Kathleen was to hike with Kim and Laura down to the car to pick up one of the Walkie Talkies. We all took our packs down to the car so that we would be able to carry extra packs if we needed too. Kathleen and Laura returned to the packs, then fill water bottles and gather some more supplies and then Kathleen was to hike them up to Sharmini and Laura would stay with the gear just in case Vern was to find his way to the fire road. Kathleen would then rest and Sharmini would carry the supplies on to Jenny and Tim.. Meanwhile, Kim drove to the campground host to call in for help. I was expecting some delays but the Ranger wanted to send a Rescue Helicopter right away do begin a search by air. The procedure was that the helicopter would search first and then a ground team would be sent out. Then I returned to the trailhead to wait for the ranger and walkie talkied in to the others to get a status. Kathleen was almost to Sharmini. When the ranger arrived about 20 minutes later Sharmini was now on her way to meet up with Jenny and Tim.. Sharmini joined up with Tim and Jenny about 30 mins. later and they all started back down. There were no signs of Vern anywhere. The only place that Tim and Jenny saw as a possible location for Vern to leave the trail was at a spring, just off the trail. It was very likely that Vern would have filled his water bottles there and there were many boot prints around it. But they could not find any trails that continued from there and could not imagine Vern going far without noticing that it was not a main trail. It was the only possible location for someone to get turned around that they could find. We felt confident that he had somehow gotten off the trail, if not at the spring then some place else. We guessed that he was traveling cross-country. The terrain was very rugged, thick with plants and steep and we were worried of him getting injured while making his way down. It would also make it more challenging to find him by air and by ground. It was now about 5:30 PM. The ranger wanted more information about Vern and I was asked to call his wife. (Unfortunately, all of the medical information was being carried by Vern since he was the trips First Aider). I left for the phone and with regret of needing to relay such disturbing information. I chose to call one of our troop leaders, Heber, first. He was also a neighbor of Vern’s and I felt he could be there for Vern’s wife. While I was gone, the Ranger wanted to take Tim to the Heliport to do the paperwork for the start of the ground rescue. They wanted the search to start before it got too dark. The ground rescue team had already been called in from many cities and were ready to get started. Tim and the Ranger left and the timing could not have been better! As they were driving down the road, a truck was coming up the road with Vern in the back. He was exhausted but well and the Ranger called the Ground Search off and came to the phone to give me the news. The timing was absolutely perfect since I was just about to end my call to Heber. I was able to give Heber the great news and saved from putting Vern’s wife into any worry.

The girls did fantastic throughout the whole ordeal. They remained positive and calm and were extremely productive. We were all in disbelief at what was going on and could not imagine how this situation happened. We were All initially relieved to not find Vern along the trail injured and then puzzled at what could have happened. We trusted Vern’s skills and knowledge to get through the night should he need to but still very concerned at where he could be and his continued safety. The girls also had many views about what Vern should have done to assist us at finding him better. The girls talked to Vern about what his thought process was and shared their comments with him. ALL OF US were very happy to be together again. I think there were a lot of positive lessons learned from this experience.

By the time we did the call shuttle and had everything loaded again is was very late and we were all very tired. It was decided that we would find dinner and a hotel, take nice hot showers and have a good night sleep. We left for our long drive home the next morning.