Boy Scout Camping Trip to Iron Lakes

This is just a short note because I wanted to post some pictures of Iron Lakes where Deven and I went camping with his boy scout troop. To get there, we went to Bass Lake and turned north. The closer we got the worse the roads got. We actually drove to about 200 yards from the lake but my jeep saw some of the first true 4 wheeling it has ever seen. I wanted to get a picture of the jeep with only 3 wheels on the ground but I was afraid to get out of the car. Deven swam most of the time we were there but there was also some hiking and fishing. We are looking for more places to go and I will keep you posted.

She finally did it!

Sierra has been wanting to get her ears pierced for over a year but has never been able to get past the "But, it's gonna hurt" part. I always told her when she asked (over & over & over again) that it felt like pulling a loose tooth. There would be an "OUCH!" then it would be done. That was enough to make her want to think about it for a month or so before she brought it up again. Apparently, the fact that she was going to be the big "9" the next day was a turning point for her.

The boys were gone on a Boyscout camp out so my Mom, Sierra and I were going to hit the road for some girls only birthday shopping when Sierra said "Can I get my ears pierced while we're out?". Since this had happened a zillion times in the past I just said "sure" and didn't give it another thought. Then she asked again at another store, "Do they pierce ears here?" so I told her we could check into it at the mall, but again, I was sure when we got to the "But it's gonna hurt" part it would be dropped again. We got in the mall, to the store, picked out the studs, signed the paper work, and she was in the chair with little purple marker dots on her ears when she started to get nervous. I told her to just do it and get it over with because you could see in her eyes that she was not gonna last much longer and she started with the "wait... not yet... just a second" and then BAM! It was over. (Thank God) She was very brave and now is an expert on cleaning and turning her little pink gemstones.

Camp Grissom 2007

Wow, where do I start? We had 10 people (all related in one form or another) 3 cars, 1 National Park and 4 days to cram with tons of fun. It was wonderful!

We went to Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Park where we stayed at the John Muir Lodge in Grants Grove. We hiked, rode horses, hiked, played games, hiked, did some spelunking (cave exploring), took lots of pictures, hiked, did some scavenger hunting, and then hiked some more.

It would take me hours to include everything that went on so I'll just give you the highlights.

We hiked to visit all the important Giant Sequoias like the "General Grant" tree that is the earth's second-largest tree. It is 267.4 feet tall, 107.6 feet around and is about 1,800- 2,000 years old. We also visited with "General Sherman"," The Sentinel" and the "Fallen Monarch" which used to be the local hotel, bar and restaurant back in the early days.

We went to Crystal Cave for some Spelunking. It takes about 25 min to hike down the steep 1/2 mile trail to the spiderweb gate at the opening of the cave. You then take a 45 min. guided tour through the 48 degree (year round) cave. Not a trip for anyone with claustrophobic tendencies. Some of the formations are absolutely breathtaking. It's very damp inside and you can hear the constant trickle of water as it continues to flow through the caverns just as it has been doing for hundreds of years. You also can get an occasional drip on the head from the stalactites still forming above. It's so amazing in there that you forget about the steep 1/2 mile hike (all uphill this time) back to the parking lot.

We (all 10 of us) also took a horseback ride through the trees.
Our trusty steeds carried us through the forest over all types of terrain and even through the middle of a fallen tree. We treaded on single file for more than an hour (although my behind swears it was much longer) with only the occasional stop for a horse to take care of "Dust Abatement" or "Soil Rejuvenation" on the way.
It was so serene along the way that you could almost imagine yourself as one of the early settlers packing everything you owned on to your horse and setting out to look for that perfect spot to start a new life.
Our thanks go out to Computer, Streak, Willy, Baker, Rosie, Chip, Lucky, Befuord, Levi, and Roper for the wonderful adventure.
Some of the most memorable events of our trip were the scavenger hunts. Paul and Carrie (Harv's Uncle and Aunt) devised 1 hunt for the kids and 1 for the whole gang.
The 3 kids were each issued a notepad, pen and a key chain size digital camera. On the notepad was a list of things they needed to "acquire" such as; a bug, running water, a fallen sequoia, lichen, etc. Staying true to the "Take only memories, Leave only foot prints" philosophy they could take a picture, make a sketch or document the time, place or any details of the sighting. They had all day to "capture" everything on their list while we went exploring through the park. The hardest part was keeping track of the camera and notepad while switching from car to room to bathroom, and then back to someone else's room or car. In the end they learned allot, had allot of fun and even got to keep the cameras! (thanks P&C!)

The other hunt was for the whole group. We were split into 2 teams of 4 and again had a list of things to find with our digital cameras. This time however, the items on the list were not as self explanatory as on the kids list and we had a 35 min. time limit.
We, as a team had to first decipher what the thing was before we knew what to look for. We needed to find such things as a "rainbow bee" (which happened to be a Fresno Bee newspaper box that had the word "Bee" in 4 different colors). Also a "Ursus americanus protection device" (a bear proof food box) and a "liquid temperature regulating device" (an ice chest)

When it was all over, the teams were separated by only 1/2 a point, the winners were named, (named Tina, Sheila, Deven and Alex that is!!!) and the ribbons were presented at the awards ceremony that evening. We all had such a good time that I'm sure this will be talked about for years to come.