The one thing Austin wanted to do before he left on his mission was a fifty mile backpacking trip. He felt jipped that he hadn't gone on a fifty miler with the scouts during his Young Men's career and wanted to be able to claim that rite of passage. Eric and Carson made it happen for him. The following is an account of his fifty mile journey, written by Carson.
Austin Dad and I began our hike Sunday afternoon after being
dropped off by the rest of the family. After a brief goodbye (mom made Austin
promise he would take care of Dad and I), we started the hike. We had a long 50
miles ahead of us! After making it to our first campsite, we were all nervous.
This was the moment we would all learn whether or not we had forgotten to pack
something. As we got our tents, food, sleeping bags and other items out for the
night, no one had forgotten anything and we were all grateful. This brief
moment of content disappeared quickly as we soon realized we weren’t alone.
From the second we stopped moving, each of us would have a literal cloud of
mosquitoes, searching for every inch of bare skin. When trying to eat, we would
have to switch the hands our utensils in because so many mosquitoes would
accumulate on the one. We ate as fast as we could and spent the rest of the
night closed up in our tents. Needless to say, we got LOTS of bites over the
course of our trip, even with the bug spray and layers of clothing!
The next day our hike brought us right back to where we
started, completing a 13 mile loop to bring us back to a rendezvous point for
the rest of my troop to meet us at. On the way back, we ran into our first
large form of wildlife. I was in the back of the pack closely following my dad
and brother. I always look right at the back of the feet of whoever’s in front
of me and this time it was my dad. About halfway through the hike he nearly
missed stepping on a HUGE toad, the biggest I’ve ever seen! I almost tripped on
it myself. We stopped and poked at it for a while. Austin even found the
courage to pick it up. The rest of the day went smoothly as we made it back to
our base camp and set up our tents, waiting for the rest of the troop to arrive
the following morning.
The next day we welcomed the rest of my troop to the area
and made sure to tell them about the horrible bug problem. With some fear in
the troops eyes and sore muscles for my dad and I (Austin was doing just fine),
we hiked yet another day. Throughout the entire 50 miles, we came across
countless breathtaking views, many of which included Mt. Adams which we could
always count on being at our backs.
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| A Beautiful view of Mt. Adams |
To get in extra mileage for a complete 50, my dad Austin and
I got the opportunity to do day hikes after the rest of the troop had stopped.
One of these was a 5 mile hike through and out of a large valley. Our final
destination was Goat Lake, a year-round frozen glacier lake fed by multiple waterfalls.
It was a really cool sight and along the way we saw local wildlife (marmots)
and one of my favorite views on the whole trip, an amazing shale waterfall
along the side of the trail.
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| Austin Overlooking the Valley |
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| Goat Lake |
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| Shale Waterfall |
One day consisted of a hike across a snowy glacier. Yes,
snow in July. I think everyone either slid or fell at least once into the snow.
We gained a lot of elevation that day and crossed one of the many ridges in the
range, letting us see how far we had come. It was amazing to see what we had
done in such a small amount of time.
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| Climbing the Glacier |
Along a side of a glacier was the most
unnatural, natural rock formation I have ever seen! This picture was actually
taken vertically, looking UP at the rocks, which were protruding from the side
of the mountain and covering part of the trail. It was truly an amazing act of
nature.
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| Amazing Act of Nature |
With fatigue setting in and living off of dehydrated food
for multiple days, me and Austin got a little loopy. Evenings in the tent were
always nights to remember as me and Austin had both deep meaningful
conversations, as well as going completely crazy. Sometimes I didn’t even know
what we were talking about but we would burst into laughter for a straight 10
minutes. Needless to say, we definitely made lots of memories together.
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| Deep Conversations or Going Crazy, You Decide! |
Arguably the most precarious of the hikes on our trip, the
Knife's Edge is exactly what it sounds like. Tracing the ridge, at some points
the trail consisted of 3 foot wide, loose shale walkways with 100+ foot drops
on either side. At the entrance to the Knifes Edge was the peak of Old Snowy.
Dad, Austin and I summated and it was officially the highest elevation we
reached throughout the entire trip (above 8,000 feet).
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| The Knife's Edge |
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| Making our way along the Edge |
Along the Knifes Edge,
the Goat Rocks lived up to its name. We spotted multiple herds of goats and
even elk from our vantage point on the ridge, and that in itself made
everyone’s day!
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| Standing on the Summit of Old Snowy |
Our last full day was painful, but worth the work when we
arrived at our campsite. We were welcomed by an ATV equipped with barbecues
(manned by Brother Zundel and Brother Cannon) who cooked steaks, burgers and
hot dogs to feed the troops. It was literally heaven after surviving 6 days of
intense physical labor to be fueled only by dehydrated foods. That night we
went swimming in the strange blue water nearby and even jumped off a bridge to end the evening with a bang.
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| "You Go First - No You Go First" -Scout Troop |
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| "See Boys, This Is How Its Done!" -Austin |
From
our campsite you could see the range of The Knifes Edge, where we had been only
2 days previous (mountain in distance). To think that we had gone 3 times that
distance in a week blew my mind. This trip really showed me what I am capable
of.
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| On Top of the World |
This 50 mile hike was the hardest thing I have ever done, but the
experience I gained and the time I got to spend with my brother and my dad was
irreplaceable. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to spend those 7 days with
them, through both the good and the bad. I hope someday I will be able to
do something similar with my son and have him experience the breathtaking
beauty of nature we so often take for granted, and the true importance of hard
work and dedication.
