I took my Scout Troop and our partnered Crew to the Portal area 11-14 June. The plan was to explore the Whitney Arch, set up base camp at the family campground, hike up the Meysan trail and have 10 people spend the night up high. We also had to get the world famous burger and pancake.
I have been worried about the snow level since we had hoped to get to Meysan or Grass Lake. My good friend Laura scouted the route for us last Sunday and was brutally attacked by a wild, killer grouse. Without her info I would not have known where the perfect campsites were. The overnight portion would have been a epic failure without her help.
Everything went as planned (I put together a four page timeline) and we had base camp set up in sites 19, 21, 23 and 42. Laura stopped in to visit and then we went up to meet up with Steve C, +@t2id (and MRS) and Wagga. Great to put faces to the screen names!
Laura made sure I was spoon fed every detail I needed to safely lead 20+ boys, girls and adult leaders up to 10,300 and then dropped me off so she could get ready for some EPIC POS route she had planned for the weekend.
Saturday morning after a sugary breakfast we packed our gear and lunches and headed out of the campground. The group ranged from 11 year olds to 14 on the boys side and we had two 16 year old girls. Adults were all in "ok" shape (ages with held). Gear ranged from decent REI brand stuff to surplus military to garage sale crap. My son and I handled the group gear.
21 of us set out in two groups. The "fast" group took just under 2 hours to get to the camp site at 10,300. The "slightly slower" group took a little longer than that.
As I was heading back down to assist I met Axeman and then Richard P for the 1st time. More faces to screen names.
Since a few of the boys had never backpacked before and didn't exactly have the lightest or best gear we had to decide to help them as much as needed or to have them be in the day hike group and miss the overnight. We decided that if they wanted to try and put forth the effort, we would get them and their gear to our high camp.
After our site was set up and everyone was fed and rested the day hikers headed back down. The attack grouse went after one of the young ladies but she managed to escape.
Just after lights out - which was with the sun still shining - we had a major set back. One of the boys accidently dumped a full bottle of water in the tent completely soaking a sleeping bag. Our fearless scoutmaster gave up his bag and I gave the scoutmaster a mylar emergancy bivy bag and a extra large trash bag. He wasn't very well rested, but he lived to use his wag bag as the sun came up.
Speaking of wag bags - I asked for 21 of them when I got my permits and was told they weren't required. I explained to the lovely ranger that they were required in my group and she seemed very pleased. Of the 21 we were issued, 9 were used and hauled off the mountain.
After breaking camp early in the morning we quickly headed downhill and regrouped. We ordered up 21 burgers and Doug Sr and Doug Jr fed us well! They even gave a a HUGE discount which we are very thankful for. Their prices are low enough already, but the money saved will help fund another trip.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the day use area before a carload of our older scouts had to leave. We had a blast around the campfire that night and in the morning we were waiting on the WPS doorstep for pancakes. Doug Jr handled the order solo and again we were given great food, great service and a super low price. Only my son and I were able to summit Mt Pancake, but everyone made a bid. One young man tried so hard he ended up hanging his head in the trash can for a few minutes. He was still in good health and great spirits when he finished praying to the plastic lined gods. We tried to clean up after ourselves - I hope no one today found the patio messy.
Another great trip to the Portal made possible by great people! Thanks all!!.............................................DUG
Last edited by DUG; 06/14/10 07:33 PM.
