Scouts take High Adventure trip
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Recently the Venture Crew of Boy Scout Troop 312 took a high adventure trip that met and exceeded all expectations. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and Big Bend National Park provided plenty of excitement and adventure for these boys from the Gilmer Second Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Leaving Gilmer early Saturday morning on June 13, we camped that evening in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, nestled closely to the New Mexico border and a short distance from Carlsbad Caverns.
The Venture Crew is composed of Scouts 14 and over. Six Venturers, consisting of the cousins who are both named Daniel Arrington (Little D, the senior patrol leader and Big D), B. J. Cozad, Xavier Fluellen, Brandon Perez and Jonathen Ruesch made the trip with adult leaders Danny Johnson, Scoutmaster, and assistants Ricky Gilbert, Justin Nesson and me.
Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast, we put on Scout uniforms and drove to Carlsbad, N.M., and attended church. We then visited the Frijole Ranch in the Park. This gives a glimpse of what life was like in West Texas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Monday morning, June 15, at the crack of dawn we hit the 4.2 mile trail that ascends 3,000 feet to the top of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,479 feet above sea level.
The view from the top of Texas is spectacular and we photographed the flower that is the highest in elevation in the entire state of Texas.
Of course, that same 4.2-mile trail is just as steep in its descent. But this is a hike that we highly recommend. It stirs your soul to know that you are standing at the pinnacle of our great state.
After a hearty lunch cooked by Danny Johnson, we then experienced the phenomenon known as Carlsbad Caverns. Many Mirror readers have walked the several miles of trails in the huge and beautiful and mysterious cave. After spending some time in nearby White’s City we returned to the cave to witness thousands of bats flying out of the cave for their nocturnal insect-eating journey.
Early Tuesday morning, we broke camp and drove to the Davis Mountains to see the McDonald Observatory.
A Paris, Texas, banker left his fortune to the University of Texas to build the observatory and establish an astronomy department, which it did not have at that time.
There are three main telescopes and the newest is one of the largest in the world. The highway on Mount Locke, where the original telescope is located, is the highest in Texas at 6,791 feet. After eating a very late lunch in Alpine, we drove to the Rio Grande Village campsite on the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park.
Wednesday morning we drove to the Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua for their Camp 360 Jeep tour. We learned about the desert plants, fossils, old mines, and especially the cacti and scenery.
Our guides were experts and most interesting. One was one of the three men who went up the tower at the University of Texas on Aug. 1, 1966, to stop Charles Whitman after he killed 14 people and wounded another 32.
Wednesday night we had near hurricane-force winds but we survived them. We did have to tie buckets filled with rocks to the cooking canopy to keep it from blowing away. But we were grateful for breezes each night because they made the hot nights more bearable.
The next morning we went to the same place in Terlingua and boarded their van and headed west to canoe and raft down the Rio Grande.
We were expecting 110-degree temperatures on the river, but the weather was kind to us.
Clouds and a strong breeze along with afternoon rains made for a very pleasant trip through the beautiful canyon walls.
Brandon Perez and Jonathen Ruesch proved to be the best canoeists and we enjoyed water gun fights along with the breath-taking scenery. We stopped for a hike up a Mexican canyon and later ate lunch on the Mexican side. The outfitter had cleared this with the Mexican government.
Friday morning we drove to Langtry and enjoyed visiting the haunts of Judge Roy Bean, “law and order west of the Pecos.”
The highest suspension bridge in the US was built for the railroad over the Pecos River in the 1890s. An accident during construction killed seven men and wounded three. Judge Bean rode his mule to the site and declared all 10 dead. When asked why, he said the other three would die and he didn’t want to have to go back there. The three lived, but according to Judge Bean they were officially dead. Such were the ways in West Texas in those days.
A Mormon Scout troop from Odessa camped on the banks of the Pecos in the deep canyon on Thursday night and two inches of rain raised the river 20 feet and they had to be rescued, leaving all of their equipment behind. Fortunately, we had been spared such a fate in Big Bend. The Pecos empties into the Rio Grande in a beautiful and deep canyon and there certainly was a lot of water in the Pecos when we got there after leaving Langtry.
We ate lunch Friday at the Amistad International Reservoir at Del Rio.
Then we headed to the Gilmer Ranch in Edwards County in the Hill Country. Danny Johnson hunts there and we stayed in the house where hunters stay. But we had to pitch tents anyway, since ours were very wet when we took them down Friday morning in Big Bend. The sun and wind dried them quickly and we then put away dry tents. The Scouts were very impressed because the house had a TV and dish satellite reception.
On Saturday we drove to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Historical Park and enjoyed that visit very much.
The park is just past Stonewall and in Stonewall all traffic was stopped for the parade of the 48th annual Stonewall Peach Jamboree.
Both the festival and the parade are somewhat smaller than the East Texas Yamboree! Speaking of small, the smallest school district in Texas is west of Stonewall. There are no towns within the district, which has less than 20 pupils. The superintendent is also principal and teacher. The present 2-room school was built in 1936 and constitutes the Divide Independent School District.
We got back to Gilmer around 6 p.m. on June 20. In addition to some fantastic experiences, we have a much greater appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the great state of Texas.
Leaving Gilmer early Saturday morning on June 13, we camped that evening in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, nestled closely to the New Mexico border and a short distance from Carlsbad Caverns.
The Venture Crew is composed of Scouts 14 and over. Six Venturers, consisting of the cousins who are both named Daniel Arrington (Little D, the senior patrol leader and Big D), B. J. Cozad, Xavier Fluellen, Brandon Perez and Jonathen Ruesch made the trip with adult leaders Danny Johnson, Scoutmaster, and assistants Ricky Gilbert, Justin Nesson and me.
Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast, we put on Scout uniforms and drove to Carlsbad, N.M., and attended church. We then visited the Frijole Ranch in the Park. This gives a glimpse of what life was like in West Texas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Monday morning, June 15, at the crack of dawn we hit the 4.2 mile trail that ascends 3,000 feet to the top of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,479 feet above sea level.
The view from the top of Texas is spectacular and we photographed the flower that is the highest in elevation in the entire state of Texas.
Of course, that same 4.2-mile trail is just as steep in its descent. But this is a hike that we highly recommend. It stirs your soul to know that you are standing at the pinnacle of our great state.
After a hearty lunch cooked by Danny Johnson, we then experienced the phenomenon known as Carlsbad Caverns. Many Mirror readers have walked the several miles of trails in the huge and beautiful and mysterious cave. After spending some time in nearby White’s City we returned to the cave to witness thousands of bats flying out of the cave for their nocturnal insect-eating journey.
Early Tuesday morning, we broke camp and drove to the Davis Mountains to see the McDonald Observatory.
A Paris, Texas, banker left his fortune to the University of Texas to build the observatory and establish an astronomy department, which it did not have at that time.
There are three main telescopes and the newest is one of the largest in the world. The highway on Mount Locke, where the original telescope is located, is the highest in Texas at 6,791 feet. After eating a very late lunch in Alpine, we drove to the Rio Grande Village campsite on the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park.
Wednesday morning we drove to the Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua for their Camp 360 Jeep tour. We learned about the desert plants, fossils, old mines, and especially the cacti and scenery.
Our guides were experts and most interesting. One was one of the three men who went up the tower at the University of Texas on Aug. 1, 1966, to stop Charles Whitman after he killed 14 people and wounded another 32.
Wednesday night we had near hurricane-force winds but we survived them. We did have to tie buckets filled with rocks to the cooking canopy to keep it from blowing away. But we were grateful for breezes each night because they made the hot nights more bearable.
The next morning we went to the same place in Terlingua and boarded their van and headed west to canoe and raft down the Rio Grande.
We were expecting 110-degree temperatures on the river, but the weather was kind to us.
Clouds and a strong breeze along with afternoon rains made for a very pleasant trip through the beautiful canyon walls.
Brandon Perez and Jonathen Ruesch proved to be the best canoeists and we enjoyed water gun fights along with the breath-taking scenery. We stopped for a hike up a Mexican canyon and later ate lunch on the Mexican side. The outfitter had cleared this with the Mexican government.
Friday morning we drove to Langtry and enjoyed visiting the haunts of Judge Roy Bean, “law and order west of the Pecos.”
The highest suspension bridge in the US was built for the railroad over the Pecos River in the 1890s. An accident during construction killed seven men and wounded three. Judge Bean rode his mule to the site and declared all 10 dead. When asked why, he said the other three would die and he didn’t want to have to go back there. The three lived, but according to Judge Bean they were officially dead. Such were the ways in West Texas in those days.
A Mormon Scout troop from Odessa camped on the banks of the Pecos in the deep canyon on Thursday night and two inches of rain raised the river 20 feet and they had to be rescued, leaving all of their equipment behind. Fortunately, we had been spared such a fate in Big Bend. The Pecos empties into the Rio Grande in a beautiful and deep canyon and there certainly was a lot of water in the Pecos when we got there after leaving Langtry.
We ate lunch Friday at the Amistad International Reservoir at Del Rio.
Then we headed to the Gilmer Ranch in Edwards County in the Hill Country. Danny Johnson hunts there and we stayed in the house where hunters stay. But we had to pitch tents anyway, since ours were very wet when we took them down Friday morning in Big Bend. The sun and wind dried them quickly and we then put away dry tents. The Scouts were very impressed because the house had a TV and dish satellite reception.
On Saturday we drove to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Historical Park and enjoyed that visit very much.
The park is just past Stonewall and in Stonewall all traffic was stopped for the parade of the 48th annual Stonewall Peach Jamboree.
Both the festival and the parade are somewhat smaller than the East Texas Yamboree! Speaking of small, the smallest school district in Texas is west of Stonewall. There are no towns within the district, which has less than 20 pupils. The superintendent is also principal and teacher. The present 2-room school was built in 1936 and constitutes the Divide Independent School District.
We got back to Gilmer around 6 p.m. on June 20. In addition to some fantastic experiences, we have a much greater appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the great state of Texas.
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