The "Fantastic Four" Climb a Mountain

We arrived at the Catherine Pass trail head and started hiking around 5pm. The sun was shining and it was pretty warm on the trail.

Max and Elijah were the only two that were able to come this time, and we were all excited to hike.

Elijah needed to put on a few pounds to get the waist belt to be tight enough. He even tried using his bag of Cheetos to tighten things up, but that didn't work either.

The trail was wide and well traveled and a steady climb. We could see all over Albion Basin as we climbed towards Catherine Pass.

There was the occasional break to wait for the "photographer" who was taking his time to get lots of pictures. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We worked our way up to the first meadow in good time. We heard from some of the hikers coming down that there may be a moose in the meadow, so we approached quietly.

We were pleased to find a mother and her baby grazing in the meadow.

We enjoyed taking a few photos of the two.

The baby was the closest and we made sure to be cautious around a mother and her baby. Of all the unpredictable situations to be in, a mother moose and her baby rank pretty high. So we made sure to be very careful.

Out of the meadow the trail got a lot steeper, but it wasn't very long until we reached our first goal:

Catherine Pass

Here's the group once again waiting for the "photographer" to reach the pass as well.

Fortunately, Elijah didn't mind hanging back a bit so I wasn't left in the dust.

When we reached the pass we could see our ultimate destination, Lake Catherine.

But we had a goal to reach another destination before dropping down to the lake. That was to reach Sunset Peak before it got too dark.

So we dropped out packs and headed to Sunset Peak without the extra weight.

Ben took the opportunity to challenge Max and Elijah to be very quiet and "drink in the view" from the halfway point up to Sunset Peak.


I think they lasted about 20 seconds before breaking the silence, but at least we tried.

We're just a couple of switchbacks away from the summit. But even from here we could see down the Lake Catherine and the other lakes that eventually reach Brighton.

Here we are on top of Sunset Peak. One of the unique things about this peak is that we are now in 3 counties; Salt Lake, Utah, and Summit counties.







Here's the view from top of Sunset Peak.

Max decided to take the opportunity to call his mother. He said he wanted to brag that he made it to the peak, but we're not so sure. :-)

Down from the peak and getting ready to head down to Lake Catherine.

We found our camp and it looks like Ben is putting on a "how to set up your campsite" clinic for Max and Elijah.

The camp was excellent and we had a great view of the lake. We also appreciated being in the trees as the weather was beginning to change.

In fact at about 8pm it started to rain and rained pretty hard until about 9pm. Then it settled down as the light disappeared and we got the water boiling for dinner.

In our scout meetings we learn the seven "Leave No Trace" principles. At this camp it looked like others could also have used a lesson in Leave No Trace.

After the rain returned and the wind picked up again, we figure it must of rain most of the night.

However, we woke up to clearing skies a beautiful sunrise across Lake Catherine.

For those who missed this camp, you missed out on another awesome sunrise. Add this to the sunrise canoe trip on Bear Lake and I'd say we're doing pretty good with some very memorable moments in our scouting activities.

Getting packed and ready to head back up to Catherine Pass and back to the cars.

It's a pretty steep climb out from Lake Catherine to Catherine Pass. Luckily for the "photographer" it would be all downhill from that point.

We were pleased to see the moose still in the meadow. In fact, this time even closer to the trail. So again we were extra careful to keep them from worrying about us.

The drop from the meadow down to the overlook of Albion Basin gets pretty steep, but going down sure seems a lot easier than going up.

Time to stop for a water break.

Is it just me, or is Elijah's pack just about as big as he is????

Almost there. The cars are in sight, the trail is leveling out, and the sun is shining.

The hike to Lake Catherine is a little over 4 miles round trip, not including the side hike up to Sunset Peak. It's a perfect hike for anyone who doesn't have a lot of experience backpacking. And it's also a  nice hike for those who do have experience.

And it's right in our "backyard"!



Enjoy a few more photos from our hike to Lake Catherine:

Get Ready for the 4th Annual Cooking Contest in October

Coming up in the first weekend in October we will have the 4th Annual Cooking Contest. It's time to start getting ready to compete. Start planning what you are going to cook and practice. The judges are all former scout leaders and you won't be able to fool them with a weak entry. Only one person's name will end up on the Golden Spatula Award Poster. Will it be yours????

Here are the official rules to review and help you prepare...may the best cook win!!!

Troop 612/757

Fourth Annual Cooking Contest

The Official Rules

1. Parents can help their scout plan for the contest, but CANNOT help their scout once they come to the pavilion and start the actual cooking. This includes no help prepping such as chopping vegetables or other ingredients prior to arriving. (The scout must do ALL the cooking by themselves.)
2. The scout is to bring everything they need to make their dinner and dessert (for a minimum of 8 people) but they may use Troop equipment to prepare their meal. They must arrange the equipment needs with their leaders well in advance of the contest if they choose not to bring their own cooking equipment. Bringing your own equipment will ensure you’ll have all that you need to prepare your meal, however.
3. The scout can start anytime after 5:00 pm but the meal must be ready by 7:00 pm and the dessert must be ready by 7:30 pm.
4. The scout may NOT influence the judges in any way other than presenting their meal and letting the judges discern for themselves the quality of the meal.
5. Presentation will also count towards points awarded, so consider how you will serve the meal in addition to what you will serve. At 7:00 pm SHARP each scout should be ready to serve each judge “buffet style” and then families can help themselves immediately after the judges have gone through the line.
6. Families are invited to sample the great meals, but must not interfere or participate in the preparation in anyway. Families are encouraged to arrive around 7:00 pm to avoid any temptation to assist. 

May the best scout win!!!

The following is a list of the categories the judges will be scoring:
Dinner: Taste, Presentation, Nutritional Value
Dessert: Taste, Presentation, Decadence Level


 You are competing to be the third name permanently inscribed on the Troop 612/757 Golden Spatula Award. Will your name go down in history?

Camp Hunt @ Bear Lake

This year for our week long scout camp we headed up to the west side of Bear Lake to Camp Hunt which is part of the Trapper Trails Council.

We got an early start on Monday morning and arrived at the camp somewhere around 10 am. We immediately took to setting up camp, checking in and verifying merit badge classes, and getting ready to start our merit badge classes promptly at 1:00 pm that same afternoon.

We were not sure how much room we would have at Camp Cherokee, but were pleased to find we had enough room to put the scouts in three big tents, and the leaders in smaller tents.

The adults aren't as interested in sharing tents because we find it's a lot more "fun" to having snoring contests all night long.

But, it was no contest as Edward was able to put everyone else to shame with volume and intensity.

Is there a totem for that?

In the afternoon the scouts headed to Environmental Science. A BSA Camp merit badge we consider mandatory for any scout who hasn't earned that one yet.

You have the choice to spend 4 days earning Enviro Science at camp, or 3 months working on it at home.

At least the setting was pretty cool as the scouts have an excellent view of Bear Lake from what is referred to as The Chapel.

We were also happy to discover The Chapel was right next to our camp as well.

The adults had the very difficult and laborious task of keeping Camp Cherokee in good order.

Here we are slaving away diligently fulfilling our assignment.

We really hope the scouts appreciate our hard work and dedication!








Ricky found Swimming to be pretty tiring as well and managed to pull off a nap before it was time to get dinner going.

We had some pretty good food during the week, starting with cheese burgers, baked beans, and a salad on the side.

Each breakfast and dinner one of the scouts was assigned to be the head chef.

Ricky took the first turn as he was a seasoned veteran of scout camps.

Each morning and evening each troop would gather with the camp staff for a flag ceremony.

We also had the opportunity to compete for the Spirit Stick by trying to have best troop yell.

We won't talk anymore about how well we did with our troop yells.

On the first night the camp staff provided some pretty funny and entertaining skits.

Ask the boys about Bessy the Cow. As we learned that night, Bessy was very unselfish and instrumental in allowing the baby to live.

What's this? Ricky still hasn't recovered from working on his Swimming merit badge?

Alec and Elijah are working hard on the Art merit badge. Alec claimed he was drawing a portrait of Elijah, but it was a bit of a stretch to see a likeness.

On Tuesday night the troop competed in the Chief Washaki Relay. We got off to a bit of a slow start, the troop eventually came in 2nd place.

There was an obstacle course, repeating of the scout oath and law, a swimming and canoeing event, knot tying, and compass course and more.

Second place isn't bad at all considering almost half our troop consisted of 11 year old scouts in their first year with the troop.

Here's Troop 757 presenting one of their yells after the morning flag ceremony.

No spirit stick this year....

Some of the scouts working on the Leatherwork merit badge.

I was hoping for a pair of chaps so I could then go out and buy a Harley, but a big square of leather didn't seem to be able to go that far.

Our first relatively serious injury at camp. Matthew ended up in the water (we're trying to forget how that happened) during a windy and choppy time out on the docks and as he was trying to climb out got his fingers smashed in-between two of the docks as they rocked in the waves.

He toughed it out and went through the rest of camp with hardly a limitation even though he had to have one finger wrapped to the other to mobilize the damaged pinky.

To earn Totems, we participated in extra events, most of which were scheduled at 6:00 am or earlier.

On Tuesday morning, most of us earned the Polar Bear Plunge totem by wading into the lake at 6:00 am up to our chests, reciting the Scout Oath and Law and then dunking ourselves all the way under the water.

Wednesday morning, for the Sunrise Canoe trip we arrived at the waterfront by 5:45am and all jumped into one of the Warrior canoes and paddled out to watch the sunrise.

It was barely light when started out in the canoe and went quite a ways out into the lake to enjoy one of nature's finer shows.









And we were not disappointed. As with most spectacular shows of nature you really have to be there to have the full effect.

We recommend that you decide right now that you'll never miss an opportunity to go to scout camp in the future. Remember, dads are always welcome at all our camps.

Tommy showing off his wood carving skills. We were especially pleased to the see the gloves on to protect fingers. Scouts never cut themselves when using sharp instruments do they?










Now wait a minute...the Swimming merit badge isn't that demanding! But there's Ricky again taking advantage of a break in the action. I think he can sleep anywhere at anytime.

The troop also earned a totem for providing the retrieval of the colors on Thursday night.

We were so proud of the troop and how they handled the ceremony with dignity and honor.

Ben was taking pictures from the other side of field and when the troop finished he heard a scoutmaster say to his troop, "Now that's how it's supposed to be done!"

Another totem was earned for the Pirates of the Caribbean canoe swamping contest.

We sent them out with Pinky the Flamigo with a charge to keep Pinky safe. And they all did an excellent job.

I'm starting to think that if Ricky just needs sleep because he's growing boy. But if that was really the case then he should have been about 10 feet tall by the end of camp.

If you've ever seen video of Piranha attacking an unfortunate animal, or a shark feeding frienzy, then you can imagine what it looks like when we break out lunch and scouts build their own sandwiches.

Lining up single file is out the window and it's wise to just step back and see what's left if you value your own safety.

The troop also competed in the Warrior Canoe race. This race was done by one boat at a time racing out to a marker and the going around it and back to shore while being timed.

We were first place at one point in the competition. That point was when we were the first boat to race.

The third boat out crushed our time however and we never did learn what our final standing was in this particular competition.

Yes, Pinky the Flamingo is alive and well after the canoe swamping event. No better protectors out there than Troop 757!

After a yummy roast beef and mash potatoes dinner on Friday night, Ben challenged the scouts to corn cob races down the stream behind our camp.

Overall, I think Ben had the fastest cob in camp.

Right after dinner we had a downpour that was like buckets of water being poured out for about 15 minutes and drenched everything. We were glad we were going to be packing up in the morning and wouldn't have to deal with wet stuff for very long.

Ben took us all to The Chapel as the sun was setting and talked about appreciated nature and all that God has created.

Most of the scouts even took a turn expressing their thoughts about blessing in their lives personally. It was one of the highlights of our camp.

We were late to the closing campfire because of our meeting in The Chapel, but it was worth it.

And yes, we did have a closing campfire even though there was total fire ban in effect.

Scouts are very resourceful you know!

The camp staff did a very moving tribute to our nation using the history of the American Flag to close out the camp activities for the week.

Having participated in three BSA sponsored camps I would say Camp Hunt was the best run and best staffed of them all.

We ended up with 57 merit badges earned, 4 partial merit badges with only one or two assignments left to complete, and each scout filled up their totem badge.

Saturday morning we packed up as quickly as possible so we could make an attempt at circumnavigating Bear Lake which is approximately 53 miles round trip.

Edward got about a quarter mile before losing his chain which then cause 4 spokes to break. One down, 9 to go.

Some additional bike trouble happened along the way and we lost Alec. Another one down, 8 to go.


We had some slow movers so we pulled two more in after 15 miles. 15 miles is no small feat though and we're proud of their accomplishment. 2 more down, 6 to go.

We found after rounding the northeast corner of the lake, the road became hilly and much more challenging. So the decision was made to shoot for a 25 miler this time since we did want to be home sometime before dark.

The last 6 made the 25 mark with Max coming in first. Excellent job pulling off a 25 miler after a very productive week at camp.

On the way home we stopped in Woodruff, UT to fix some lunch. Max decided to tangle with the ladder on one of the slides in the playground.

The slide definitely won that battle. And we thought we had gotten through the week with only one casualty.

Luckily, the damage looked a lot worse than it really was. Max is just an over-achiever when it comes to bleeding I guess.

This is the killer slide that jumped out and knocked Max to the ground. Or maybe it was he slipped and fell from the top of the stairs and used his backside and head to try and cushion his landing.

You can guess which it might have been...

This is the Camp Hunt badge we each received at the beginning of the week and had the opportunity to fill with extra activities that we participated in. From left to right:
Flag Ceremony
Sunrise Canoe Trip
Polar Bear Plunge
Chief Washaki Relay
Honor Trail
Bird Watching

By the way, we were all so proud of our Polar Bear Plunge at 6:00 am on Wednesday for spending 1 minute or so in the cold water. That is until Colton and his dad did the mile swim at 6:00 am on Friday morning. Perhaps they have polar bear blood running through their veins? Is there a totem pole for that one????

Congratulations on such an awesome accomplishment to not only do the Mile Swim, but do it at 6:00 am.