Due to some SERIOUS traffic (big accident on the freeway) caused by the rain we didn't get to the camp site till JUST before the closed the gates. To tell you the truth they were closing the gates when the first car arrived and we begged and pleaded and, with the assistance of a scout uniform and our boys pleading faces, we were able to get them to leave the gates open for another hour while the last two cars arrived.
That night we ate some great hot dogs and tried to keep the scraps from the racoons, which were the size of small bears and less scared of humans. After dinner we heard Jared's latest incident at the Dr. (wait for the next post for details) and laughed till our faces were blue. We drank hot chocolate heard an excellent spiritual thought by Mike Beall and we went to bed.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast, cleaned up camp and got ready for the day and we realized our new recruit (Jared Cruz) has got to be the best "do a good term daily" scout that has ever existed. From dinner till breakfast was cleared Jared cooked, cleaned, asked other what they needed help with, and took over chores from other scouts constantly. Plus he had to ask about twenty times what he had to do to earn merit badges. What a great scout!!!
After camp was cleared we decided to go on a spur of the moment walk around the mountain trails. The plan was to just go for a short walk and then get ready to go home, but after about 10 minutes of walking we saw a sign for directions to the top of Mt. Diablo (~3 miles). Suddenly we had somewhere to go and we decided to take the challenge! At this point in the tale I'm pretty confident that a few of the scouts would interject that "we" didn't decide anything. I have to admit there was a little bit of pushing, but I think they'd all agree it was a lot of fun!! Where else can you get scenery like this:
Once we got to the top of the peek we went into the visitor center and Jared and Bro. Howell had the opportunity to stand at the VERY top f the peek and learn a little about Mt. Diablo. In short we found that Mt. Diablo got it's name from a group of Native Americans that lived in a valley near Mt. Diablo. When some Spanish settlers came they were scared of the Indians and decided to surround them and to attack them the following morning. The next morning when they awake the Indians were gone and the Settlers were so scared as they had had the indians completely surrounded and no one had seen them escape, that they thought that the people were of the devil and called the valley the valley of the devil people. Years later when English settlers came and heard the story they didn't fully understand what the Spanish settlers were saying and they called the whole mountain Mt. Diablo. Bellow are few images of us at the top.
On the way back Bro. Howell and Jared were hanging behind a little bit. Below is a view of the others about .5 mile ahead.
Once we got back to the camp site we had some food and made sure that the whole camp site was cleaner than when we found it. We wanted to ensure that any one who came would benefit and I hope it helped.
I think that we all had a lot of fun, but I am positive that we wore everyone out! Below is the evidence:
OK - so Connor still had energy. Sherry, what are you feeding that boy? :)
I hope you all enjoy!