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Caving trip report trips update

Trip to Mammoth Cave National Park April 5th, 2014

First, we arrived at Mammoth Cave National park. We set up tents and then ate lunch. The group that was going to the cave on Saturday got ready and left to go to the cave. We left to go to the visitor’s center and got on our coveralls and helmets. Then, we got on the bus.

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A few minutes on the bus and we got to the cave’s entrance.

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The cave was awesome. There was many tight squeezes and small climbs. IMG_0436IMG_0466IMG_0452IMG_0459

At one point in the tour we turned off our lights and stopped talking. It was COMPLETELY dark and quiet. It was crazy! While we were gone, the other group was setting up an orienteering course for us that we would all do on Sunday.

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We got back to our campsite and had dinner and a campfire. The next morning, we did the orienteering course and the other group left for the cave tour. For the orienteering course, we used our compass and map to find items around the park. While the other group was gone, we took down the orienteering course. When they got back we had a cracker barrel and started our trip back. In all, the trip was awesome!

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backpacking trip report trips update

Wistlepigs Wipsey Silderness Patrol Trip

For our Patrol trip we decided to go to Sipsey Wilderness in AL but take a different route. We left the church and arrived at the trail-head well after dark shouts out to winter. We started hiking in and found a campsite but decided to carry on until we could find something better. We hiked for about 2 1/2 miles until we came across another unoccupied campsite. It wasn’t much better but we decided to take it anyways. We then had a wonderful cracker barrel of penguins and proceeded to  set up camp and turn in for the night. We woke up and had an oatmeal breakfast and broke camp and were ready to hit the trails at 9:00

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We hiked for a good ways and found some neat-o stuff like a rock tree and a natural rock tent. We decided along down the trail that we would have lunch after the imminent river crossing which we eventually came to.IMG_20140308_080134_711

Lunch was bountiful as to be expected from whistlepigz. We hing around for like an hour and eventually continued on our journey. Our hike lasted a good long 15 miles and another river crossing before we came to a small but cozy campsite.

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We set up camp and started dinner. while cooking we discussed the finer points if whistlepig lyfe such as nikes and defecation. We then enjoyed a wonderful meal cooked by Leo and Frederick and cleansed our palates with graham crackers. we hung around while Collin cleaned up and chatted before turning in for the night. We woke up in the morning and ate grits and dat crystal egg for breakfast before breaking camp. We hit the trails at the same time as the day before to continue our trek.

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Our hike from there on out wasn’t too difficult except for some long uphill sections. We came to the logging trail where most of our second day hike took place. we came to a bridge and decided to stop and have lunch a little earlier that day. Our lunch consisted of nutella and peanut butter paper tortilla wraps and an extensive selection of cookies.

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After lunch we got back on the trail. this was the longest, most dreadful part of our hike. We hiked for what seemed like forever. Eventually me and Leo decided to stop for a restroom break and never fully caught back up, but it didn’t matter,  we all made it back to the cars relatively soon after that. Overall the trip functioned very flawlessly and was a extremely fun trip. 9.5/10 would do again.

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Categories
skiing trip report trips update

Ski Trip Paoli Peaks 2-2014

The ski trip went great.  We left the Church on time and got to Paoli late at night.  After we got there, we claimed our bunks where we were going to sleep and unpacked and prepared for bed

The next day Saturday we ate breakfast and hit the slopes.

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We skied until lunch time then we had hot soup which was good to warm us up.  As soon as lunch was devoured it was back to the slopes.

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We left the slopes around dusk and was dark when we returned to our bunk house.  For Saturday night diner we had a pasta dish. When we got up Sunday we packed up and hit the slopes again.

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After skiing all day Sunday we left and stopped at an awesome place(Culvurs) to eat supper.  We got home around later on in the evening.

Categories
backpacking trips update

Sipsey Wilderness

Honey Badgers

All of the patrols and parents going on the trip meet up at the church at 5:30 to split food and check packs. We all got into our cars and we were off!

Once we got to the Sipsey parking area we ate our cracker barrel (lots of snacks) in the cars. after we ate we put on our packs and headed down the hill to the trail head. We found a rocky area that we could stay at for the night and decided to stay there.

when we woke up in the morning it was very cold!

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We took down our tents and ate oatmeal. as we started walking it got warmer, and warmer, and warmer, until we were sweating!

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we met Libor at a stream and he helped us get across.

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Soon we saw the Otters at the other end of a knee deep river. Yes, we had to cross it, and it was very very very cold. once we all got across we sat and dried off and ate snacks. But we had to keep on going, so we crossed a few more streams and did a ton of walking.

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then we ended up at our campsite. we all set up tents and collected firewood Raleigh and I ( water-men ) went down to the river and filled up water bottles for everyone and filled up pots for dinner. soon after, we had dinner, mashed potatoes and pork. It was delicious! Our fire ceremony turned out well and we then told stories. After that was lights out. we woke up early in the morning and i had to go get water again from the cold stream! Breakfast was good and we after that we were off. we hiked for a long time until we came upon Alabama’s biggest tree, and a beautiful waterfall. As we explored the waterfall and caves we found many huge ice sickles. we then climbed up the steep hill that led to a strait trail that was pretty boring, and at last we got to eat lunch.after lunch we stayed on the trail and ended up at the trail head.

      We were exhausted! When everyone got there we left and got back at the church at about 8:00. And that was it for our Sipsey Wilderness trip!

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climbing trip report trips update

Honey Badgers Patrol Trip At Climb Nashville

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Categories
backpacking trips

fiery gizard pics

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Categories
hiking trip report trips update

Frozen Head Photos On The Trail

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Categories
hiking trip report trips update

frozen head hike

When we got to the site we set up a canopy, then we hit the trail! When we first started we stopped at some water falls, saw some salamanders, and interesting plants.

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Then the hike started getting a little harder. we had to climb up some pretty hard slopes. We also had to cross some slick rock difficulty. There was some water running down rocks that we had to cross to get back on the trail.

A few miles went by and we stopped in a large cave to eat lunch and use steri pens to sterilize our water.

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The food was great and filled me up. We started on our way again and it got really foggy. We knew we were nearing the top, then we saw it, the fire watch tower. it was huge!

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we all climbed up to the top. the dog had some trouble with the metal floor. We found a chestnut tree and took some of the good nuts.

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Then we headed back down. on the way back we had another problem, a big tree had fallen on the path, the boys climbed over it but the grown ones just went around it. Once we figured that out we went on our way again. It wasn’t long until we got back to camp. I think that the hike was a great experience.

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Categories
hiking trip report trips update

Frozen Head Post

IMG_0374Frozen Head Trip, 9-21-13

We met at the church at six o’clock when it was still dark and raining. We packed our gear in the cars after eating delicious sausage and biscuits made by Miss Becky. The ride was about two and a half hours but it seemed shorter. When we arrived it was raining still, so we put on our rain gear and some scouts set up a pop-up tent to stand under so Miss Helen could talk to us about the trails that we were about to go on for the ten-mile hike. We decided to go on the hike first because the rain would clear in an hour or so. After we were briefed on the hiking trails and safety, we walked to the trail head. The hike was moderate but there were some steep places. We hiked about 5 miles to the place we would have lunch, which was a large rock overhang with a table under it, which was an Eagle Scout project. After we ate lunch, we hiked up a hill to the observation tower. That short hike to the observation tower was the most strenuous part in my opinion. It was rewarding to get to be on the observation tower. It was cool and misty because we were in a thick layer of fog. Nothing could really be seen because of the fog but I know it would be an excellent view if it was a clear day. We then began our hike down the mountain. On the way down, we saw an old well house covered in moss and later an old dynamite shack.
After the hike, we set up our tents while others set up the camp kitchens for each patrol. After everything was set up, a lot of us were told to look for firewood. While the Honey Badgers were preparing to make their pizzas, we collected as much firewood as we could, but it was either soaked with water or rotten. After we had diner, we tried to make a fire, but it goes out, then Libor steps in and makes a huge fire. After the fire got going, we started the camp fire ceremony and had fun, then we went to sleep. The breakfast was good the next morning. The Otters had breakfast burritos with eggs, cheese, and sausage. The Bucks had oatmeal, but I don’t know what the Honey Badgers had. After breakfast, we just had fun looking for salamanders, newts, and crawfish in the creek, and climbing up roots sticking out of a dirt drop-off. After packing up our things, we were going to go to a waterfall to swim and have fun but on the hike up there, we realized it was almost time to go, so we turned back. We got in the cars and left. We shortly arrived at the church, put up the gear, and put out the perishable food for the scouts to take. Soon, the parking lot was empty and everyone had gone home.

Categories
climbing trips update

Climbing, Rappelling, and Hiking at Stone Door

We set off Friday, exited to go to stone door. When we got there we walked a 1/4 mile to the 3 campsites.(Otters, Bucks, and new patrol) Then we set up and went to sleep. The next day we were looking forward to climbing and rappelling. We got to the area where we were climbing and David explained how to put the harnesses on correctly. Half the group went rappelling while the other group climbed. We rappelled off of a 175 ft wall. It took a lot of guts to rappel off of it. Once every one was finished we switched. Climbing was very difficult. Only a few made it to the top. I think everyone had a great time climbing and rappelling.

We headed back to camp for dinner. The bucks had no propane in their propane tank, so we had a combined meal. I felt sick before the fire ceremony, so you have to ask someone else how that went. The next day we set out on a 10 mile hike. We saw some really cool waterfalls and rock formations. By the end we were out of water and ready to get back home.