Scott Robertson

Lessons from the past... Grand Canyon

By: Posted On: 2010-01-20

As a Scout I backpacked the Grand Canyon twice. The first time we did it was my first long term, and my first serious backpacking trip. As a side note, the hike down only takes 4 to 5 hours, but the hike out takes 8 to 12 hours depending on your condition and the trail you choose. On our way down the Scout who happened to be my tent mate kept dropping his sleeping bag. Actually it kept falling off his pack. The last time it fell off was right in the middle of a stream that may have been 8 inches wide, if that. After that he changed the way he was attaching it to his pack. A few hours after that we reached where we were going to camp, and boy did it hold a surprise. In the campsite, which was one the park service made for backpackers to use, was this metal bar kind of like a football goal post. As I recall it was meant to be used to hang your food backs off of. However there was a problem, a wild turkey made it into its home. Thats right I said a wild turkey in bottom of the Grand Canyon. To this day it is one of the main things I remember from that trip because it was just different I guess.

The lesson... first sometimes Scouts learn best when things go wrong repeatably until they find a way on there own to prevent it from happening. Second, sometimes its the simplest and most trivial things we remember the longest.


 
 

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