Pictures from Encampment

Day 5 - Change of Plans

Priesthood Encampment UPDATE........another day almost complete. Since the hikers didn't get up to Loon Lake last night, they changed up plans for today. Kris Amber Stice and I drove up to McCall early this morning and met some of the leaders at Split Creek Campground at 9:15am to shuttle them back to their cars at Upper Payette Lake and Ruby Meadows. They were able to retrieve some vehicles and drive back to pick up the boys and other leaders. They plan to swim tonight at Zims Hotsprings and eat their evening meal (Thank you Chris Maberry and Lyle Cable!). Then they are HEADED HOME. The leaders are guessing they will get home around 10pm tonight but that is an estimate. Here are a few pics from the drive up that don't do justice to the beauty of the area. I am still in awe that these boys and men hiked such rugged terrain. They worked HARD!

Day 4 - Enos Creek

Today was probably hard. They hiked (probably 8 miles) and cleared trail along the way. Made it to Enos Creek but could not find clear trail to Loon Lake (which is about 1.5 miles NW of where they are now).  Too many downed trees to clear away.  Some logs stacked 3 or 4 high. They are camping at Enos Creek tonight and will head back down to Split Creek Campground to stay there Friday night. We are arranging for Brother Chris Maberry and Lyle Cable to bring dinner to them at that campground tomorrow night.

Day 3 - Duck Lake to Centennial Trail via Lick Creek Road

The boys hiked from Duck Lake to the Idaho Centennial Trail near Split Creek.  Looks like they scouted the original trail last night and opted to go on an alternate route via Lick Creek Road.  Maybe due to snow or elevation changes.  They hiked over 9 miles today along Lick Creek Road and made it to their planned destination.  Hopefully everyone's feet are holding up well!  Great job boys and leaders!

Day #2 Duck Lake

The boys/leaders hiked 8.4 miles today and made it to Duck Lake!  Great job guys!

Day 1 Success!

Received a notification from the DeLorme satellite phone from Todd Stice.  Looks like they made it to the planned destination for Day 1!  Hooray!  Onward.

Last Minute Reminders: 

First of all,  a representative from each ward will need to come pick up food for the priesthood encampment.  The meals will be prepared and ready to go.   Come pick up your food for your ward at the Fruitland Building on Thursday, June 15 @ 7pm.

We had a couple people go up and scout the trail this weekend.   Some important things to remember as the boys are getting packed and ready to go.

1. The trail will be wet & muddy!  Be prepared for these scenarios with the proper shoes.  It will be a good idea as well to have a set of shoes to cross creeks and streams to not get your hiking shoes wet.   Most likely we will run into snow at higher elevations.  Bringing plastic bags as a liner to prevent socks and feet from getting wet may be a great idea.  Protecting your feet will be a must for this hike.  Leaders please help and prepare your boys for these elements
2. It will get chilly,  please make sure you have the appropriate sleeping gear for cold temperatures.   It got down to 32 degrees last week where we are going, so plan accordingly for these elements. 
3. Leaders help your boys with packing,  make sure their backs are not too heavy for their size. Of course lighter is better but the pack should be no more than 20-25% of body weight.   The meals that have been prepared for the week are around 8 lbs so if you check bags before you receive the food, you have a good idea where your boys are at.   
4. There will be opportunities for fishing for those that would want to bring along their fishing poles.  

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate contacting someone on the committee to clarify.  

Update on Overnight Training Hike for June 10th & 11th

Our practice hike this week will be an overnighter to Blackwell lake, outside of McCall.  We will meet at the Fruitland building at 1:00PM on Friday and head to McCall.  In McCall we will park at Camp Morrison, NYLT, and proceed from there.  Please prepare your own food and gear for this hike.

I have commitments from a couple of New Plymouth wards for leaders, and expect 20+ boys to attend.

Also as discussed at the Parents meeting,   here is the link for the camp stove.
http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Ultralight-Portable-Backpacking-Ignition/dp/B00B4FY8YO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465227665&sr=8-1&keywords=etekcity+stove 

Training Hike 6.3 miles around the Malheur Butte.   It was a beautiful day and a wonderful view.  We will be hiking at Mann's Creek next Saturday.  Come join us.  Meet at Fruitland building at 7:30am.

Updated information has been added to the link above PE General Info

Training Schedule

Info and suggestions from Brother Chip Olsen from the Training Committee

Mileage and elevation by day of Priesthood Encampment Hike

Day	Base Elevation	Mileage	Elevation Climb	Elevation Decent
Monday	5581	5.6	2400	100
Tuesday	7848	8.2	1300	2200
Wednesday	6896	11.6	2200	5000
Thursday	4324	9.3	2600	1100
Friday	5843	8.6	1200	1000
Saturday	6066	6.7	900	900

Training serves many purposes.  Primary is to get my joints and muscles in shape for the event.  Secondary is to practice.  Practice hiking. Practice carrying a pack.  Practice using hiking poles.  Practice using my hiking boots.  Lots of things to practice.  One last thing of note, it is to test my hiking gear.  I have some old gear, and some new, and some in between.  I want to make sure that gear will work for the long hike.  So, I will take it out and use it on the practice hikes to see how it works.  If I need to make repairs, or replace non-working gear, I would rather be uncomfortable on a practice hike than on the long hike.

When developing a training plan I try to look at a few factors.  First is the total distance that will be covered in the hike(s).  Second is the elevation, and elevation climb.  Finally is the kind of gear required for the hike.  For this event our single day miles are not huge.  10 miles in a day is not a ton.  25 or more is, but 10 is a fairly low mileage day.  50 miles in a week is the bigger training target.  For those of you who are young and supple you can recover quickly, and will not have so many issues.  For people who are old like me, it is much harder.  My body does not recover quick enough to survive a long hike like this without a lot of training.

My plan tracks weekly miles to try and build up to about 80% of our total long hike miles.  These weekly miles should be hit at least a week before we start to give my body time to recover.  With this in mind, I have put together the following:

Week of Apr 4	8 Miles
Week of April 11	9 Miles
Week of April 18	10 Miles
Week of April 25	11 Miles
Week of May 2	13 Miles
Week of May 8	15 Miles
Week of May16	18 Miles
Week of May 23	23 Miles
Week of May 30	29 Miles
Week of June 6	36 Miles
Week of June 13	Less than 25 miles

For training hikes with the youth.  I would encourage all to attend the following training hikes.

May 7^th  7:30AM meet at the Ontario Stake Center.  6 mile hike at Malheur Butte.  We will hike along the road, and up the canal road.

May 14^th  7:30AM meet at the Fruitland building 8 mile hike around Mann’s Creek.

May 21^st   7:30AM meet at the New Plymouth building.  Three Bears, in the Boise Foothills.

May 28^th 7:30AM meet at the Fruitland building. Outside Council, ID.  At Heritage Mountain.  10 miles, several thousand elevation climb.

June 4^th       7:30AM meet at the New Plymouth building.  Zimmer Creek Loop (9 mile loop and 2200 elevation climb)

June 10^th and 11^th Details to follow.  Recommended for all boys.  McCall, Camp Morrisson to Blackwell Lake.  Overnight at Blackwell Lake, and back on Crestline trail.

Photo from https://pixabay.com/en/hiking-hikers-backpacks-backpacking-691738/y:    

Draft Route & Schedule

Monday, June 20, 2016			Elev.
	10:00 AM
		Depart from Stake Center.  Eat sack lunch while traveling.
	12:30 PM
		Arrive at trail head for Trail 085 located on east side of FH21 near north-east end of Upper Payette Lake.	5600
	1:00 PM
		Hike on Trail 085 about 2.75 miles, turn left onto Trail 315 and hike for about 2.75 miles to Twentymile Lakes.  Take breaks as needed.
	4:00 PM
		Arrive at Twenty-Mile Lakes and set up camp	7800
	5:00 PM
		Prepare and eat dinner
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
	8:00 AM
		Breakfast and Break Camp
	9:00 AM
		Hike on Trail 315 back to Trail 085 for about 2.75 miles.  Turn left onto Trail 085 and hike about 6.25 miles to Duck Lake.  Take breaks as needed.  Eat lunch around 12:00 PM.	7040
	4:00 PM
		Arrive at Duck Lake and set up camp	5840
	5:00 PM
		Prepare and eat dinner
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
	8:00 AM
		Breakfast and Break Camp
	9:00 AM
		Leave Trail 085 near the south end of Duck Lake and hike east on Trail 083 to Hum Lake for about 1.75 miles.  Continue hiking past Hum Lake towards the north east on Trail 082 by taking a left where the trail splits near the west end of Hum Lake.  Continue hiking on Trail 082 for about 8 miles.  Turn right on Trail 081 and hike for about 0.5 miles.  Take breaks as needed.  Eat lunch around 12:00 PM.	7760 6800 8100
	4:00 PM
		Arrive at Lick Creek Road and set up camp	4550
	5:00 PM
		Prepare and eat dinner
Thursday, June 23, 2016
	8:00 AM
		Breakfast and Break Camp
	9:00 AM
		Go north on Trail 081 for 9.5 miles to Loon Lake.  Take breaks as needed.  Eat lunch around 12:00 PM.	6200
	5:00 PM
		Prepare and eat dinner
	8:00 PM
		Arrive at Loon Lake and set up camp	5800
	9:00 PM
		Eat a snack and go to bed.
Friday, June 23, 2016
	8:00 AM
		Breakfast and Break Camp
	9:00 AM
		Hike about 2 miles to crashed plane and back.  With forest service permission, build trail to the crash site.  Swim in Lake.
	12:30 PM
		Eat Lunch.
	1:00 PM
		Hike north from Loon Lake and go left where the trail splits shortly after leaving Loon Lake.  Continue north on Trail 081 until it comes to a three way split.  Take the center trail along Willow Basket Creek.  Hike a total of about 6 miles.  Take breaks as needed.	6400
	4:00 PM
		Arrive at north side of Ruby Meadows and set up camp
	5:00 PM
		Prepare and eat dinner
Saturday, June 23, 2016
	8:00 AM
		Breakfast and Break Camp
	9:00 AM
		Hike 1 mile north, cross FH21, and hike an additional 2 miles north to Burgdorf Hotsprings.  Turn into and hike through the campground located just north of Burgdorf Hotsprings and continue on the trail until you come to a gravel road.  Turn right and continue to Crystal Mountain which is about 2 miles from Burgdorf Hotsprings.
		Explore Crystal Mountain
		Follow the gravel road from Crystal Mountain to Burgdorf, hiking about 2.25 miles.
	12:00 PM
		Swim at Burgdorf Hotsprings	6100
	1:30 PM
		Eat an awesome lunch
	3:00 PM
		Depart for Stake Center
	6:00 PM
		Arrive at Stake Center