Sean Henri

Horseback Riding in Montana

August 07, 2003 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Last night was miserable.  I was extremely uncomfortable and spent the night tossing and turning because of the low temperatures and the fact that my sleeping bag was soaked due to the wet bathing suits that were hanging to dry directly above me in the tepee.  I did manage to catch a little bit of sleep, but by the time it was time to get up I felt like pure shit.  My nose was stuffed, back was sore, and I was freezing.  Mr. Frovarp cooked us bacon, eggs, and toast.  Kevin was bugging me to go hiking with him up to some rocks overlooking the campground so we went for it.  We never made it all the way up to the top because I was nervous we'd run into some animals on the way down.  There were tons of caves all around us... seemed like a good place for a bear to hide.

When we got back down we started packing everything up and then hit the road.  Our next destination was Sun Canyon Lodge which was only another 250 miles away.  During we drive we passed through Helena, the capital of Montana.  It wasn't the type of place I'd expect to be called a capital.. mainly because it was so small.  The tallest building was maybe 5 stories high... I felt like I was in a city the size of Derby.  The streets were all clean and it was just like a happy little all-American town.

We found a park near the Civic Center where we sat down and made lunch.  I never got a chance to eat anything because I used the opportunity to get all the picture we had been taking uploaded to the troop's website.  After about a half hour we packed up and headed downtown for some shopping.  There wasn't anything too interesting, so I spent most of my time in a pawn shop.  I picked up a couple DVD's for the long drive and Kevin bought some CD's.  Then I stopped in an internet cafe to check my email and to say hi to a few friends.

From Helena we drove for about another 50 miles into what felt like the middle of nowhere.  All I could see in every direction were rolling hills of brown fields and large mountain far off in the distance.  There were no houses, people, walls, or animals.... just tons of open space.  It was an amazing sight... and it was hard to believe that I was in the same country.  Coming from the NYC metropolitan area, seeing something like this was almost unbelievable.  The road was unpaved and very dusty.  It seemed endless.  We eventually came across a small town called Augusta that was almost seemed like it was out of one of those old western movies.  It was maybe 5 blocks across in both directions had 1 main road with a gas station, a saloon, and the General Store.  We pulled over to get some gas in the vans, so a few of us got out to stretch and to buy some snacks.  I walked over to the General Store to check it out.  There were some locals walking around - all the men had cowboy boots, jeans cowboy hats, and plaid shirts.  And the few women I saw wore pig-tails.  It couldn't have been any more stereotypical.  I picked up a bag of chips and a shot glass and headed back for the van.

Another 10 miles down the road we came to our destination - Sun Canyon Lodge.  The place was very scenic and was nestled alongside a huge cliff and a small brook.  We set up our tents and went for a horseback ride through the countryside.  My horses name was Tar Bob.  He was very slow and kept falling behind.  Meanwhile I see Kevin galloping away having a blast.  I eventually figured out that I needed to kick the horse harder to get him to gallop, and from there it was great!  We were out for about an hour and followed a long windy trail up and around a hillside.  It was one of the most incredible things I've ever done.  The pace varied from time to time.  We'd go really slow and then suddenly we'd be going really fast again.  It hurt like hell when the horse ran.  By the time we were done I had blisters on my inner thighs and I was really, really sore.  I guess it takes some time to build up the tolerance.

Once we were done we went into the saloon for steak dinners.  The food was great and the saloon was pretty cool.  It had game mounted on all the walls and had a very western feel to it.  Aftewards, Randy, Mr. Liddel, his son, and myself hiked up the trail on foot to take some pictures of the sunset and to shoot some video.  I made it up to the top fairly easily and got the pleasure of watching the others struggle miserably as they hiked up the steep hill.  Once the sun was down I sat by the laundry room and caught up with my journal entries.  Kevin and some others went into the saloon to play some pool. 

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The Drive to Montana

August 06, 2003 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Today we woke up early, ate some breakfast, packed the vans and hit the road.  We had a 500 mile drive from where we were to our next location which was LoLo Hot Springs in Montana.  During the drive we tried updating the troop's website several times through a cell phone data connection, but we weren't able to get any service.  Once we got close to Spokane, we picked up some service and were able to upload some pictures and journal entries.

Around 7PM we reached our destination and found out we were going to sleep in teepee's.  We all changed, crossed the street and went in for a swim in the hot springs and swimming pool.  The hot springs, while natural, had been enclosed in a building and had cement poured inside them to make it more comfortable for tourists.  I was somewhat disappointed by this, but still enjoyed it.

When we got back Mr. Frovrap had cooked us all chicken fajitas which were really good.  After I ate I went to go take a shower and then went to sleep.

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Climbing Mt. Rainier

August 05, 2003 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

This morning we all woke up really early, hopped in the vans, and headed towards the visitor center in Paradise on Mt. Rainier.  After a half hour we stopped at trail called the Grove of the Patriarchs.  It was very low impact but extremely scenic hike.  The trees were huge and very old.  It took 19 scouts to wrap around the largest one.

After the short hike we continued our drive up the mountain.  The road was very thin, steep, and windy.  At times I was very nervous the van would tip on a curve and fall down the cliff.  Once we made it up we went into the visitor's center for a video and some lunch.  Melissa then lead us to the lodge and gave us our hiking options.  I chose to hike the full skyline trail - a 4 hour hike.  Kevin, who was slightly less enthused, chose the shorter hike to the glacier vista. 

I had no problem hiking up.  My little brother's friend Brian managed to keep up with me while the others fell behind.  Towards the top was a panoramic viewpoint.  Pinnacle Peak, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood all were visible.  I watched the rest of our group hike up the trail to catch up with us.  That's when we realized Pat W. and James L had mistakenly taken the wrong trail and we had to go look for them.  I spotted them far down the mountainside so we continued on our way down.

We hiked through patches of snow, rocks, fields, and large waterfalls.  Once we made it back down everybody got an ice cream cone from the lodge and then waited in a hour long line to use one of the only two showers in the park. 

Meanwhile, a thick cloud came up the mountainside.  We slowly drove back down to the campsite for dinner.  That night we had a very well run campfire.  During which we presented our two tour leaders with Troop 3 t-shirts.  Then it was time to sleep.

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Seattle to Mt. Rainier

August 04, 2003 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

7:00 AM - Wake up call.  I lied around in bed for about 20 minutes watching CNN covering the terrorism threat while waiting to use the shower.  After I got my turn to use it we met outside the hotel and met Melissa, our Trek America tour guide, for the first time.  The scouts packed all the gear on top of the van and we all squeezed in for our drive into the city.  We were dropped off at a marketplace in Seattle called Pikes Place.  Randy gave each pair of scouts $10 to eat breakfast with.  Pikes Place was filled with fish stands, flower booths, and handcrafts.  Randy visited the original Starbucks.  We went to a bagel shop to get some breakfast and then met back where we met.

Our next stop was the Space Needle.  I wasn't as impressed as I'd thought I would be... but it was still pretty cool.  I sat inside for a while and drank some hot chocolate until it was time to leave. 

After the Space Needle we drove farther into Washington State to Mt. Rainier National Park.  We were able to see the mountain a good half hour before we reached the park.  It was huge.  Mt. Rainier is actually a dormant volcano.  It's part of the Cascade range so it was surrounded by other slightly small mountains. 

Once in the park we pulled over to hike a trail leading to Pinnacles Peak.  The trail was steep and zig zagged back and forth.  At the top we took a group photo and went over to a patch of snow for a snowball fight.  Kevin was complaining of a headache and wouldn't come over to the snow.  Close by near some rocks I saw some small grayish animal I had never seen before.  I was told that they were  Varmints.

After the snowball fight we headed back down to the vans.  That night we drove just outside the park to La Wis Wis Campground.  We used three campsites - two of which were along the river.  That night we had spaghetti and and French bread for dinner, and went right to sleep.

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Flying to Seattle

August 03, 2003 // 2 Comments  // Add yours »

Sunday started off way to early.  I woke up around 7 AM in the morning still exhausted and a little bit hungover from the party we had the night before at Nick's on the river.  I re-packed all of my gear and then my mom drove me down to the train station for 8:30 AM.  After a group photo and lots of goodbyes we loaded onto the bus, at some donuts and arrived at Bradley International Airport.

For weeks we had been warning all the scouts not to bring any pocketknives or weapons in their carry-ons.  Security has been very tight the past two years because of 9/11.  Just the other day the FBI issued a warning that terrorists could attempt to hijack airplanes before summer's end.  But sure enough, one scout, P.W., had one on him and was searched by security. 

Our flight left around 12:30 PM for O'Hare in Chicago.   The landing was very violent because of thunderstorms in the area.  We ended up sitting in the airport at Chicago until 6:30 PM as a result of the storms.  The flight to Seattle was long but smooth and I caught a good glimpse of the Cascades in Washington before we landed.  We didn't get out of the airport until around 9:30/10:00 PM, which caused Mr. Spinetti to get a little bit cranky.

The first thing I noticed about the terrain was the difference in vegetation and trees, which were mostly evergreen and well-spaced out.  after a short drive we made it to the Red Lion Inn at Seattle.  The second I walked in the door I jumped on a computer and tried to upload some of Randy's pics and updated the West Trip Journal at Troop3Derby.com - a website I recently made for the troop.  My attempt failed because of the primitive software on the computer.  Disgruntled, I grabbed my gear, walked to my room, and passed out.

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