Author: Jed Olsen

My two younger sons and I had a great time at the Boy Scout Family Camp weekend at Cathedral Gorge. We arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp. The weather was great; about 80 degrees when we arrived and it got down to the high 30s at night.

Saturday morning a group went out geocaching. In the early afternoon we went for a hike into the caves (actually a series of narrow slot canyons carved into the cliff face by water erosion). As we made our way deeper into the canyon, we had to lay down and crawl through a narrow passage. After a few dozen yards more we came to an even smaller opening in a fifteen foot vertical wall. The smaller boys (and Nolan too) squeezed through, while the more experienced climbers made their way up and over the wall with the help of a rope.

We got to see and hear lots of wildlife. Everywhere were lizards and black beetles. One of the boys caught a good sized blue throated spiny lizard. I hoped to find Jerusalem crickets, but it was too early in the season for them to be active. Saturday afternoon a beautiful snake came through our camp. Mr. Painter identified it as a gopher snake. It kept the boys fascinated for several minutes. At night we could hear owls and coyotes, but the only mammals we got to see were the occasional ground squirrel or jack rabbit.

Saturday afternoon we all went to the swimming hole in Panaca. It's a warm, spring fed pond where the locals spend many summer afternoons cooling off. On our return to camp, we met up with Barbara, the park ranger, for a "moonlight" hike. Actually the sun (and the moon) were
still up.

Saturday night we made a campfire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and performed skits. I'm still waiting for the punch line to the "fortune teller" skit. I'm told it's funny, no really, it is.

My family is looking forward to joining the Boy Scouts again at family camp. Perhaps next time my wife and oldest boy can join us too.