Desert Boy's Eighth Birthday

 Desert Boy recently turned eight, and we were blessed to have a beautiful day so we could hold the party outside. His friends came over for a simple lunch. Then it was time for the outdoor activities. First up: zipline! We just recently installed this, and it's a lot of fun.

Although it's a little intimidating the first time!

There was plenty to eat, including some mushy frosting perfect for smearing all over a face and hands.

We brought out Desert Boy's birthday cake...

…but the wind was too strong to light the candles. So Desert Boy had to make do with blowing out a match.

 Then it was on to more activities, including playing on the swingset and hide'n seek.

Some of the girls played ship on the hammock. They were on stormy seas, with sharks circling.

They started capsizing, which made for a perilous trip.

The next game was how many kids can you fit in a hot tub. They liked that one quite a lot. Sharks may or may not have been present.

The little kiddie pool was the spacious one. Ha!

The slip'n slide had them running and cooling off, then they'd get back in the hot tub to warm up.

In the evening we had family over for a BBQ.

It was low-key fun.

Desert Boy enjoyed all the attention.

And then things got charged up with a water fight. It wasn't just any little waterfight, this was a get soaked-to-the-skin waterfight.

Desert Girl wisely chose to put on her swimsuit.

And then proceeded to chase her cousin. It was a good day!

Happy Birthday, Desert Boy! It's been a fun eight years and I'm looking forward to lots more!

Camping and Biking and Trail Running at Sacramento Pass Rec Area

 Last weekend we had Saturday night free, so I came up with the grand idea of camping at Sacramento Pass Rec Area. It was camping night #7 for the kids (12 is our goal for the Desert Survivor's Get-Out-and-Camp Challenge, so we're doing really well!). We decided we would catch our dinner at the Sac Pass Pond, where rainbow trout are stocked by the Spring Creek Rearing Station.

It didn't take Desert Boy long to catch three trout and then Desert Girl two more. They were on the smallish side, but we decided we'd eat them all.

Meanwhile the almost-full moon came up.

And Desert Girl had fun being silly. We moved to the upper campsites to get further away from the road. They were recently redone with money from a SNPLMA grant, and the whole area is so nice. Even though it was a Saturday night, we had it all to ourselves, which was quite surprising because it's so easy to access and free.

We had our little camping trailer, which creaked all night. We might get a better night sleep in our tent, but it still is kind of fun to be in the trailer.

I woke up before everyone and decided to go scamper on the nearby rocks to take advantage of the great early morning light.

The road up and over Sac Pass looked especially pretty, with the Schell Creek mountains in the background.

A bit later I left to go mountain biking. I really wanted to check out the Mineshaft trail, a 4-mile long loop trail that departs from the Lucky Boy spur off the Sacramento Pass trail. Desert Boy and I had biked much of the Sac Pass trail last fall, and so I knew it would be technically difficult. But I found I can only take so much technically difficult. Once I got to the loop part of the Mineshaft trail (1.5 miles from the trailhead), I decided I would be much happier if I just did the loop as a trail run and didn't have to worry about going over my handlebars as I navigated the rocky course.

The views were terrific on the Mineshaft trail, and I enjoyed it so much (even though I didn't have a camera!). It was obvious that the trail doesn't get much use, so I built up some rock cairns marking the trail that had toppled over. If you want technical singletrack all to yourself, this is the spot! If you want a trail run all to yourself, this is also your spot! And the trails are designed for equestrian use, but I don't think a horse has been on them yet.

If four miles is too long, there is a shortcut--a wash connects the trail at the narrowest spot, so you could  make it a much shorter loop. There's also a two-track road that crosses the southwest part of the loop, so you could bail out there if you're bike riding and the singletrack is getting too much for you. 

You can find the Sac Pass Trail map here. 

Time to head outside!

Junior Cave Scientists

The National Park Service has recently started the Junior Cave Scientist program for ages 5-12+. Those interested can pick up a booklet from participating parks or download one.

I took the kids to Great Basin National Park one Saturday afternoon to get the booklet. We headed over to the cafe to get a treat while the kids completed it.

The booklet starts out with "What are Caves and Karst?" Then it talks about how to protect caves and different scientific things to do in caves, such as geology, biology, hydrology, archeology, paleontology, climate science, and more.

It had a game about the different zones of a cave that we played by flipping a coin. The kids really got into it.

After they finished, we went back to the visitor center to turn in the booklets. Ranger Kevin determined that they had completed the necessary activities and swore them in as junior cave scientists. He had the great idea of having them put on cave helmets.

Desert Boy, Junior Cave Scientist

Desert Girl's helmet was a little big, hence the hanging onto it.

 The kids got their badges and posed for a photo.

The badges are made of wood and very cool.

My little junior cave scientists wanted to go for a walk while on their sugar high, so we headed out to the nature trail. They were being a bit mischievous, posing behind the sign for the photo.

Before long we reached the natural entrance of Lehman Cave, which is now topped with a bat-friendly gate after being sealed shut for decades. The bats seem to be finding it, as each year the numbers are creeping up. Just last week we saw over 20 Townsend's big-eared bats in the cave.

The kids really like the rock wall at the exit tunnel.

We weren't done yet, they still had to squeeze through the concrete block, a prerequisite to going on the spelunking tour when that was offered at Little Muddy Cave.

And one more stop. The kids love getting "kissed" by the cave. They found they could get "kissed" by the roof when they stood under the dripline. Nothing like desert kids finding a little water!

And just think what that water is doing as it seeps down into the ground, through the acidic pine needles, into the porous limestone, into tiny cracks that slowly, slowly become larger and larger. There should be more caves for these junior cave scientists to learn about, if they just wait patiently.

Cave Rescue Training - April 2015

 It had been a few years since we had a National Cave Rescue Commission training in our area. With a little nudging from my friend Andy, I picked a date, found some instructors willing to volunteer their time, and got ready for a fun weekend.

On Friday we had fifteen students come to improve their single rope technique (SRT) skills in the morning. We had seven single ropes up in the fire station, plus a rebelay course that included some J-hangs and a guided rappel. It was a challenging rebelay course, but fun! Here's Deanna doing the guided rappel, which would keep you out of a waterfall or get you over a pothole or some other obstacle.

In the afternoon we went out to some nearby cliffs and did raises and lowers. It was a windy afternoon, but everyone did well and learned something.


While we were prepping the site, I got this fun shot.


In the evening you could tell we were getting a little tired…but we were still laughing! (Can you see what's happened in the photo below?)

The next morning we changed gears and started the Orientation to Cave Rescue class, a two-day class. We spent the morning and early afternoon in the classroom. Here's Bonny doing the best psych considerations talk I've ever seen. It was also perfect for keeping the students awake after lunch as they had to get up.

Later in the afternoon it was time for the obstacle course, which teaches how to move a litter and tests leadership/followership skills. One particularly fun challenge was going through a narrow fork in the tree.

They did it well! Then everyone had to climb through the tree, which took some teamwork.

Sunday it was time for the mock rescue to test their skills. Thanks to Bonny and Tori for getting some of these photos, as I ended up being one of the patients. They had to come find me and carry me out of the cave.

When the students arrived, they got organized. The incident commander sent everyone to the cave.


Then they were divided into teams with different missions.

One of the search teams found me and then had to keep me warm and treat my injuries while they waited for a litter to arrive.


It took me about ten minutes to go to my place in the cave uninjured, but over three hours to get me out, largely due to patient packaging and then various vertical obstacles. It just goes to show that you want to cave carefully or you could end up spending a lot longer in a cave than you had planned!

On the hike back I discussed the mock rescue with Andy. We were both very happy with how everyone had done. Thanks so much to all the instructors, students, Great Basin National Park, Ely District BLM, and Snake Valley Volunteer Fire Department for their support!

The National Cave Rescue Commission has upcoming training--a Small Party Assisted Rescue seminar in June in Lund, Nevada (with only four spots left), and a weeklong seminar with various levels in Park City, Kentucky (next to Mammoth Cave) at the end of July. You can find more info at the NCRC website.