On Saturday, May 17th, Troop 1 Assistant Scoutmaster Mark Fallentine and wife Elizabeth, who is a Committee Member of Troop 1, provided instructional rope climbing and rappelling training to 14 scout members of Troop 1. Mark Fallentine has BSA Level II Climbing Instructor Certification along with Wilderness First Responder training, and has taken advanced technical courses in rope along with technical canyoneering courses. Elizabeth Fallentine has BSA Level II Climbing instructor Certification and is a nurse.
Most of Saturday was spent near our campsites on two different granite mountain sites located within the Twin Sisters Group Site at City of Rocks National Reserve, which is their largest of 64 total campsites available for rental. The weather could not have been better for this outing, with occasional clouds and 72 degree temperatures for most of Saturday. As Elizabeth and Mark provided technical climbing and rappelling instruction to Troop 1 scouts, they also taught the same techniques to several of their parents who came along on this outing, and even a grandparent! Sixteen year old son Tyler Fallentine, who is a Troop 1 Eagle Scout and has BSA Climbing Instructor Certification (Instructor-In-Training), provided additional guidance for the day’s activities.
After Saturday’s dinner meal and a spirited campfire program for all Troop 1ers, it was time to get inside our tents and dream of another morning of climbing and rappelling. Sunday morning was spent, after a complete breakfast consisting of pancakes, hash brown potatoes and scrambled eggs, on the granite, with scouts frantically trying to nearly wrap up requirements for Climbing merit badge. After lunch and a very thorough trash sweep of the entire Twin Sisters Group Camp area, we all loaded our troop and personal gear in a gear trailer, and off we were at 1:09 pm with a 3:15 pm arrival at First Presbyterian Church of Logan.
For the newest scout members of Troop 1, some of their parents and grandparents, our older scouts, Assistant Scoutmaster Stu Parkinson (Me!)….and Mark, Elizabeth, Tyler and future Troop 1 scout Mitchell Fallentine….it was an amazing two days spent in a historic piece of America’s western heritage. City of Rocks National Reserve and nearby Castle Rocks State Park are premier rock climbing destinations in the United States. "We encamped at the city of the rocks, a noted place from the granite rocks rising abruptly out of the ground," wrote James Wilkins in 1849. "They are in a romantic valley clustered together, which gives them the appearance of a city." Wilkins was among the first wagon travelers to fix the name City of Rocks to what looked like "a dismantled, rock-built city of the Stone Age." California Trail pioneers were leaving civilization as they knew it in the East for new lives in the West. Some wrote their names in axle grease on rock faces, and their signatures can be seen today. This unique geologic area became a landmark in 1843 for California-bound emigrants. A few granite pinnacles and monoliths are in excess of sixty stories tall and 2.5 billion years old. The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing. Over 500 climbing routes have been identified.
For additional information on City of Rocks National Reserve in Almo, Idaho:
http://www.nps.gov/ciro/index.htm