Timberline: Doug and I walked out of camp to Colton

Timberline: Doug and I walked out of camp to Colton

                      (Timberline part 4)

Sometime during the next couple of years that Doug and I were using Bristlecone for our camp we went up by ourselves one day in May to bring out a sample of the water from the spring for testing so that we would know if it was OK to be used that year. Doug picked me up in his truck and I took along a little water since we didn’t know if we could trust the spring water yet. I didn’t take a lunch since we were just going to go up and get a sample of water and then hike around the camp to see what winter damage might have occurred.  As we were getting close to the top of the ridge Doug made a comment that his truck seemed to be acting a little different but we didn’t stop at that point to investigate. As we drove down the road nearing the camp he decided it was time to check it out. Sure enough we had a flat tire. I wasn’t concerned since both of us knew how to change a flat tire until he told me that he didn’t have a spare since Jason had experienced a flat tire a couple of weeks earlier and he hadn’t put the spare back into the truck.  That may have been the first of a number of flat tires that we had in relationship to that camp. The rocks were very sharp and in one year we had something like 22 flat tires combined between staff trips and participant parent coming into camp up that hill.  Well we knew then that we would have to walk out but it was early in the morning so we went ahead and got the sample of water and did a walking tour of the camp before we started to hike out.

Luckily Doug had packed a couple of hostess pies and some granola bars that we took with us as we started the hike out. It was around 11:00 AM by the time we had completed the tour of the camp and done some minor work on it as well before we began our hike to Colton. I truly didn’t think that we would have to hike all of it since over 5 miles of it was along the highway with lots of traffic. We started up the hill to the top where the road started down the ridge. It was a nice day for walking and the jackets we had were not needed since the temperature was pretty mild. We walked all the way down the road even though we had considered hiking cross-country to Colton. The thing that stopped us from doing that was the fact that we would be less likely to be able to hitch a ride for part of it and the fact that we would not only be going down but back up again as we went through some of the small canyons that would have been in the direct path as well. About half way down the seven miles to the highway we each ate one of the pies. Our water was lasting well since it wasn’t too hot yet either. We had a great time talking about the camp and things that we could do to improve it as we hiked along. We got down to Kyune and started to hike west up the highway toward Colton. One thing we would later learn that day is that back when the trains were first running through the canyon that the early settlers had small towns every 7 miles along the tracks. They were Price, Helper, Kyune, Colton, Soldier Summit, Tucker, Sheep Creek, Thistle, Castilleja and Spanish Fork. Well we had hiked the mile from the truck to the top of the hill, the 7 miles down the ridge as well as the couple of miles or more around the camp from the truck back to the truck. Now we were looking to walk another 7 miles to Colton to the Hill Top Café where we could call our wives to come and get us. It was probably close to 1:00 PM by that time. Well we were in pretty good spirits and we started up the road, (of course we didn’t know we still had seven miles to go at that time) and were walking at a pretty good pace. We had a number of cars pass us going to ward Price and of course a lot that passed up going toward Colton but since we were both in our scout uniforms everyone must have thought that we were out for the hike and wouldn’t need a ride. We even recognized people in one of the vehicles headed toward Price that waved at us but didn’t slow down to offer assistance even though they would have had to back track a little to help us. I still remember seeing a sign that stated it was 500 yards to the passing lane and thinking that they were a long 500 yards. Well we finally made it to the café and borrowed the phone to call Julie and Marie. (No we didn’t use our cell phones at the top of the mountain since they had yet to be invented or at least widely owned by the commoners like us.) Anyway we waited for the girls to come and get us and had a great visit with the owner of the café. He was the one who told us about the towns being 7 miles apart and all of their names. As a little boy he grew up in Colton and knew a lot of the history of the trains and of the town. He told us some of the ones where he had personally been involved in the activities surrounding some of the stories. We had a good time and after that would always make a stop there as we were either going to or coming from camp.

Julie and Marie got there about an hour later and had brought some fix-a-flat with them so that we could at least get the truck home that night. They came in our van and so we headed back up the hill to his truck where we were able to fix the tire with the stuff Julie brought. Marie and I then followed them home to Spanish Fork. I was very sore that night from the rash that had developed on my body from hiking that far that day. It will always go down though as one of the best days in my scouting career. I learned to be prepared, with food, with water and with a spare tire.