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<\/a><\/p>\nQ: What was the scariest part about the adventure and how did you and the Scouts overcome your fear?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 I can’t say there was any particularly scary part to our trip.\u00a0 The hardest part for all of us was working ourselves to physical exhaustion, especially on our ascent hikes.\u00a0 Typically a normal uphill grade is 6%-8%; parts of our hike to the top of Mt Phillips (11,721′) was closer to 20%.\u00a0 That’s hard enough but then put 40-50 pounds of gear on your back!\u00a0 That pushed the limits of both boy and adult.\u00a0 But probably the bigger challenge for the Scouts to overcome was learning how to work as a team.\u00a0 The eight boys not only had to deal with the physical elements, but also working together as a group.\u00a0 Each day every Scout had a specific assignment on the trail and in camp and all these individual tasks had to be done correctly and efficiently or the whole group would be affected.\u00a0 There were also personality conflicts between teenage boys they had to work through.\u00a0 But in the end, I’d say they did an excellent job becoming a cohesive crew and we really had no incidents that affected us in any great way.<\/p>\n
Q: If you are including a scenic photograph, can you tell us what it is and how nature inspires you?<\/p>\n A:\u00a0 I included a picture from the top of Urraca Mesa from where I thought I could see forever.\u00a0 I’ve been fortunate to have traveled many parts of this country including some spectacular sites here in California (see Yosemite) but for me this captured the immense size of this place and since it was only day 3 on the trail what lay ahead.\u00a0 One picture I was not able to capture was the night sky above Mt Phillips (unfortunately you cannot afford to carry a lot of heavy, expensive camera equipment on the trail).\u00a0 It was a perfectly clear evening and the entire Milky Way was plainly visible.\u00a0 John and I spent an hour after sunset admiring all the stars, planets and satellites.\u00a0 It was a special father\/son moment and one has to be inspired by the enormity of our universe.<\/p>\n Q: You\u2019ve been\u00a0sporting a rugged beard since your return to the office. Are you planning to keep it?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n