Caleb's first scout camp-out

Caleb went on his first Boy Scout overnight campout. All of the scouts get a chance every couple of years to go out to a section of the "Mormon Trail" that crosses through the Phoenix area out near Maricopa. It's a pretty cool thing to see that the Mormon Battalion actually crossed a significant portion of some rather hostile desert terrain. Flat, but utterly dry for miles and miles. That can NOT have been a fun trip to make.

Anyway, they head out to the trail section, get to watch a pretty good presentation about the history of the Mormon Battalion and then hike about a 2 mile section of the trail. Having done this, when you get your Eagle, a representative of the Mormon Battalion society will come and present a special award to you. It's actually quite neat.

The camp-out was fun. Caleb and I made some tin-foil dinners and the boys played with fire.

 Then we went on the hike. You can see in this shot just how desolate the area is. I have a bunch of shots from every direction, and they all look basically like this. Home sweet home.

Caleb cannot wait till he turns 12 and can go on regular camp-outs. I have to admit - I'm kind of eager for that myself.