After celebrating the 4th of July in style with top hats and red, white, and blue capes, this "Band of Brothers" dominated the rock climbing scene at Smith Rock. Each and every one climbed, belayed and took in the glorious views of Smith Rock. Austin was lucky to receive rock climbing's ultimate sign of good luck. Half-way up 5 Gallon Buckets, a 5.8 climb, he was doused by bird poop on his arm. Like a true professional he brushed it off and finished the climb. Way to go Austin!!! After 3 days of climbing and a brief visit with the Wild Oregon A expedition it was time to put away the climbing gear and swap them out for helmets and mountain bikes.
The mountain biking in this area is some of the best country. The team headed out on the legendary Phil's Trail and did an all day bike-a-thon, complete with a visit to the pump track. In the morning the group stayed together as our leaders assessed the varying skill set. In the afternoon, Leader Jon took those with the ability and the "need for speed" on a more intense trail with some steep uphills and the always enjoyable long and rolling downhills. Leaders Jess and Seth led the other group on a really great trail along the river. They loved the mountain biking but were admittedly exhausted by day's end. The lone exception was Paul, so he and Jon snuck in once last run in near record time. Great group photo below. If you look closely you can see the snow-capped volcanoes on the horizon.
The next day the group made the trip to Crater Lake. The leaders let the kids sleep in, 8:30 wake-up call, to let them rest and recover from the mountain biking section. They enjoyed a beautiful day at Crater Lake. With snow still covering parts of the ridge line, the group hiked their way all the way down to the water's edge. They scouted out a great jumping point and proceeded to plunge into the super-deep and frigid waters of the nation's deepest lake. That evening they enjoyed camp at Diamond Lake, and were scheduled for an intense game of Mafia.
This trip continues to thrive. They are headed to Umpqua Hot Springs and Tokotee Falls today enroute to the Oregon coast and Sandboarding and Surfing!!
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