Local Boy Scout troop scales Mount Whitney, tallest summit in
‘lower 48’
Morgan Hill – Who needs video games and amusement parks?
Not these thrill-seekers.
For six member of Morgan Hill-based Boy Scout troop 709, the highlight of the summer was lugging 30-pound backpacks and braving 50-mile-an-hour winds on a six-day conquest of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental 48 states.
“I haven’t done anything this intense before. I think I held up pretty well,” said 14-year-old Tyler Bushman, a freshman at Oakwood High School, who made the trip to Sequoia National Park. “Once you accomplish something like that, you know you can accomplish anything.”
After 30 miles of hiking, the boys reached the majestic summit some 14,496 feet above sea level. It was no cakewalk. The air was dangerously thin and there were plenty of steep switchbacks in their way. But once the young mountaineers made it to the top, they knew it was worth it.
“Probably the coolest part is when you get to the top and look down. It’s pretty hard, almost straight up hill, almost three miles” high, said 17-year-old Austin Harthun, a senior at Live Oak High School.
The boys, ages 12 to 17, also included Taylor Howard, Nathaniel Batey, Bryan Faulk and Trevor Fuhriman.
They were accompanied on their high adventure by a faithful black Labrador, aptly named Scout, and five adults, including scoutmaster Rod Fuhriman, who said the purpose of the trip was to build character and responsibility. And, have a great time.
“I thought it would be a great challenge for boys that age,” said Fuhriman, adding the boys themselves pitched the 40-mile hike a year ago. “We’re there to support them and give ideas, but it’s really up to the boys to decide what to do.”
Troop 709 is one of five Boy Scout troops in Morgan Hill. Among the five, it is one of two troops chartered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which highly regards the scouting program as a means of character building for young men. The troop consists of about 25 members, ages 11 to 17.
Boy Scouts typically participate in a week-long camping trip during the summer. But the Mount Whitney exploit was an added bonus – an extreme adventure for those who wanted to put their self-reliance and physical fitness to the test.
“It was a tough thing to do,” Harthun said. “But once you do it, you think ‘If I can do this, what else can I do?’ ”
On the trail, the scouts practiced the time-tested patrol method, taking assignments for cooking, cleaning and also setting up the tents. Other responsibilities included filtering water from streams with special rock filters. Meals consisted of freeze-dried foods such as lasagna, beef stroganoff and chili, but the hikers also caught quite a bit of California’s official state fish, golden trout.
Scout leader Ron Howard accompanied his 14-year-old son on the trip. The dad said he had climbed Mount Whitney six years ago, and knew it would test the boys’ mental and physical endurance.
“Fun, they relate to video games and Disneyland. This was a working trip,” he said. “We had some fun along the way, but it was also like, ‘Backpacks on, we’re hiking 11 miles today!’ It just gives them that sense they can accomplish big things in their lives.”
Fuhriman, an Eagle Scout, said altitude sickness threatened the success of the trip. A couple of the boys got sick early on, he said, causing minor delays. But the group took precautions to acclimate themselves to the high elevations and reach their goal.
“Even if they didn’t feel thirsty, we told them ‘Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!’ ” Fuhriman said. Symptoms of altitude sickness can include headaches, stomach cramps and even diarrhea.
The trip started Aug. 12 when the group drove to the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, about six miles southeast of Morgan Hill. Two days later, they embarked on a 41-mile hike from the town of Lone Pine on the east side of Sequoia National Park.
For the most part, the weather was good. But the adventurers encountered a terrible windstorm at Guitar Lake, elevation 11,600 feet, on the last night of their trip.
“There’s nothing as cold as winds rushing by you at 12,000 feet,” Bushman said.
Harthun said the winds scattered their gear and kept them up most of the night.
“I just remember it felt like someone was coming up and shaking your tent,” Harthun said. “It was really hard to sleep that night.”
After the restless night, the campers rose at 5am, switched on their headlamps and got ready for the last leg of their trip – the difficult five-mile trek to the summit.
The climb was so steep the boys had to deposit their heavy backpacks at the side of the trail to keep their balance. It was a hard day, but everyone got up to the top of the mountain.
For Fuhriman, it was a dream come true.
“To see all the boys summit was more than I could ask for,” he said. “They came away with something pretty amazing, something no one can take away from them.”
For more information on Boy Scouts of America, contact district executive Eilo Betoushana at (408) 280-5088 ext. 40 or visit sccc-scouting.org.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.
