BY PAUL KAMPE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
The members of Boy Scout troop 189, based from Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Clarkston recently returned from this year’s high adventure trip to Yosemite National Park and King’s Canyon in California.
The big trip started June 25 when the group caught their flights to San Francisco. They went right to work, or play, hitting the trails of King’s Canyon the following morning after splitting into two separate groups, each with 10 members.
Group Recorder Brent Cousino reported that the two groups were separated until June 29, when they started the second part of their trip, a visit to Yosemite National Park. The groups separately scaled Half Dome, a mountain reaching nearly 9,000 feet tall.
‘It’s more mentally challenging than anything,? said Tyler Gorney, 15. That is because of some of the spots with steep inclines he said. Gorney will enter tenth grade at Brandon High School. Gorney made his second trip to the mountain.
His brother Andrew, 12, entering seventh grade at Brandon Middle School, said he enjoyed the warmth and the views of California as well as the climbing at Yosemite.
The two groups met unexpectedly July 5, Cousino said, so both groups could hike the finale of the route together, a trip approximately four miles.
Both groups hiked nearly 70 miles during their expedition. They were rewarded for their hard work with a day and a half of fun in Santa Cruz complete with surfing and volleyball.
‘It was the coolest thing we’ve ever done,? said Cousino, 13, attending Clarkston Junior High School.
The trip taught the young man a positive life lesson in the midst of the physically demanding journey: ‘If I work hard, I can do anything,? Cousino said. ‘This proves I can do anything I want to.?
Tyler Gorney estimated that the trip cost members about $750 and the troop holds annual fundraisers by selling flowers and popcorn.
In 2004, the group took a trip to North Carolina to visit the Appalachian Trail.