SUMMARY
This years 30 MILER took place in the lower Emigrant Wilderness. The total distance actually covered with full packs was 30 plus miles with additional miles covered by some of the scouts during day hikes without packs.
Preparation for this annual event included 25 (minimum) prep hike miles with packs selected from about 80 scheduled miles and one prep camp at Union Lake in the Sierras near Iceberg Wilderness.
Additionally, all of the leaders refreshed their First Aid skills with a Level II First aid course and some took additional Mountain Medicine courses.
This hike followed our troops Fifty MILER by one week with a one day over lap. As a result much of the food planning and equipment inventory was done in conjunction with the Fifty MILER.
Financially we nearly broke even with a loss of $92.95.
On the hike, all went well and it was enjoyed by all. One mishap tarnished one of the days when a cadette fell and cut her lip on a rock, but we were able to patch her up and complete the hike.
The planning paid off and very few suggestions for improvement will be passed on to next year's group.
All of the scouts have been polled and all enjoyed the outing and are looking forward to next years MILER's.
ROUTE
The hike was designed to be sufficiently rigorous to push the scouts close to their limits of strength for short periods of time during each hiking day. Six of the eight days on the trail were hiking days covering about five miles per hike. Hikes lasted three to four hours with the exception of our cross country day from Gem Lake to Yellow Hammer Lake which took about eight hours. We never encountered a situation where a scout didn't want to continue with a hike but they were always happy when we reached our destination. The effort expended during the hikes was commensurate with that of the prep hikes, however, our prep hikes were on improved trails or dirt roads that didn't prepare the scouts for the rocky, more difficult to walk, wilderness trails.
I recommend this hike for future years where the scouts are as strong and skilled as the ones this year. This trip should be advertised as a moderately difficult Thirty MILER through very beautiful country. The two, vs. one, layover days were welcome and should not be eliminated for future hikes on this same trail.
The Emigrant Wilderness area was finally selected after considering many other areas. The criteria for selection included:
1) Route not to exceed 8,000 feet if possible and not to have camps located over 8,000 feet in order to minimize the possibility of altitude sickness which is more likely for young women entering puberty.
2) Keep the driving time to a minimum.
3) Provide alternate paths that may provide more or less rigorous hikes depending on the scouts performance.
4) Water available at each camp.
The lower Emigrant met all of these requirements.
Certain modifications were made to the proposed route due to conditions observed on the trail. While entering the wilderness we observed that the quality of water at Groundhog Meadow was very poor, so our return route, which originally called for a camp at Groundhog was modified. We camped at Rosasco Lake and returned to Grouse Lake thus missing Camp Lake on the return.
PREP CAMP
Our prep camp, introduced this year, paid off in teaching necessary skills. In future years, I recommend that it be mandatory for scouts that have not been on MILERs before.
Our prep camp was held at Union Lake near the Iceberg Wilderness several weeks prior to the MILERs. All of the scouts were encouraged to attend. This camp gave the scouts and new leaders an opportunity to learn the unique skills needed on MILERs such as; bear bagging food, "cat hole" hygiene, preparation of dehydrated food, water purification, water and fuel conserving methods of dish washing, open fire waste disposal, etc. We also experienced off trail hiking and safety skills for various emergency situations using ropes and other equipment. This is a valuable training experience that should be continued in future years.
HIKE
The scouts got along well on the trail, however this group did not sing or carry on conversation during the hikes. I believe this is more due to the mix of individuals than the hikes. Each hike terminated at a lake and several lakes were passed or used for lunch breaks along the way. The weather was on the warm side, 80ºF, for most days and sleeping under the stars with out shelters was the norm except for one night that threatened rain and one afternoon/evening in which we had rain accompanied with thunder and lightning one to three miles North of our camp.
SCOUT COMMENTS
I think that the route was too hard for some of the scouts. I liked it very much because it was so pretty and the fact that nobody else could see it unless they did what we did (which is hike all the way in). This was one of the prettiest places I've been but the hiking to get there was a little too hard for some of the new scouts.
Even though it was a hard hike I think that getting through it is something that everybody is going to remember for a very long time!
Elevation Plot of the 1994 Thirty Miler to the Emigrant Wilderness
Map of the 1994 Thirty Miler to the Emigrant Wilderness