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After a 26 hour road trip home...we made it home safe and sound.  The kids, Dawn, and Jim went to Yellowstone on Monday.  I will post pictures alittle later.  It was a great time and experience.

Nate

Visitors

My Saturday morning started off with taking a few campers up the ridge for one last hike before they left later that morning.  The hike was very nice.  The rest of the day consisted of laundry, sweeping, and general cleaning of the cabin.  The day ended with a few visitors...

yep that is right.  Dawn and the kids came out to see me and see the west.  They started their travels on Thursday making it to Mitchell SD.  They saw the Corn Palace.  Then they traveled to Wall Drug SD....followed by Mount Rushmore....then out here.  It is so nice to have them here with me.  So we visited Jackson on Saturday and Sunday.  They turned in early on Saturday night then we went for a hike to the Falls Sunday morning...

Sunday afternoon we hiked to the top of the ridge.  I figured we could beat the rain but we did not.  But what we saw at the top was amazing....

Did I mention Jim Lemasters made the trip out west too.  I did not want Dawn traveling out here by herself so we asked Jim if he would want to ride along....and he said yes.  I dang near killed the older kids but Luke and Amslie had a ball going to the top.....

So here is my awesome family out here taking in God's country.  Thanks to some answered prayers they made it out safe.:)

Nate

Adventure at 9800 ft.

There are times during the week when, during field trips, your name is not on the list...well this was one of those days for me.  So I asked Tony and Taylor....aka..pup to see if they would want to go on a hike.  Now this hike was a 6 hour hike...3 up and 3 back.  Tony had mentioned that he wanted to conquer this certain mountain.  So we figured today was the day.  Now let me pause to tell you about these 2 young men.  These 2 fellas live above me and are a hoot to hang out with.  We have gone fishin together, they introduced me to West Rigde, and have shown me the ropes.  I consider them my "kids".  They are neat young men.  Well the challenge was laid before them and they accepted.  So after making lunches and signing out we were off on our adventure.  My personal goal was to make it to the base of the mountain.  They were fine with that but they had other goals for themselves in mind and here is what they did:)

Here they are at 8000 ft.  Tony on the left and "pup" on the right.

Here they are at 9000 ft.

And here at 9800 ft.  As you guessed it they headed up that mountain.  They were fearless as they worked their way up.  While they were climbing I had a chance to take some pictures of what I saw at the base of that mountain.

As I watched and rooted these boys on, I was left wondering how many of us look at a goal and just stop, make excuses, or are afraid to take on that battle and try to defeat it.  I witnessed 2 boys battle to reach their goal.  I am very proud of them!!!  Thank you fellas for letting this 37 year old hang out with you today!!!

As I looked around today at God's majestic beauty and prayed for safety for our climb I could not help but smile knowing that He is the mighty Creator and the Maker of all of this.  I am blessed!!!

Nate

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Yesterday we took a field trip into Teton National Park and then ate dinner in Jackson Hole.  It is a town of 8,000 but with the tourist it will have 200,000 people.  It is town ran totally on tourist dollars.  It is a small town with alot of shops and places to eat.  Jackson is the home to the most Billionaires per capita in the nation.  The saying in Jackson is the billionaires are pushing out the millionaires.  Here are a couple of links that will give you more information about the town of Jackson and the Teton mountain range.

  http://www.jacksonhole.com/


http://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm

No pictures with this post but some cool information.

Nate

Competition Day....

After 3 days of classroom work yesterday was game day for the campers.  They get a chance to compete at the different ranges,  such as the shotgun, rifle, and archery ranges.  In the morning Megan and I had the campers shooting at the "block" targets to give them the idea of what it is like at a NASP shoot.  They all seemed to enjoy themselves.

In the afternoon they get a chance to shoot the 3D range.  For those who don't know what a 3D range is....it is where the archers will shoot at 3D targets that are in the shape of animals.  They don't know the distance so they will have to guess.  It is entertaining to watch:)

here we are getting started...

they actually hit the target:)....

This student is from Pakistan and is a prof at Trinity College in Con.  The cool thing about him is he is an expert on Snow Leopards so he thought it was cool to shoot at a cat.

Here we are in the "treestand" all having fun.

I would like to introduce you to a couple of cool people.  They are Nancy and Richard.  They are our cooks and run the kitchen.  They are from Calf. where they ran a restaurant for 12 years.  They are great people who can flat out cook.  ****true story about Richard...he was the original drummer for Rio Speedwagon:)

In the evening I decided to unwind by taking a hike.  I had never been up the ridge during sunset, so I decided to head up there to see what I could find.  As mentioned before the sun has away of painting the mountains.  The pictures never do the scenery justice but it gives just a glimpse of what is seen.  So I hope you enjoy the sunset at 7500 ft.  We serve an awesome God.  So I will leave you with these pictures....

INDESCRIBABLE!!!

Fly Tying.....

Today was gun safety and "match the hatch" where the campers get a chance to tie some flys.  This is a couple of pictures that I thought were pretty cool.  The campers had a fun time.

In the afternoon the campers got to work on NASP, which is archery, they seemed to have fun.  They got to teach the class for the first time.  Pretty fun to watch:)

Nate

Back to the grind...

Well we all enjoyed our day off:)  We welcomed our new campers yesterday as we picked them up from the airport.  They all looked excited but also very tired.  So after some orintation and some dinner is it was off to bed.  We started our day with George, Scott, and I teaching outdoor survival.  In our session the campers had 4 missions they had to accomplish...build a shelter, light a fire, boil water, and fight off a bear using bear spray....

Here is Scotty Poo playing the bear that is roaming around the campsite.  Doesn't he look scary:)

After lunch Megan and I introduced the campers to NASP.  Megan is our NASP instructor.  This fall she will start her first teaching job.  She is a high school English teacher, and she will be great because she has to put up with Tony.:)

Megan is the young lady in red.

This is Sue (the lady in the hat) she is the boss and the one who hired me.  The guy in the forefront is Jerry.  He is one of the "OFC" and one heck of a neat guy.:)

This morning we wake up to fog...I mean thick fog.....

These pictures above were taken at 7:00am.  It is amazing how fast things can change....this is what we saw at 9:30.....

Yep that is the same valley that you see from above.  In awe:)  I am often speechless at the "wonderment" of God:)

Nate

Days Off

When campers leave we get a day off to get ready for another set of campers and recharge our batteries.  I thought you would like to see what goes on during a day off.  I could not wait any longer so I had to get a fishing license and wet a fly to see if I could get a trout to rise....well this is what happend......

That would be a cutthroat for those who are wondering....

This is the stream we were fishing in....called the Gray River which is part of the Snake River.

One heck of a hole.....

And the result of some hard work....a 20in Cutting:)..what an awesome outing...Thanks Tony.

Before the outing I thought it would be cool to catch the sunrise on West Ridge.  I enjoy hiking the ridge because you always see something new......Here is what the sunrise looks like a 7500 ft.   Enjoy.....

Just before the sun breaks over the mountain....

Getting closer.......

and there it is........It is amazing how the sun paints the landscape as it rises over the mountain....here is a view of what I see around me as the sun makes it over the mountain....

We serve an amazing God who, when we take time, shows us a glimpse of what His majestic beauty is all about.  It leaves me speechless and very humble.

This last picture is of a great group of guys known as the "Ol Fart Club"...aka OFC...they are the ones I get the pleasure of walking with every morning at 5:00.  They are Todd, Jerry, Scott, and Doug.  They are some great guys that have alot of storys.  Thanks for letting me tag along:)

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what goes on during our days off.  Tomorrow we will be back, hard at work, with a new set of campers. 

Nate

Snake River

Today was the last day for the campers before we take them to the airport tomorrow.  So after they finished up with their classroom time.  Meagan, Anthony, Luke, and I loaded up the vans and headed to the river.  The Snake River is the same river that flows through Yellowstone.  It is a pretty cool river.  You will see the pictures of how much fun the trip down the rapids was for them.  We only encountered class 3 rapids but they still seemed to have fun.

 If you are wondering I am in the last picture:)  It has been an adventure this past week here in Wyoming.  I have met some really neat people and some great kids.  On Saturday we get the adult campers and we start all over...but in the mean time the staff will gets a day off:).  You know what that means...Nate is finally going to get a chance to fish the Snake River and enjoy some time off:)  The Lord has been good this week keeping us safe in our activities that the kids have done.  Tomorrow we say good bye and recharge for the next group.  Pray for safe travels for them and also that they might use what they have learned.

Nate

Evening Walk

This evening after supper I decided to walk to Granite Creek falls.  These falls are particularly important because they are the falls that were in the movie "River Runs Through It."  If you are fan of the movie you will notice that they are the falls the Norman and Paul MaClain "shoot the shoots."

Here is what I saw as I walked in......

If you noticed the snow in the middle of the picture, we camped below that...just alittle lower then the far tree line.

Here are some pictures of the falls.......

This is a pretty cool sequance of pictures.  While I was walking the trails the campers rode in the vans.  Well I was hiking above them they were below me about 50+ ft.  I took a picture of them and Anthony was taking a picture also....notice the different points of view....BTW..this was not planned.  Enjoy....:)

This was my view......

This was Anthony's view...Pretty cool Tony...

I thought I would leave you with what I saw this evening as I headed back to camp.  I was listening to my worship music and the song "I Stand" was playing....the overwhelming emotion of how great our God is tugged at this man's heart and the tears started to flow!!!