Growth and Adventure!

This weekend I went on my first camping trip as an adult adviser for the local Venturing Crew. It was so much fun - I feel like I've made several new friends and the youth seem like really good kids. We went to Pedernales State Park to camp and on Sunday took a day trip to Enchanted Rock State Park/Natural Area. Both parks were MUCH more impressive than I thought they would be! The Pedernales Falls were so big and we had a blast exploring and climbing and jumping.

Enchanted Rock was kind of scary! It was so big and you literally climb up the rock... it's not really "trails". The steepest parts we climbed and descended were probably 45 degrees or steeper - I really pushed my comfort limits - but it was a lot of fun and I have no regrets. I tried to take good pictures, but they really don't do this place justice. You can't get a feel for the SCALE of how HUGE this thing is. I focused on taking pictures that conveyed how MARTIAN I thought it looked :) And some fun group shots. The adults spent the day together and the youth hiked together - what a great bunch of kids to be able to be set loose like that and still come back on time and together (not separated) and unharmed :)(Click on this one and let it open up big... you may see the tiny specks that are PEOPLE walking up to the top!)

(Like I said... SCALE - this boulder was actually 2 or 3 times as tall as I am)

Just for fun, here are some old pictures from when I was a youth in the Venturing Program... the first is on a cold camping trip (I'm still using that same black jacket!) I would guess about 7-8 years ago... and the other is from my Ranger Ceremony.