High Adventure Scouting Meets Surveying
Authors: (Bylines at the end of the article)
Dennis M. Crocket, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P.
Gregory A. Helmer, P.L.S.
Kurt R. Troxell, P.L.S.
Introduction
The hands-on learning experience of survey technology, in conjunction with the rugged experience of backpacking the Sequoia backcountry, gave a group of talented and innovative Eagle Scouts a taste of the surveying profession with its its challenges and rewards. Four Eagle Scouts (ages of 17 and 18) from California Troops 636 and 1210, led by Scoutmaster Dennis Crockett, successfully measured the precise elevation, latitude and longitude of Eagle Scout Peak in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park are two separate, yet adjacent, wilderness parks located in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Both parks are managed from the same headquarters in Three Rivers, California, located in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, east of Fresno, Calfornia. Shaping history and fulfilling their curiosity, these four courageous Eagle Scouts obtained tangible surveying technology experience in a brave journey to gather GPS data at the top of Eagle Scout Peak. As a result of their adventure, these Scouts have a new admiration for the technical and physical demands of the survey field and an ultimate appreciation for land surveyors and their work.
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A Historical Landscape
Eagle Scout Peak, located in the Sequoia backcountry, on the Great Western Divide (1.7 miles north of Lippincott Mountain and 3 miles west of Kaweah Peaks Ridge) takes most backpackers three days to reach its base. Since there is no trail to the top, the peak is seldom climbed. The summit is reached by trekking off-trail approximately one mile west of the Big Arroyo section of the well-known 68.5-mile long High Sierra Trail. The trail traverses the California Sierra Nevada, linking Sequoia National Park with Mt. Whitney—the highest point in the continental United States. Eagle Scout Peak lies almost directly in the center of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5' series (1:24,000) topographic map titled “Triple Divide Peak,CA”.
From 1889 to 1914, the USGS conducted the first comprehensive survey and mapping of the Sierra Nevada, and published a series of 30' topographic maps on a scale of 1:125,000. The famous California mountaineer, Francis P. Farquhar—a conservationist, scholar and writer, who ranks with John Muir and William Colby in his influence upon the nation’s early conservation movement—first climbed Eagle Scout Peak on July 15, 1926. Farquhar’s team members included Eagle Scouts Frederick Armstrong, Eugene Howell and Coe Swift, all from California’s San Joaquin Valley. To commemorate the expedition and first ascent, the names Eagle Scout Peak and nearby Eagle Scout Creek were placed on the fourth edition of the USGS “Tehipite” 30' map in 1929.
Like many remote peaks in the Sierra backcountry, the elevation of Eagle Scout Peak has been estimated by the photogrammetric method and studying the 40 foot interval contour lines on the “Triple Divide Peak, CA” topo map, compiled from aerial photographs taken in 1976 and 1984, and photoinspected using imagery dated 1993. The recorded elevation of Eagle Scout Peak on the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) website (www.geonames.usgs.gov) is 12,040 feet. R. J. Secor’s The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes and Trails, published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA, 1999, lists the elevation as 12,000+ and 12,040 feet. To the author’s knowledge, and prior to 2006, a more precise measurement of Eagle Scout Peak’s elevation had never been completed in the field, either by triangulation or with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.
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Following Past Footsteps
A young Dennis Crockett first gazed up at Eagle Scout Peak from the High Sierra Trail as a 14-year-old Boy Scout in 1967. He didn’t climb it then, but returned as a Scoutmaster, many years later, with nine Scouts and two adult leaders to climb the peak during a “50-miler” backpack from Crescent Meadow to Mineral King in Sequoia National Park. The Scouts were Scott and Todd Anderson, Timothy Childs, Devin Clark, Ben and Sam Crockett, Brian Kopczynski, Michael Meier and Jason Weiser. Once back to civilization, and eating burgers in Fresno, the Scouts discussed the idea of returning to Eagle Scout Peak and using some sort of GPS to measure the elevation and make history. “As a group, we decided to measure the altitude, latitude and longitude of Eagle Scout Peak using the most sophisticated GPS instrumentation we could get our hands on,” stated Scoutmaster Crockett.
During the Fall of 2005, Ben Crockett researched what instrumentation and equipment would be required to complete the task. Joe Evjen of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington, DC and Marti Ikehara, NGS State Advisor (California), provided information on current GPS instrumentation and cartography. Don D’Onofrio, Chairman of the California Spatial Reference Center at the University of California, San Diego and past NGS State Advisor (Calfornia), steered the Scouts to RBF Consulting (RBF) (www.RBF.com), a civil engineering and survey firm in Irvine, California, and manufacturer Trimble Navigation (Sunnyvale, California). Through RBF, the Scouts were outfitted with a Trimble R8 GPS reciever provided by Allen Instruments (www.alleninstruments.com).
Prior to their departure, Gregory Helmer and Kurt Troxell from RBF educated the Scouts on how to set up and use the Trimble GPS receiver. “RBF has a long history of working with the Boy Scouts of America, going back to surveying for the Boy Scout National Jamboree site in 1953 by Bill Frost, one of the founding principals of the firm. When Crockett came to my office along with four uniformed Scouts, their excitement about the project and thirst for knowledge was contagious,” says Gregory Helmer, Senior Vice President at RBF Consulting. “The Scouts learned the basics of geodesy, became proficient at running the GPS receiver, developed contingency plans, and ultimately returned with high-quality GPS observation data.”
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A Rugged Terrain
The five-day adventure in July of 2006 began at the Crescent Meadow trailhead near Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park. After backpacking 23 miles, four returning Eagle Scouts (Ben Crockett, Brian Kopcznski, Michael Meier and Jason Weiser) and Scoutmaster Crockett arrived at the base of Eagle Scout Peak in the early afternoon of day two (typically a three-day hike) and set up camp at approximately 10,700 feet. To their amazement, the top 500 feet of the summit was lost from view in 20 mile-per-hour winds and swirling lenticular clouds. Three-quarters of the remaining sky was blue and there was no visible rain or lighting. The group exercised traditional surveying practice and took a compass bearing backsighting the summit of Black Kaweah to the east and took off west towards the summit. The group was fully prepared to turn around and descend at the slightest worsening of the weather. The team carried the Trimble R8 GPS receiver, the heavy external battery, rope, helmets, climbing hardware, three-layered clothing and the ten essentials. A Boy Scout’s “10 Essentials” for Hiking includes a map and compass, sun and insect protection, water bottles filled with disinfected water, rain gear and extra layered clothing, a first aid kit, matches, extra food, a pocket knife, a watch, and finally, the scouts must inform someone of their itinerary.
After approximately 1,300 feet of Class 2 climbing (Class 2 hikes are considered more difficult hiking that may be off trail or though snow or slopes covered in loose rock, hikers may to use their hands down occassionaly to keep balance) up the southeast slope, the team reached the summit. The climb required scrambling over boulder fields and around tarns, moving back and forth across large-angled granite ramps with cascading water from snow melt, traversing a snow field, and then finally ascending steep, sandy slopes.
At about 5 p.m., all five trekkers stood on the summit of Eagle Scout Peak. Visibility was only about 40 feet due to the heavy clouds. The actual summit of Eagle Scout Peak is a single semi-truck size rectangular block of granite that juts out over a near vertical north face with an incredible bird’s-eye view. It is about 1,900 feet nearly straight down to Precipice Lake from the summit block on three sides. For safety, the Scouts “roped up” with climbing harnesses and helmets, and belayed each other while setting up the GPS receiver and external battery on the very top of the summit block—only one foot from the edge. Nylon bags filled with sand were used to buttress the GPS receiver and a bubble level was used to make sure that the antenna was set up horizontal with the unseen horizon. The distance from the base of the antenna to the rock was measured. Then, the moment of truth. The external battery was connected to the receiver and the green LED blazed brightly. Within seconds, the yellow LED came on and blinked intermittently each time the GPS receiver picked up an orbiting satellite 12,000 miles above the earth. After packing up and leaving the climbing gear on the summit, all five descended safely to base camp.
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Subhead
The Trimble R8 GPS receiver stayed on the summit block continuously for more than 36 hours, tracking multiple satellite passings and collecting plenty of data to ensure accurate readings and calculations. In the afternoon of the day three, three of the Scouts climbed back up to the summit to monitor the GPS receiver and bivouacked the night on top in sleeping bags without tents. At 5 a.m. on day four, the Scouts arose, roped up again and disassembled the GPS receiver before descending safely to the base camp. Throughout the expedition, the summit crew was in constant radio contact with Scoutmaster Crockett back at the base camp. “I was very impressed with the patience and skill of these four Eagle Scouts. Each of them is experienced in long-distance backpacking and rock climbing and took the time to research and learn about the trek. They took necessary precautions, and knew all about the GPS equipment they were using ” said Crockett. Eagle Scout Michael Meier, a freshman majoring in architecture at the University of Arizona said “It was really cool doing this project with my fellow Eagle Scouts Ben, Brian and Jason. We’ve spent a lot of time together backpacking and rock climbing as Scouts, and now that we are going off to different colleges, this experience will bond us together for years to come.”
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Preserving a Memory
When the Eagle Scouts returned from their trek, Gregory Helmer and Kurt Troxell from RBF Consulting downloaded and calculated their data (see attached side bar). The elevation of Eagle Scout Peak as determined by the Scouts, is 12,035.7 feet (NAVD88 Datum) with a latitude of 36º 32' 45.098'' North and a longitude of 118º 33' 43.790'' West (NAD83, Epoch 2004.00). Currently, Ben Crockett is working to produce a bench mark replica for Eagle Scout Peak with Betty Risser from MountainClimb (www.geositu.com), a Minneapolis, Minnesota based company that reproduces and sells replicas of mountain peak bench marks from all over the world. The bench mark replica will include the measurements obtained by the Scouts using the Trimble R8 GPS receiver. The Scouts hope to place the bench mark in a display case in the Lodgepole Visitor Center within Sequoia National Park, pending approval from the park’s superintendent. The real bench mark will not be placed on the summit of Eagle Scout Peak to honor the “Leave No Trace” philosophy, an outdoor land ethic followed by both the Boy Scouts of America and the National Park System. However, this unique site marker carries tremendous meaning for this group of Eagle Scouts. It celebrates the spirit of their surveying exploration, the physical challenges they faced and the personal achievement each Scout obtained on the trek through the Sequoia backcountry.
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Permission to complete the project was granted by Craig Axtell, Superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
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Bylines:
Dennis M. Crockett, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., is Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Crockett, who led this excursion, is an Eagle Scout (Class of 1969), and has been a Scoutmaster since 1994.
Gregory A. Helmer, P.L.S., Senior Vice President of GPS Services at RBF Consulting. Mr. Helmer is nationally recognized as an expert in GPS position and spatial reference systems. With over 33 years of experience, Mr. Helmer’s proficiency includes precise geodetic control, geographic information systems, photogrammetric mapping and cadastral surveys. Mr. Helmer has extensive knowledge and skill in bringing together specialists and advanced technologies to solve unique surveying and mapping challenges.
Kurt R. Troxell, P.L.S., Senior Associate at RBF Consulting. Mr. Troxell has over 18 years of experience in the land surveying profession and has a broad background in all areas of land surveying, mapping, and civil engineering. His experience includes planning and processing cadastral and geodetic control surveys utilizing both GPS and conventional survey technology.
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About Boy Scouts of America:
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes. The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character and development and values-based leadership training. Boy Scouts is about camping, backpacking, mountaineering, winter backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking and other high adventure outings in the great outdoors. Scouts learn teamwork and leadership skills and advance in rank. Scouts earn merit badges in the arts and sciences, business and professions, sports and life skills. Scouts also perform service projects for local and distant communities. For more information about the Boy Scouts of America please visit www.scouting.org.
About RBF Consulting:
RBF Consulting, recently ranked among the "Best Firms to Work For" in the nation by CE News Magazine for the second consecutive year, provides consulting services for planning, design and construction of the built environment, contributing expertise to numerous projects throughout the western United States and Internationally. The firm, with a staff of over 900 employees, maintains fourteen offices located in Camarillo, Carlsbad, Irvine, Ontario, Monterey Bay, Palm Desert, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, Temecula and Walnut Creek, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada. For additional information visit www.RBF.com.