Mountain Men Climb To New Heights
• Peninsula Scouts trek above 13,000 feet during nine-day journey in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Palos Verdes Boy Scout Troop 276, also known as the ‘’Mountain Men’’ troop, are greeting the new year with adventurous trips and hikes.
Their recent endeavor was a nine-day backpacking trip in the Sierra. The trip included a climb to the peak of Mt. Gabb, which is 13,741 feet high. Nine boys and an adult chaperone and Scoutmaster Macfarlane made the trip into the wilderness. 
Ten-year Scout veteran Roger Zhang, a senior at Palos Verdes high school, was one of the hikers.
Zhang says the best part of the trip was ‘’being able to go deep into the wilderness and to see the views and generally enjoy the untouched landscape.’’
The Scouts got plenty of wilderness action, such as hiking from Duck Pass trailhead, near Mammoth Lakes, to Pine Creek Mine, near Bishop .
The Mountain Men took the John Muir and Pacific Crest trails to reach their destination. The boys camped under the stars with just their sleeping bags next to the shores of Lake Virginia and Silver Pass Lake. 
The trip covered more than 60 miles, and the boys had to carry everything in their backpacks that they would need for nine days.
All that time together brought the Mountain Men closer, according to Zhang.
‘’On these sorts of hikes where everyone goes deep into the wilderness, everyone really needs to come together to help each other. Everyone becomes very close with each other, and we work together so that everyone can have fun,” Zhang said.
Part of what makes this trip great is because the boys in the troop cover a variety of ages, from high school seniors like Zhang, sophomores like Anthony Kerker, and freshman like Ewan MacFarlane.
The different ages allow the boys to grow and learn from each other and ensure the troop will continue.
Troop #276 has been based in Palos Verdes for 50 years, and the Mountain Men are looking forward to keeping the tradition alive, and adding some fun wilderness trips on the way.
