ScenicBoys

Vantage: Gay Spring Break 2009

For the past 10 years a group of adventurous gay boys have traveled from far and wide to celebrate the arrival of Washington's summer season.  And what are the three things you need for a summer party? Sun, Sand and Skimpy!

This year was by far the biggest this event has ever been. The picture only shows about 50 of us, but there was at least double that during the course of the weekend. Friends came from all over the nation and as for away as London to experience the craziness that Vantage promises.

Wednesday night at midnight, Garet and I picked up our friends Goose and Kyle from the airport.  With the rental already packed up, we headed straight to eastern Washington. We arrived just before dawn and set up camp as the coyotes sang to the rising sun.

Thursday night there was a small group of us sitting around the camp fire. By Friday the head count was 67, with more people expected. Garet spent weeks building a very large tent that was used for shade during the day and at night we turned it into a movie theater. Camping with a movie projector? Oh yes!  That's Vantage for ya!

Saturday we played beach volleyball, cooled off in the river and chatted with new friends we'd made from the night before. When evening arrived the Drag Queens came out and the cloths started coming off. Five Queens performed and handed out Tequila shots while the biggest gaggle of gay campers partied on all night long.

Vantage isn't necessarily the type of camping experience The ScenicBoys like to do. But once a year, a wild party with a bunch of friends is pretty awesome. We met a handful of fun guys who are interested in going on a more traditional camp trip with us. So hopefully this summer you'll see even more additions to the ScenicBoy world.

ScenicBoys: Vantage, Gay Spring Break 2009 from scenicboys on Vimeo.

Palouse Falls / Umatilla National Forest

ScenicBoys: Umatilla National Forest / Palouse Falls from scenicboys on Vimeo.

This time of year is perfect for hiking in the desert. The song birds are back, the sun doesn’t get so hot and everything is green. This time of year can also be challenging in the fact that there are still patches of snow. Sometimes enough to present an unexpected choice.

Last year at this time we were driving up a forest road and came face-to-face with a snow patch that looked easy to overcome - but it wasn’t, and we got our vehicle stuck in the middle of the road. This year when the same situation presented itself, we knew better and just parked the car and hiked.

The mountain top we were on was 40% snow and 60% dry with beautiful wild flowers. Which made for some fun gallivanting through the meadows.

This season we have been learning about the Ice Age floods in Washington, and exploring the sites where all that water cut through the earth. We’ve already seen some pretty spectacular formations, and this weekend we got to see another: Palouse Falls.  This majestic falls is a 377ft drop in the Palouse River which then winds through the layered basalt canyons it cut over 10,000 years ago.

Next weekend is the 10th annual Big Gay Memorial Day Camp Trip to Vantage, in central Washington. It’s always a crazy gathering and this year we’re expecting well over 50 people.

Another Bonus Video

Our buddy Matt is an amazing film maker. His videos are so visually enticing and musically captivating that you can't help but get lost in them.

He joined us last year at Federation Forest and at Bumping Lake - then produced videos that told more of a fantasy/surreal story of our trips. We were lucky enough to have Matt join us on the Beltane trip last week, and again he made a wonderfully moving video. But this time it's deeper, bigger, and more in tune to the world we live in.

I recommend watching the video, and when you recover, watch it again. It is a very inspiring piece of art and I hope it's shared the world over.

GAY = SIN from Matthew Brown on Vimeo.

Michael's Video: Boys and Their Fire

Michael also made a video of the Beltane Camping Trip.  Same story, but this time from his perspective.  What impresses me most is that he filmed the whole thing with his little point-and-shoot camera.  Great work, Michael!

Beltane Video Works Now!!!

Hi All,

I'm SO SORRY for setting the last Video to PRIVATE.  I typed up that post, added all the pictures AND uploaded the video in record time on Friday.  I only had ~20 minutes to get everything up before jumping in the car and taking off on our next Adventure, and I forgot to change the privacy setting on the video.  So don't worry!  We haven't been restricted by the Cyber Moderators, nor have you lost to ability to view all of our content.  :) 

On the bright side, we received a dozen or more emails from fine folks we've never heard from before.  Thanks to one-and-all for your incredibly sweet and heartfelt emails.  Dusty and I do this for fun - it's our hobby.  But we've gotten to know so many of you who connect with our pictures, stories and videos (either vicariously or nostalgically).  To any other regular visitor of our site: please feel free to shoot us a quick email and tell us a little about yourself!

Love
Garet & Dusty

Beltane!

Welcome back!  I hope you're sitting down - we've got QUITE a post in store for you. :)

ScenicBoys: Beltane from scenicboys on Vimeo.

This past weekend was my (Garet's) birthday!  The weekend also happens to coincide with the ancient holiday of Beltane.  What better or more fitting way to celebrate both events than out in the foothills of the North Cascades?

There were 9 of us in total plus Tonka (our kitty).  Tonka shares my birthday and it just didn't seem right to leave him home alone on his special day.  He was well-behaved and made for great entertainment.  Kitty likes camping. :)

We got a little bit of a late start Friday afternoon, which put us up near Wenatchee after dark.  The area I had intended to stay that first night wasn’t quite what we were expecting.  We ended up driving around for a couple extra hours until we finally found a clearing (under some lovely power lines) to set up camp for the night.

The following morning we slowly awoke and tried to figure out where we were.  Breakfast was sounding really good, and we could see East Wenatchee from our hill side.  To Shari’s we go!  Haha. 

Everyone was still a bit tired from the previous night’s debauchery so we made our way to our next camp site.  The weather report told us the Lake Chelan area would be sunny and 70 degrees, but in reality we found a thick cloud bank and light showers sweeping over the mountains.  It wouldn’t be Beltane without a good mountain rainstorm!

With the Beltane Fire lit, everyone gathered around for the fajita feast.  Afterward we tossed bundles of the sacred woods into the fire.  It’s tradition to jump over the fire as a way of curing ailments and ensuring fertility in the coming year.  We did it just for fun.

The following morning was sunny and much warmer.  Our friends Jesse, Michael, Brandon and John shed their clothes and let me take some pictures.  I got 3 birthday wishes – this was one of them! :)

 

 After a wonderful weekend of celebrations and new friendships, we parted ways and headed back to the city.  I'm so thankful to have such great friends and I look forward to many more Adventures with them. Thanks Guys!!! :)

This weekend we're heading to Palouse Falls, in the opposite corner of the state.  We should have another post up next week.  Stay tuned!