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Matt J.
Trad climber
Castro Valley, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 14, 2015 - 03:49pm PT
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My dad Tom Johanson and his scout troop took a two-week, 137-mile trek through the Yosemite high country and eastern Sierra in 1952, summitting Mt. Lyell, Mt. Ritter and Red Peak on the way. Not bad for a 14-year-old!
After my dad passed away earlier this year, my brother and I, along with four cousins and a close friend, decided to recreate the journey 63 years later. The just-completed trek left us with renewed admiration for the original hikers and the boldness of their adventure. In fact, I'd like to know more about it, and though it's too late to ask my dad, the photo album he left us includes the names of 12 other boys.
These men were Oakland teenagers and scouts in the early 1950s and would now be around 80 years old. I don't know a troop number, but the group photo identifies them as Frontiersmen. They trekked from Tuolumne Meadows down the John Muir Trail to Devils Postpile, and then turned east and north to reenter Yosemite through Isberg Pass, eventually descending the Four Mile Trail to conclude in Yosemite Valley.
If anyone knows them, I'd be grateful for an introduction so I could ask about their memories of the 1952 adventure and my dad.
The names are Jim Vernon, Dick Spongberg, Ed Crinnion, Harry Kolkmann, Don DeFoe, Charlie Wolters, Dick Anderson, Bob Delareuelle, Werner Schopfer, Oliver Kolkmann, Dave Todd and Grant Chappell.
Thanks for any pointers!
Matt Johanson
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Aug 14, 2015 - 06:12pm PT
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Nice! 2 weeks averaging about 10 a day. Looks like a great hike. I wish I knew any of them.
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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Aug 14, 2015 - 06:28pm PT
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Awesome!!! What a tribute to a great dad.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Aug 14, 2015 - 06:41pm PT
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Very nice. It would be pretty cool if a member or two gets hold of you.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Aug 14, 2015 - 07:03pm PT
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Very nice!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 14, 2015 - 07:13pm PT
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The Frontiersmen look as if their equipment is a few notches above the pack-frames we had to make as scouts in Sacto. in 1958, using redwood and stove bolts and flat cotton-nylon straps with no waist belts. And a nifty canvas Official BSA pack to mount on it, of course. I think they were like 8 pounds of sin on our young backs. We were around 11-12-13 years old, though.
All we ever managed was a two-day trip into the Desolation Wilderness and an abortive attempt on Pyramid Peak!
And the hats! "You will recognize them by their hats!"
Tremendous accomplishment for young men like them.
Hope you can track down some of "the rest of the story."
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Aug 14, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
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hey there say, matt j. say, this is WONDERFUL... i only have one small greatoutdoors hike, to remember, with my dad... and a few calif foothills ones... they are precious...
wish he'd done more with us...
thanks for sharing, of your dad... and the hike...
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Aug 14, 2015 - 08:20pm PT
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Nice recollection. Thanks.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Nov 16, 2015 - 09:21am PT
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Wonderful!
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Judy Dias
climber
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Apr 27, 2017 - 05:46pm PT
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Bob Delareuelle was my father. Originally from Oakland, he was associated with the Dimond O Scout Camp (now gone, turned into a Forest Service Campground on Evergreen Rd., Groveland,CA)
The Frontiersmen were a group whose trips originated at Dimond O.
My father led the annual wilderness trips for more than 20 years; the last one I believe was in 1960. They usually took pack mules that were pastured in Dimond O, for carrying supplies. The info typed on the picture was done by him; you'll notice that the first place listed was "Dimond O". That name originated from the Dimond District of Oakland. And yes, the trips they took were all equally arduous! He was first up at Dimond O in 1927, and was an airline pilot for Pan American Airlines, who retired in 1972 and passed away in 1986.
Many of the trip participants stayed in touch with him throughout their adult lives. Some of those names are familiar to me, as they would visit over the years. Some were repeaters on subsequent trips. I have all of the photos from each one of those Frontiersmen trips.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
Judy (Delareuelle) Dias
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Apr 27, 2017 - 06:07pm PT
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This is what Scouting does for young men and hopefully soon, young women too.
Royal Robbins credits Scouting with his salvation from juvenile deliquency and sparking his love of climbing on his Rey Lakes backpack.
Every year for the past 17 years I have been leading my Scout Troop on trips into the wilderness and training them to hopefully become more like the people here in this group, smart, self sufficient, competent outdoorsmen. (If they also become azzholes, that is on them)
Please support Scouting.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 27, 2017 - 06:21pm PT
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AWESOME!!
So...Donini and Guido were with them on that original hike then??....
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 27, 2017 - 10:10pm PT
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Cool post, Judy!
I have driven by what is now the "Dimond O Campground" many times on the way to Hetch Hetchy.
[The Dimond District] is named after Hugh Dimond, who came to California during the Gold Rush and purchased the land comprising the district in 1867. In 1897 he built a cottage that used the adobe bricks from the Peralta family's 1827 home. The bricks were used again to build the Boy Scout hut that is still standing in Dimond Park. Oakland's Camp Dimond was located at the head of Dimond Canyon where the present day Montera Middle School is located. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimond_District,_Oakland,_California
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Matt J.
Trad climber
Castro Valley, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2017 - 05:21pm PT
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Judy, very nice to hear from you, and most interesting to learn more about the hike and hikers. Sounds like a lot of boys, including my dad, owe your father a debt for introducing them to the mountains. If you have any group pictures showing Tom Johanson, I'd be very glad to see them. Thank you!
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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Apr 28, 2017 - 06:25pm PT
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*
Judy Dias, thanks for the background on Dimond O campground. I have camped there many times waiting for the gates of *Strawberry Music festival to open....
Lol... Many of us peeps thought the sign was a spelling error and was supposed to be Diamond O......Nice to find out the origins of the name.....
Cheers
Nita...
Ps...Judy can you post up some photos.. It would be cool to see some old
photos from Yosemite's high country.
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