Black and White Marbles

During Grant's senior year in high school, Troop 14 was going to hike rim to rim to rim in the Grand Canyon.  This is a picture showing the start of the hike.  In this picture (from left to right) we have Grant, Rudy (foster Indian brother), Ray, unidentified scout and Lester.  This hike was the day after Grant had play his last football game where he had sprained his ankle on the last play of the game.  His ankle was swollen and had blackened quite a bit.

The scouts left the south rim, hiked to Cottonwood on the north side of the Canyon and stopped for the night.  The next day just the scouts started off to the north rim.  Ray and Dad stayed in the camp.  All the scouts but Grant, Darrell and George made it all the way to the top.  Grant and Darrell got to where they could see the top.  However, Darrell just didn't have the strength to make it to very top, top so I stayed behind with him honoring "no man left behind".  George stayed further down in the canyon.  The scouts then returned to the Cottonwood camp site and rested for a while.  Later that day they hiked to Indian Gardens on the south side of the canyon and spend the night.  The next day they hiked out of the canyon.

A little while later, after a Sunday School class, Dad (Gerald Turley) asked the boys to stay after and asked Grant and Rudy to leave the room.  There had been a complaint by some parents of the scouts that the 3 boys who did not make it all the way should not get the patch for the hike.  Dad said no to that for Darrell and George but said he would leave it up to the boys about whether Grant should get the patch.  The meeting that Sunday was to have the boys vote.  Only the LDS were to be given a vote because it was from these parents that the complaint come.  Each boy was given two marbles, a black and a white marble.  The boys were to drop their marble or vote into a sack.  All the boys voted no to Grant getting the patch.  This really had an effect on Grant because he had grown up with these boys.  It is one of the main reasons Grant has not maintained a relationship with them since that time.

The story does have a good ending, because during Christmas break, Grant hiked the canyon again for the patch.  Only Dad, Ray, Ruby and Grant went on the hike.  Ray was not old enough to earn the patch as a scout but he did hike the entire 50 miles.  What is incredible about this time was that they did the hike in just 2 days.  Again they hiked to Cottonwood campground but on the second day they hiked not only to the north rim but all the way back to the south rim on the second day.  Ray later hiked many more trails in the canyon with Dad.  Dad was always drawn to the canyon even though it always kick his "rear".