Reynolds Creek

It had been an unseasonably warm spring and the boys started asking about a backpacking trip. We decided to head to a spot close to home and headed to the Reynolds Creek area for our April campout. The drive to the trail head was relatively short but certainly tested the 4x4 capabilities of Sticky Charles. The hike in was perfect and the boys selected an excellent camp spot about three miles in. We set up camp and got our dinner re-hydrating (dehydrated Sky Baby Special). There were a couple of fish caught out of the creek but they were only a couple inches long. That night we enjoyed a dinner of the famous Sky Baby Special, which turned out to be an excellent backpacking dinner. We had fruit and nut cobbler for dessert and read Pat Mcmanus stories around the campfire (these were certainly more entertaining to the leaders than the boys). The following morning we did some additional hiking, ate some oatmeal, packed up and hiked out. We walked up on a rattlesnake sunning in the trail, which is always good for accelerating ones heart. He slithered away as soon as we backed up. I suspect with the early spring that place will be crawling (literally) with snakes this summer. It was a great trip and the boys were like old backpacking pros.

Loading up in Sticky.

At the trail head.

First mile, no sweat...

Second mile, better yet...

Taking a breather.

Camp site selected by the boys.

Setting up tents in the setting sun.

The creek near our camp.

Our camp site from where the boys climbed up to before dinner.

The valley.

Sky Baby Special simmering.

Climbing hills the next morning.

The old guys taking it easy before the hike out.

The quartermaster decided to clean his mess kit by throwing it in the fire. His spoon turned permanently black and his aluminum dish split down one side. Bummer.

Goodbye camp....whats that?

Hiking along the portion of the trail called China Ditch. 

These were once the location of mining car tracks built up by immigrant workers.

We Made It!!

Owyhee North Fork Wilderness

In march we drove to the edge of the wilderness area surrounding a portion of the north fork of the Owyhee river. It was still a little cool but the first signs of an early spring were all around. We were able to get our camp established before it got dark and spent the evening eating MREs and searching for constellations and reading the stories behind them. The next morning we explored the river canyon, threw knives, shot slingshots, and headed home.

Arriving at the edge of the Owyhee Wilderness Area.

Sitting on the edge of the river canyon.

Apparently deep in thought...

Successful fire making!

Throwing knives.

Time for breakfast. Nothing like instant oatmeal eaten straight from the pouch.

More breakfast.

Exploring the canyon.

This was apparently some type of weapon from Halo.

There was a lot of beaver activity in the canyon.

Climbing up some rock formations.

The river crossing.

Jordan Craters

This February we decided to head over into Oregon to Jordan Craters. It is a big lava flow with some volcano like craters, once of which was active only 100 years ago! There are lots of caves and lava tubes to be explored. The weekends leading up to the camp out were sunny and almost warm so we thought the weather would be perfect. But just as we hit the Idaho Oregon border, the snow began to fall. Luckily, the further we drove the less precipitation we got. We were dry in our campground until morning. We awoke to icy snow everywhere. The boys had opted to sleep in a cave and were relatively warm and very dry. They did however have some little visitors (mice) that made their way into the Scout's bags in the night and helped themselves to M&Ms and other goodies. After breakfast we explored the craters and some good sized caves but soon the snow and wind picked up so we called it a day and headed home.

Loaded up and ready to go. The snacks were already open.

The boys setting up their sleep gear in their cave.

Other side of the cave. They really couldn't have fit any more boys.

The Grubmaster whipping up some Skybaby Special. It was delicious.

We tried out a backpacker cheesecake recipe. It turned out great!

No snow when we went to bed but we woke up to this.

It was more ice than snow.

The smart ones slept in the cave. This is the entrance.

Time to wake up! Everybody claims they slept warm enough. 

Maybe it was all the mice nestled up with them.

The mice got into this Scout's M&Ms and ate every one of them!

Our campsite.

The largest crater. We hiked down into the center. 

The picture doesn't do it justice, it is very big.

The snow actually accentuates the lava flow details very well.

Hiking around the crater rim.