Crooked River

For our July camp out we decided to head to the Crooked River trail about 17 miles northeast of Idaho City. We left a little early Friday afternoon so we could maximize our time hiking and fishing. The hike in was beautiful with warm weather and few people on the trail. We stopped and fished along the way and caught two trout keepers that we ate later that night with dinner. There were multiple campsites along the way but we found a nice one right next to the river and set up our shelters. For dinner one of the boys worked on their Cooking merit badge and had made burrito filling that we had dehydrated prior to the trip. We cooked up the meat, beans and rice and layered it with cheese on tortillas. It was delicious and the dish has been officially name the Crooked Bean. As an added benefit this meal only dirties the cooking pot and serving spoon so the clean up is minimal. We played some night games and retired for the evening knowing we had an early morning the next day. We awoke around 5:30am because we had a Pioneer Day (24th of July) celebration to make it back for. We had a nice hike out and uneventful drive back to Nampa.

Loaded and ready to hit the road.

One of the boys left his snacks on the roof of the pickup as we drove out of the neighborhood. Luckily he remembered before we had gone to far. We turned around and found his goodies on the side of the road. 

Due to Sticky not having air conditioning we stopped for large fountain drinks with lots of ice. Our PL introduced us to beverage called the Dirty Turtle. Apparently it is Root Beer with flavored creamer added to it. We all tried it and it's...interesting. 

Getting packs and fishing poles ready for the hike.

At the trail head.

 

Stopping to do some fishing.

Crossing Crooked River

Catching some fish.

PL's first time cleaning a fish.

Setting up camp.

Eating the Crooked Bean (Burritos)

Packing up early in the morning.

One of our Scouts tries every concievable method to avoid cleaning his mess kit. This campout he turned it over on the ground and left it over night. In the morning he picked it up and it was still dirty. "Oh man!" he stated, "I was hoping gravity would clean my plate while I slept!" 

We had hiked about a quarter mile from our campsite back to the pickup when the same Scout realized he'd left his fishing pole behind a tree. To give him credit he ran all the way back to the campsite and then to where we were waiting.

 

Made it! I'm not sure why their hands are in the air. Maybe they surrender.