Bounded by 700 foot high cliff walls, the sandy canyon bottom of Grand Gulch in southern Utah was once again our destination for a spring break backpack. The group I was hiking with included 6 younger scouts, from 11 to 13 years old. Our group started hiking at Collins Springs, and exited Grand Gulch 6 [...]
Outdoor Gear, Patents, and Outdoor Trips by Bob Shaver, Patent Attorney
Category Archives: Backpacking Trips
Wood River Magic Rocks
Tom Erik and I recently went on an exploratory trip to the Wood River about 10 miles above the town of Shoshone Idaho. This area is a sheet of basalt covered by a little dirt and sagebrush. The Wood River that drains Magic Reservoir flows over this land, and has cut a gorge about 20 [...]
Kane Lake in the Pioneer Range of Idaho
Over Labor Day we repeated our annual trek to the nicest lake I know of in Idaho – Kane Lake. Its only 3.5 miles, but its uphill, rocky and an unmaintained trail. The views from camp at Kane lake are unsurpassed in Idaho. This is the view looking back down the valley as one nears [...]
Some Berries seen on our Fall hike to Kane Lake
These are all conspicuous berries we saw on our fall hike in the Pioneer Range. Some are edible, some not so edible. These are gooseberries, which are the same genus (Ribes) as currants. If the plants have spines they are gooseberries, if not they are currants. These are tart berries, getting a little sweeter as [...]
White Cloud Mountains, Idaho, Castle Peak Loop
We finished a great 8 day backpack in the White Clouds, and were surprised to find lakes there that are better than any in the Sawtooths, and in general had a great time. Below is the gang, 5 adults and 6 youths. We started at 4th of July Lake, with camp sites at Washtington Lake [...]
Scout Backpack to Wilderness Hot Spring, and Morel Mushrooms
I led a scout backpack on the Middle Fork of the Payette in Idaho, and was reminded how delicious morel mushrooms are. It has been a wet spring here, and we found maybe 30 morels around our camp, and it added a bit of interest to the freeze dried menu. We hiked about 2 miles [...]
Titcomb Basin in Wind River Range, Wyoming
Just got back from a 7 day hike in the Wind River Range, to the Titcomb Basin. Almost the whole trip was over 10,000′ elevation. Our itinerary: Eklund Lake, Island Lake, Upper Titcomb Basin, layover day and day hike to top of Knapsack Pass, Island Pass, Upper Sweeney Lake, and to Elkhart trailhead. This was [...]
Baking Pizza on a Caldera Cone and Stove / Outback Oven
On a July hike to Imogene Lake I tried making pizza using the Caldera Stove and the Outback Oven. These two make a nice combination for baking any bread or cake. This is a view of the ingredients in the bag, and the Caldera Cone Ti Tri assembled. My version of pizza uses a cup [...]
Camel Falls, Idaho, Owyhee Mountains
Our Scout troop, Troop 100 did a great spring backpack to a desert waterfall (dry) and we got to see some wildlife and wildflowers. The hike was to Camel Falls, a 2.5 mile hike in the Owyhee mountains. There was no trail, and the route was full of rocks, but nobody twisted an ankle. We [...]
Sawtooth 8 Day backpack
We had a great backpack in August of 2009, one we called the Sawtooth Slowpoke. We hiked 42 miles, with sufficient elevation gain and loss to count as a 50 mile hike for Boy Scout purposes. The backpack was from Petit Lake at the south of the range, to Sawtooth lake at the north of [...]