In 2007 I took 3 scouts on a great 4 day backpack, the Alice Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooths of Idaho. Those same 3 yutes were on a trip last weekend. The purpose of the trip was to help Lars with his Eagle Project. Malcolm has also done his Eagle Project. Jim is the last [...]
Outdoor Gear, Patents, and Outdoor Trips by Bob Shaver, Patent Attorney
Canoeing on Owyhee Reservior
There is still 10′ of snow at Sawtooth Lake, so its good timing that we have been doing some canoeing. We launched our boats at Leslie Gulch, and headed up the lake toward a hot springs. We turned around before the hot springs, because the wind was picking up and we would be fighting the [...]
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 [...]
Bob’s Survival Kit
This survival kit is put together so that a hiker will have greatly improved chances of surviving a few days in the mountains. It is small and light enough so that a hiker need never hesitate to take it along on even a day hike. I have been on many mountain rescues where a hiker [...]
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 [...]
The Outback Oven used with the Caldera Cone Stove and Windscreen
I really like the Caldera Cone Tri-Ti Stove and Windscreen. Its great for cooking meals, heating water, and frying fish. I wanted to add baked breads and biscuits to our meals, so I got an Outback Oven and began experimenting with its use with the Tri-Ti Caldera Cone. The Outback Oven, ultralight version, comes with [...]
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 [...]
Can You use an Alcohol Stove in the Winter?
It is often assumed that you can’t use an alcohol stove in the winter, so I did a little test last weekend. The scouts were going on a winter campout, so I took my Caldera Cone to test in winter conditions. It was 21 degrees in the morning on Saturday, and the stove and fuel [...]