Total: 31 Nights
1 night on a short trip into Hell's Half Acre (lava beds)
First Night 1-16-17-2015 Scout Campout
Second Night 3-13-2015 Scout Campout - Pine Creek Pass, ID (Snow caves that didn't last. Most beautiful sunrise I've seen in years)
Third through Fifth nights - 3-26-29, 2015 - City of Rocks & Castle Rock in Idaho - If you haven't been there and like rock climbing, hiking, or cool rock formations you should make it a point to visit!
Sixth night - 4-24-25 McCammon Turkey Hunting - Good times, lots of rain, a couple of fish, lots of turkeys, but no kills.
Seventh night - Wyatt's 7th birthday, May 1-2 he wanted a campout with Dad. Very cool. First night in my refreshed north face 2 man 4 season.
Nights 8-11 (5-21-25, 2015) Kaughman/Birch Creek - Motorcycling, Fishing, Exploring, sweet food, lots of fires!
Twelfth night - (5-29-30, 2015) Moody Creek, ID - Good fellowship, small creek fishing, tent camping with my four boys! Good tradition and great memories!
13-14 Nights Heise Hot Springs - Tent Youth Conference. Awesome activities, beautiful campground, comfy Cot!
Night 15 - Grand Teton National Park Gross Venture Campground - Tent - Daddy Daughter camp out. Kayaking in String Lake. Vehicle trouble aside it was a good time.
Nights 16 & 17 Springbarring (yes I think that is a new hip word) it in the rain. It was double cool for me - one of my boys was attending so I hung with him, but my older boy was a staff member too. It was cool to see him in a work/responsibility environment from afar. That is a great camp and he even got his Sailing merit badge. It was pretty cool.
18-24 Nights - 7 more nights in Yellowstone National Park. I did a lot of animal watching, fishing, and almost no visitor center/store/regulatory things. Staying away from as much of the "regulatory" things as possible made this an extremely awesome experience. First, I have never spent more than two days in a row in Yellowstone. I live 90 miles away and visit a time or two a year but usually just day trips. This was entirely different. First part of the time I had six kids and my wife and I. (one is a friend) That made it fun and the little things were exciting to the kids which made them cooler for us. Second, just my two oldest boys and I fished for a few days alone. That was cool, because we spent a lot of time together and looked at everything from a more grown up view. We got off the beaten path a lot while fishing. It was cool to see things you cannot see from the road.
I learned quite a few things on this trip. First, to see lots of cool animals you have to spend a lot of time in the park. Second, You have to put on a lot of miles to cover it all and to reach the specific rivers/streams and to hit the right hatches on the water. Third, it is totally awesome to be fishing for totally wild cutthroat or brooke trout with bison thirty yards away. (not smart, but very cool) It added a level of ambiance to the experience that I have not found anywhere else. Having a geyser spouting 50 yards away on the bank is a cool experience. None of the fish were big, but they were plentiful and vibrantly colored. For my own records we saw: 10 grizzly bears, 3 wolves, hundreds of bison, Elk, Deer, Geese, Moose, Cranes, Swans, Muskrat, Antelope, Eagles, Osprey, Ravens, Ducks, Squirrels, Gophers, Chipmunks, Cutthroat Trout, Brooke Trout, a toad and tons of other birds I cannot identify. The spotting scope was worth it's weight in gold. Kids love the outdoors and they rejuvenate me! It was a really cool time. I look forward to our back country hike in September there too!
August 27, 28th - 2 nights - Pine Creek Pass - Just threw my tarp, pad and bivvy out. It was a little chilly 42 degrees Friday night. Great fishing up Rainy Creek and Pine Creek, all native Yellowstone cutthroats. Then a motorcycle ride with my Son. The rest of the family was at Cousins Camp so that freed me up to play a little.
September 4-5 - 1 Night Anderson Mill Canyon - Riding motorcycles, good times. I forgot how fun forest trails are. Late night arrival, rain showers on us while setting up the tent and no level spots for the tent. When I was sleeping and heard the rain coming down, I was really happy to have the peace of mind that having a quality tent brought. I knew I would not bet wet. Then met up for some grouse hunting too.
September 11-15 (one night in a hotel in West Yellowstone prior to starting the hike on Saturday when our permit started)
Three nights in Slough Creek, 20.5 miles total, many of them fishing, but 14 of those were with way too heavy packs on our backs. (need Mesha's surplus warm, very packable sleeping bags) They allowed a campfire which was a huge bonus I didn't think would be possible. We were pretty much alone, saw one to three people each day. The fishing was tough! Clear, shallow water with big, weary, smart, wiley, intelligent, large cutthroats. I did manage to catch a few, but we had to work hard for them. We found some treasures we left, enjoyed stories, made memories, challenged ourselves (especially the boys) and had a good time. Good weather until the last night when it rained all night and on part of the day on the way out. I love packing in the rain and carrying extra water weight. I hope it was a good deal for the boys, they seemed to like it. Mom wanted them in school and worried about bears but the only ones we saw were while we were in the truck on the way there and back. lol Great trip.
October 23rd - Lava beds, bag, bivvy, a tarp and lots of howling, yipping coyotes.
