Idaho 2019

Saturday, June 8

Our first stop was Donner summit for a bio break, to run around, and to throw snow balls. Fifteen minutes later we were back on the road headed to Nevada. We stopped for gas just past Reno and continued to Lovelock NV to look around and have lunch at the Cowpoke Cafe. We toured the town park where you and your loved one can place a lock on the park chains so you’ll stay in love forever (a lovelock). There were many, many locks. After playing on the playground in the park, we walked to the restored train depot. Having seen the whole town at this point we went back to the cafe where our delicious lunch awaited. Most had 1/2# burgers and fries but some had the chicken nuggets which were 6″ in diameter each and you got 3 along with fries. There was one gianormous order of chili cheese fries. Afterwards we piled back in the vehicles and headed to our camp spot at Thomas Canyon Campground, located in scenic Lamoille Canyon.

This camp area is high in a glacier carved canyon surrounded by rugged snow covered peaks. The cooks for the night made grilled cheese sandwiches and Caesar salad while others played chess. We were camped near a large swollen creek so we enjoyed the beauty and the sounds as the water crashed down the mountain. The low temp was s 36°F overnight.

Each night the Crew President gives the plan and assignments for the next day. We close with Vespers, the Scout Oath and Law, and head to bed.

Sunday, June 9

Today the morning sky was deep blue and we could see one waterfall that froze overnight. For breakfast we had baggie eggs with cheese and salsa and bagels with cream cheese. The camp was quickly struck and we took off on a 2 hour hike into a side canyon. We walked along a stream most of the way and saw many cascades, waterfalls, a beaver dam and a full size Lincoln log house. The hike ended too soon but we had to get driving. We had a short stop for lunch and a longer stop at Shoshone falls, the Niagra of the west, and hiked a little there. Some rolled down grassy hills and nearly all ate ice cream. We continued on driving to Craters of the Moon group camp, a nice site tucked in a bowl out of sight of the road. The youth learned to make crepes and we had savory crepes with salmon, chicken, cheese mushrooms or any combination, and then sweet crepes with strawberries, bananas, Nutella, and whip cream. It was excellent. One of the youth organized and was MC for a Scout’s Own on “unplugging” and being present.

Monday, June 10

Breakfast was pancakes and bacon along with melon. As we broke camp we encountered an active tent caterpillar nest… it was amazing. We loaded up and headed to the visitor’s center to get our cave permit and to learn the history and geology of the park. There are amazing lava fields, calderas, spatter cones, and nearly every possible type of volcanic structure. First we drove to the caldera area to hike and then to the cave area, where we ate lunch, and then explored lava tube caves. We spent 3 hours climbing through several caves, some with ice and snow. We then drove to the Sawtooth Mountains After we arrived at our camping spot at Alturas lake, the crew prepared a dinner of lasagna and peach cobbler. Both were excellent and quickly devoured.

Tuesday, June 11

We woke up to 31°F temps at Alturas Lake camp. The air was crisp and cold but no wind. The lake was a beautiful clear blue with low fog as the sun rose. The youth prepared Mountain Man breakfast (Dutch oven meal with onions, hash browns, bacon, cheddar cheese and eggs) and Dutch oven Monkey bread (dough, butter, cinnamon and sugar). After breakfast we prepped for the day’s activities and headed for Stanley lake. We hiked in the shadows of the snowy, jagged, Sawtooth range around Stanley lake. Along the way we saw wild flowers, elk, frogs and other wildlife. We hiked to the top of Lady Face Falls… They were big, with multiple cascades, but somewhat hidden in a gorge. By the time we returned the temps had warmed up to 90°. We found a picnic spot by a creek and had lunch. We then drove to Redfish lake and canoed and kayaked. Pat found us coin op showers so we had our first good cleaning for the trip. We drove back to Alturas Lake and made Mac and Cheese and brownies for dinner.

Wednesday, June 12

We all awoke to a warmer 41f temperature at Alturas Lake. The crew prepared 2 Dutch ovens of deep dish combo pizza and 2 Dutch ovens of quiche. Breakfast was awesome! We struck camp and drove to the white water raft company White Cloud in Stanley. We got configured for rafting a class 4 portion of the Salmon river. We put on full wet suits, booties, splash jackets, life vests and helmets. Shortly after noon we boarded a large reclaimed school bus and headed 10 miles upriver to the start point. We rafted 4 hours with many exciting class 3 & 4 rapids. It was amazing, challenging and fun. Most of the crew got to “ride the bull” (which is sitting on the nose of the raft holding only to the outside safety line and running the rapids while the rest of us paddled.). We changed clothes and started the 3hr drive to Macks Creek reservoir campground. On the way we stopped at a small rustic restaurant for a quick dinner. When we arrived at the campground there was the threat of thundershowers. We had to kick a camper out of our spot and just got our tents up when the wind, lightening, thunder, and rain started.

Thursday, June 13

One youth had to catch a flight to go start a summer camp counselor job in Wisconsin. A few of were up early to take her to the Boise airport. We made sure she caught her flight and we returned to the camp by 6am. All parties were up by 7 and we had quick muffin & bagel breakfast and struck camp and were on the road. We headed to Bruneau Dunes State Park where we sand boarded down 70+ft dunes for nearly 2 hours. It was fun, thrilling and very sandy.

We had lunch at the park, turned in our sand boards and headed for our camp spot in North Bingham County Park. After setting up camp, four of us prepared fettuccine Alfredo while seven went shopping for food for the remainder of the trip. We enjoyed our delicious dinner, put on Class A uniforms and headed for Idaho Falls to do a ghost walk through the old downtown. It was educational and entertaining. The youth enjoyed a ghost hunting app. We stopped and ate ice cream in a small shop before heading back to camp. There was lightening, thunder, rain and sprinklers making our camp spot very wet.

Friday, June 14

Today we feasted on breakfast burritos with eggs, cheese, salsa and salmon. We laid all the wet tents and gear in the sun while we ate. We packed up camp and were driving away by 8:45am. We stopped for gas ($2.99!) and then headed to the Potato Museum in Blackfoot. We learned many wonderful things about potatoes (eg: McDonald’s uses a fry slicing canon) and then had potato ice cream (which was excellent). When we left we headed to the replica museum of Fort Hall, gateway to the West on the Oregon trail. It was a fabulous exact reproduction of the old fort. After touring the fort and the Bannock County museum, we ate lunch under a lovely tree in the museum courtyard.

We then drove to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho where we learned that the river was running too high for tubing so we went to the pool complex and played in the pools and diving area instead. After taking showers and putting on clean clothes we hopped back in the car and drove three and a half hours to Jordanelle State Park campground in Utah. We had Dutch oven pizza for dinner and s’mores with several types of chocolate and peanut butter cups for dessert.

Saturday, June 15

We had a peaceful night with temps in the low 40s. Breakfast today was French toast with sausage and bacon. Our destination today was Utah Olympic Park, scene of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

After a short walk through the Olympic museum and a brief pause to get signed in, we headed out to try the many fun high adventure activities in the park, including … extreme Zipline (from the top of the 120m ski jump), extreme tubing (down an 80m ski jump), low cope and high cope.

From 3:00 – 4:00 pm we had a tour of the venues and Olympic events by a member of the US Olympic team. We stayed and played until 5:30 then headed back to our campsite. 2 Dutch ovens of delicious chicken pot pie were prepared, cooked and eaten. Dessert was more s’mores All the crew were still jazzed by the day’s events and were very animated at dinner.

Sunday, June 16

We were all up at 7:00 and immediately striking camp. Breakfast was yogurt, granola and oatmeal. This meant there was very little cleanup and we could get the cars packed quickly. We had a four-hour drive to Lehman caves in Nevada. We ate lunch at a wonderful picnic site by a stream near the caves. At 1:00 we had a 2 hour guided tour of the caves. Lehman Caves is a beautiful limestone cave with stalactites, stalagmites, columns, cave popcorn, and cave bacon. Afterwards we piled in the cars and had another three and a half hour drive to get to our camp spot for the night at Bob Scott Campground. We had hamburgers with tomatoes and onions and hamburger buns and carrots and for dessert we had a dessert from the Philippines, palitaw. Tonight is our last campfire so people are enjoyed sitting around the campfire talking and singing.

Monday, June 17

We got an early start with a grab and go breakfast of muffins and bagels. We made three short stops on our long drive home. First we walked around the petroglyphs at Grimes Point, then ate lunch at Truckee River Regional Park, and finally we were treated to Ghiradelli sundaes at the Outlet shop in Lathrop, CA.