Bighorn Crags

Josh finally accomplished a 25-year dream this summer: he hiked into the Bighorn Crags. When he was 13 years old, his scout troop went on a 50-miler into the Crags, and he wanted to go desperately, but he was just a few months short of the required age 14. He's wanted to go ever since! He's been talking about it a lot the last few years, and since he was getting some of his bucket list items accomplished this summer (like purchasing a street motorbike and hiking to Freeman Peak), I suggested to him that maybe he could go with the boy scout troop when they were going in August. He didn't know of their plan to go this summer, but after I suggested it, he started talking to the scoutmaster about possibly going along with them. He wasn't sure if he would be able to go, so he didn't commit until the week before they were to leave because the timing wasn't the best with our family schedule that week and his work schedule since there was a golf tournament that weekend. But then Ammon said he wasn't interested in going on the hike with the scouts, so that freed up Josh to go since Ammon could stay home and work. So, Josh decided he would for sure go and take the twins along with him, but because of Josh's work and mowing schedule, they had to leave the morning after the rest of the scouts departed. 

In preparation for the hike, Josh bought the boys new frame backpacks, and he took them shopping for all their food and lightweight necessary items. They loaded and packed their backpacks the night before they left, and weighed them to make sure they would be able to carry their individual loads. The boys' packs each weighed 20 pounds, and Josh's weighed 40 lb. Josh's backpack was heavier because he also carried the tent. They left at 5am on Thursday morning (Aug. 13) to drive up to the trailhead and meet the rest of the scout troop who'd left the previous afternoon to spend the night at the trailhead. It was a 2-hour drive, and once they arrived, the scouts were still preparing breakfast. They ate breakfast, the boys packed up their stuff from the night, and they got started on the trail about 8am. But before they took off, a forest ranger gave them a 15-minute schpeel about how to responsibly poop in the wilderness. 

They hiked almost 8 miles, stopping frequently for breaks.

Josh enjoyed spending time with this group of boys:
(L-R) Micah, Treygan, Travis, Aiden, and Jonah

Can you spot the twins?

The halfway point of their hike was Cathedral Rock.

One of the oldest boys in their scout group was an extremely slow walker, so they took their time on the hike, and Josh really enjoyed the views along the way. 

The trail overlook to Wilson and Harbor Lakes

However, about 2 and a half miles after Cathedral Rock, the [slow] boy didn't think he could go any further. It was a mile and a half to Birdbill Lake where they wanted to camp or they could turn around and go the same mile and a half back to a spot that they could tent for the night. It was still early afternoon, and Josh thought they should press on. So he took the other boys, and they went on to Birdbill Lake. Josh told the leader he would come back after they set up their stuff, so he could carry the boy's backpack for him and get them going a little faster. After the boys and Josh made it to Birdbill Lake and set up their stuff, he headed back to get the other boy that was straggling with the scoutmaster. They were only a half mile from the Lake by then, and the boy was able to make it to the camp site on his own. By the time they all reached the camp spot though, a storm had arrived and the rain started coming down hard.  

Fishfin Ridge

A view of Mirror Lake on the trail to Birdbill

Good thing the boys set up the tent first thing
so they could stay dry when the rainstorm hit!

Birdbill Lake

Birdbill Lake getting hammered with raindrops

Josh and the boys ate a lot of dry food while they were hiking for 3 days: crackers, jerky, granola bars, pop tarts, and for dinners they had ramen noodles cooked over the campfire! Josh also bought a water purifier, and they cleaned their own water daily when they filled their water bottles.

The storm didn't last long--less than an hour. After dinner, some of the boys (and Josh!) went swimming in the cool mountain lake. Nobody brought their swimming shorts, though, so everyone stripped down to their underwear to swim (Josh just wore a pair of shorts he'd brought). Travis, Aiden, Treygan, and Micah all braved the cold water in their skimpies--but Jonah refused to take off his clothes to swim. Instead, he opted to just dip his feet in the water while sitting on the shore. 

Josh said it was refreshing after the long hike!

The Bishop (who's a Fish and Game Officer) was on a backcountry trip, checking fishing licenses, and he stopped by the camp that night on his horse, and Josh enjoyed visiting with him. The boys sat around the campfire for a while that evening until it was bedtime. It had been a long day!!

The next morning, they ate breakfast and started hiking to see more lakes. The scoutmaster and some of the boys had brought fishing gear to fish, so that was the plan for the day. They hiked two and a half miles to Airplane Lake. From there, the scoutmaster hiked up to Shoban Lake with 2 of the boys to fish, and Josh took the rest of the boys down to Ship Island Lake, back to Airplane Lake, and up to Shoban (with was a 3 mile round trip).

Airplane Lake and Ship Island Lake

Ship Island Lake, the largest of the Crags lakes

the Spires

There's still a patch of snow at the base of that mountain!

Selfie at Ship Island Lake

The boys walking around Airplane Lake on their way back

A gorgeous, peaceful frog pond

Micah walking down to Shoban

Ted the Scoutmaster fishing at Shoban

Sheepeater Lake Selfie

A trail of wildflowers leading to Shoban Lake

Shoban Lake

Foot Therapy after hiking many miles

Jonah is tired after all that hiking

Micah taking a much-needed break

The boys stayed with the Scoutmaster at Shoban, and Josh decided to hike back to their camp at Birdbill Lake by climbing over the pass. He walked back up to Sheepeater Lake, and then over. There wasn't really a trail and it was steep at some points. He was glad he didn't have the boys with him, because it was difficult terrain. The boys were going to walk back to camp with the Scoutmaster along the trail when he was done fishing. 

Another view of Airplane Lake, taken from the mountain 

Josh's last view of Airplane Lake and Ship
Island Lake before going over the pass to camp

A view of Gentian Lake

When Josh arrived back at camp, he took a nap until the others arrived. Then they had dinner, and he walked around Birdbill Lake snapping some fun photos. The storm that had come through the previous night started a fire in the Crags area, which made for some pretty photos of the sun, and a golden reflection on the water, too.

another view of Birdbill Lake

A cute little snowman in August!

It's like a solar smoke eclipse

The golden reflection is so sparkly and inviting!

That night, the wind blew a lot, and it was hard to sleep. The next morning, they ate breakfast, packed up, and left at 7:30 to start hiking back to the trailhead. Josh took the 5-pack of boys that he'd had the previous day and they hiked back out in 3 hours--which was half the time it took them to hike into camp 2 days prior! The Scoutmaster took the slow boy and his 3 brothers, and they were considerably behind Josh's group.

This portion of the trail is remarkable--carved out of the large slate of stone

When they got back to the trailhead, they ate lunch, and then Josh drove the boys he had to their homes so that they wouldn't have to wait for the others to return. They got home before 3 that afternoon.

Josh had an amazing time! If you look at the Crags Map, the area basically has 5 fingers of trails. They only covered one of the "fingers" on this trip, and saw 9 lakes in their 3 day excursion! Josh definitely wants to go back and see more of this amazing wilderness! He was SOOO glad that he went, and he treasured his time in the mountains immensely. In fact, for days after returning home, he just kept saying "I wish I was in the Crags right now; I just want to go back!". It's hard to return to busy everyday life after a relaxing, rejuvenating trip! I am so glad that he chose to go and get yet another item crossed off his bucket list! He was so happy, and when he talked to me about the trip and showed me all his photos from his, I could hear the enthusiasm and excitement in his voice--and he truly doesn't get so overly happy very often! It was also great for him to share this experience with the twins; he enjoyed spending time with them on this awesome excursion!