An Eagle Scout and his Dad

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Josh and I at Collonade Falls, Yellowstone

Josh and I had a wonderful time at scout camp and racked up over 36 miles of back country backpacking in Yellowstone! More than 30 of it was with a fully loaded backpack.

Our backpacking group of 8 scouts, 2 adults and our Ranger Scout Chris gathered on Monday night to practice cooking trail food using a new type of pan called a Bake Packer that none of us were familiar with. This type of pan allowed us to cook our Garlic and Butter Noodles with Chicken in a bag that we could eat out of after. The only dishes we had to wash were our sporks! Then we learned how to bake in the pan and made a nice, moist and fluffy cornbread.

Mr Bubbles is useable because its connected to a river.

Day one at Camp Loll we gathered last minute gear and all the food we needed for the trek. Food was bagged into zip-lock bags with each day/meal written on them. Very organized! We then proceeded from Camp Loll on a 40 mile drive to the trail head at Bechler (pronounced Beck-Ler) Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park. Here we donned our packs, drank a bunch of water to hydrate then filled up our water bottles and hit the trail. Almost 10 miles later, numerous crossings through the mud of the Bechler Meadow sloughs, over a suspension bridge, and a ford of the Bechler River, we arrived at our first camp for the night. We camped right by Colonnade Falls which is a double fall - the upper at 35 feet high and the lower at 67 feet high. Josh and I promptly lost the filter element to our water pump into the river just above the falls. It was gone in a flash. Josh ran downstream and spotted it floating in a little eddy by the bank at the base of the falls 67 feet below us. Our fearless Ranger Guide Chris Barton decided that we could get it so he and I climbed down the steep 67 foot bank to the bottom. Here we found not only the filter but two different flip flops and a nice Nalgene water bottle! For dinner we ate Tuna with Noodles.

Chris watches the boys.

Day two found us packing up our camp to move a couple miles upstream to the next camp site. You are only allowed to camp in one location per night. After another ford of the Bechler, we pitched camp again, ate a lunch of tuna salad on pilot biscuits, topped off our water and hit the trail for a 6 mile day hike to swim in a hot spring called Mr Bubbles (or Mr Bubbly as the boys called it). As we hiked up Bechler Canyon to the Ferris Fork, we approached the approximate boundary of the Yellowstone Caldera. We starting to see hot springs and otherworldly sights. We saw a huge steaming hot pot and wondered if it was Mr Bubbly! As we got closer, we realized that we were not going to cook ourselves in the big unnamed hot pot and found Mr Bubbly in a nice little corner of the river. The 110 degree water from the Mr Bubbly mixed with the cool river water of Ferris Fork to make a nice relaxing spa like experience to ease our tired feet.

On Day 3 we hiked back down out of Bechler Canyon and cut across to the West to the Boundary Creek Trail. From here we hiked another 9 miles or so to our last camp site of the trip. A couple miles from the site, we watched as large, dark clouds built on the horizon. We hustled the last bit to our site so we could get our tents up before the storm. As I was adding the finishing touches to my rain fly, the raindrops began to fall. We had a rain shower while cooking dinner - Teriyaki noodles with salmon. Miraculously, the rain quit while we ate dinner and the sun came out again. We cooked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for dessert and off we went to see the 150 foot high Dunanda Falls. We all went up to stand under and feel the force of the falling water. We got a glimpse of something that most people don't see when we slipped behind the water of the falls to see out from behind.

Dunanda Falls

Several of us managed to squeeze into a hot pot right near the base. Sitting in the hot water with the cold mist hitting our faces, we savored the moment and the long journey we took to get here. The boys found another hot pot to soak in while I pumped water for the night then it was back off to camp. Everyone was so relaxed that we went to bed immediately. This being the 4th of July, Mother Nature would not let us get away so easily. Just before midnight, it started to rain with a powerful thunderstorm. I lay in my sleeping bag counting the seconds between flashes to be sure the lightning was not getting too close. Most were 1 to 2 miles away but one was close enough to feel the thunder rattle the ground. I listened to the storm for about an hour then I was out for the rest of the night.

Day 4. The next morning we woke to clear skies. I washed down Pop-Tarts and dried apples with a cup of coffee. We broke camp, topped off our water and readied for the 8 mile hike back to the ranger station where we started. A few crossings of Boundary Creek later, we approached the station to a high five from Chris and lunch at a real table! We drove back to Camp Loll just in time for a hot dinner with the staff - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Hot Bread Sticks, Green Beans, Green Salad (the first fresh greens we had for days) and chocolate cake. After a nice shower, it was off to the flag ceremony and the campfire gathering for the closing ceremony.

Ran across a video of the area: http://video.idahoptv.org/video/1476047808/

I heard that you can no longer go into the cave near Cave Falls that they show in this video. We did not travel to Cave Falls on this trek.