Day 1: We rendezvous at the Travelodge (pic by Chris)
Day 1: Didn't expect the rain and sleet in Provo..... (pic by Chris)
Day1: Orientation with Jeff at BOSS base camp (pic by Chris)
Day 1: Cooper 1.5 mile fitness run (pic by Chris)
Day 1: My name is Stacy and the wind blows from the west for anyone who..... (pic by Mike)
Day 1: Challenging terrain, Impact phase begins
Day 1: Lessons while hiking: protecing cryptobiotic soil and practical latrine techniques
Day 1: The hike was 5-6 miles, but I sure thought it was more.... (pic by Mike)
Day1: Watch where you step to avoid destroying the cryptobiotic soil (pic by Chris)
Day2: This is where I slept/froze the first night
Day 2: Still smiling after that freezing cold night
Day 2: Our first drink of water on the trail (pic by Chris)
Day 2: Beautiful but rugged terrain (pic by Chris)
Day 2: During the Impact phase, the students follow the instructors (pic by Mike)
Day 2: No food, lack of sleep, and challenging hikes = nap time at every break (pic by Mike)
Day 2: Jesse gives a lesson on sage fireboards, spindles, and knife techniques (pic by Mike)
Day 2: Stacy Clint and Beth working on socket rocks for the fire bow kits (pic by Mike)
Day 2: One at a time when climbing The Needle due to falling rocks. See Shawn about half way up?
Day 2: On the backside, we see exactly why they call it The Needle. That was a tight fit. (pic by Mike)
Day 2: Reward for climbing The Needle? We got water after about 14 hours of hiking. (pic by Mike)
Day 3: View as we awoke to face the 3rd day of Impact (pic by Mike)
Day 3: Let's get another few cups of the mosquito water before we head out. (pic by Chris)
Day 3: Impact continues. With no food or fire, we use the sun to warm us before setting out for another arduous day of hiking (pic by Mike)
Day 3: As our instructor Jesse says, The best place for water is in your belly. So, drink up!
Day 3: Yes, it was muddy but it was cool going down and much needed.
Day 3: These boots drove me nuts with the strings constantly coming untied (pic by Mike)
Day 3: From the desert to the mountains, we stayed busy during Impact. There was a new challenge to face everyday.
Day 3: Time to rest and reflect while Shawn and JJ hike out (pic by Mike)
Day 3: Durfy Creek Camp and we get to sleep in a wickiup. We completed the Impact phase. (pic by Mike)
Day 3: An aspen grove at Durfy Creek (pic by Mike)
Day 4: Morning campfire, time to get warm (pic by Mike)
Day 4: Large game processing
Day 4: Blood taco fixins
Day 4: Yes, I ate a blood taco
Day 4: We all pitch in to cut up the meat (pic by Mike)
Day 4: Sheep jerky curing in the sun (pic by Mike)
Day 5: Cody fries up some sausage for breakfast
Day 5: Jesse gives a lesson on shelters. Crit and I helped make this one in September '05 during survival skills 1 class. (pic by Mike)
Day 5: Shawn and Jesse cook up some pasole (hominy, squash, sheep stew) (pic by Mike)
Day 5: Stacy grinds the roasted corn with the matate y mano
Day 5: Cody and Donny cover the hot rocks with wet pine straw in the steam pit
Day 5: The sheep meat and vegetables are wrapped in a versa cloth and placed on the wet straw. It'll be ready by dinner time.
Day 5: Shawn gives a lesson on reading topographical maps (pic by Mike)
Day 5: Supplies for the 3 cook groups. Lentils and rice, mmm, mmm, mmm
Day 6: Group Expedition begins. Mike and Stacy consult the topo maps to see where we are. (pic by Chris)
Day 6: A midday excursion to check out where the indians stayed (pic by Chris)
Day 6: See the marks on the stone in front of Beth? That's where they sharpened their tools.
Day 6: We reached the cave, our destination, with enough light to gather duff and setup camp (pic by Chris)
Day 6: We framed our duff bed with logs and started gathering cottonwood leaves and pine straw for duff (pic by Mike)
Day 6: Duffmaster Clint empties another versa-cloth. It takes a lot of cottonwood leaves to make a good duff bed. (pic by Mike)
Day 7: We ended up driving these cattle up the canyon in front of us (pic by Chris)
Day 7: Cody and Crit chart our path during the 2nd day of Group Expidition (pic by Chris)
Day 7: Another ankle buster of a descent (pic by Mike)
Day 7: Rough terrrain but beautiful scenery (pic by Chris)
Day 7: You can make a one person shelter with your rain poncho
Day 7: Combine two ponchos and you'll have a 3 person shelter
Day 7: Group meals were prepared in these improvised billy pots
Day 7: Don't waste those coals. It's time to cook some ash cakes
Day 7: Another duff bed. There was some good pine straw up here on the mountain.
Day 7: We camped by an idyllic mountain stream
Day 8: We stopped for a group pic under this natural arch (pic by Chris)
Day 8: Just when you thought it couldn't get harder, we're faced with a gruelling descent into Stair Canyon (pic by Mike)
Day 8: Shawn couldn't pass up a pristine set of elk antlers
Day 8: I was exhausted at the end of this day (pic by Mike)
Day 8: Our duff beds became simpler
Day 9: Taking a welcomed break during the trek through the gulch (pic by Chris)
Day 9: Drink up while you can because these streams dry up later in the day
Day 9: Hiking miles through the loose sand with raw feet was exhausting and painful not to mention dusty (pic by Mike)
Day 9: Someone had carved a pueblo village in the stones
Day 9: Group Expedition is complete. We get fresh supplies to cover Solo
Day 9: Shawn gives a lesson on the Pauite deadfall
Day 9: This is where Jesse dropped me off for my Solo phase.
Day 9: The hole in that rock might make a great natural shelter from the weather
Day 9: These alcoves on the west side of the canyon provide another shelter alternative
Day 9: The reflector rocks helped seal the deal. I'll camp here on the first night.
Day 10: Another view of the landscape at my solo site
Day 10: Sage and cactus with cottonwood's down by the stream were the primary vegetation
Day 10: The stream was deep enough here that I could fill my nalgene bottles
Day 10: In the morning we go upstream and stack the rocks in the cairn
Day 10: Yes! Finally, I get a coal and have fire during solo
Day 10: I had to transfer the fire to my campsite
Day 10: It was the middle of the day but I felt compelled to cook a hot meal after struggling to get fire
Day 10: You need ash cakes to dunk in your soup
Day 10: I nurtured those coals all day to make sure I had fire for my meal later that night
Day 10: In the evening we go downstream and unstack the rocks in the cairn
Day 11: That rock came in handy when it began to rain last night
Day 11: Time to clean the campsite and head down to the stream to rejoin the group
Day 11: We celebrate Mike's birthday with some watermelon (pic by Chris)
Day 11: We'll sleep here tonight and start the Student Expedition phase in the morning (pic by Mike)
Day 11: I decide to forgo the duff and sleep on the sand. Watch out for those scorpians and blood sucking conenose bugs! (pic by Mike)
Day 12: We're on our way to the sandstone tanks but first we have to pass through mosquito alley (pic by Chris)
Day 12: The sandstone was beautiful and at times treacherous
Day 12: These sandstone tanks hold water all summer long (pic by Chris)
Day 12: The Boulder river was only a another mile from our campsite (pic by Mike)
Day 12: Ok, who's going to get wet?
Day 12: The water was cold and refreshing
Day 12: You have to swim through the deep spots
Day 12: It felt great to cool off after a brisk hike from the gulch
Day 12: No sooner were we out of the river than a storm blew in (pic by Chris)
Day 12: We got to experience a flash flood (pic by Chris)
Day 12: It kept raining and the runoff poured into the tank and overflowed (pic by Mike)
Day 12: These storms usually only last about 15 minutes......
Day 12: After we had moved three times and it was still raining, we started to become concerned (pic by Mike)
Day 12: It continued to pour down on us and I was still soaking wet from wading into the river. (pic by Mike)
Day 12: Finally, after a couple of hours, the rain abides and our spirits improve (pic by Mike)
Day 12: Tobias gets a coal and we have fire. Our situation is improving by the moment. (pic by Mike)
Day 12: It's amazing the difference a fire can make in your attitude (pic by Mike)
Day 12: Everyday brings a new challenge and you discover your limits have expanded. (pic by Mike)
Day 12: Time to get supper cooking (pic by Mike)
Day 13: The water in the sandstone tank is covered with pollen after the flashflood (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Dog run has got to be around here somewhere, right? (pic by Chris)
Day 13: Down this side, across the river, and Dog run should be just over there..... (pic by Mike)
Day 13: We started off with lots of climbing and descents (pic by Mike)
Day 13: It was so steep at times that we had to zig-zag our way down the side of the canyon (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Donny hiked through this area in flip-flops! (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Sometimes the only safe option is scoot down on your butt (pic by Mike)
Day 13: At this point we're still thinking, "well, this could be Dog run". (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Some areas we hiked through this day were relatively safe (pic by Mike)
Day 13: It's best if you lean into the rock when it gets really steep. (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Now I'm really starting to wonder if we're on the right path (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Take it slow and don't look to your left. (pic by Mike)
Day 13: One foot at a time, lean into the rock, butt scoot, butt scoot, repeat and you'll be fine. (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Clint and Mike were fearless (pic by Chris)
Day 13: Cody later told us he would normally rope up to traverse this type of terrain. (pic by Chris)
Day 13: Yes, it was quite steep on the left side at times (pic by Chris)
Day 13: Woohoo! We made it without losing anyone. Now it's safe to joke and smile about it. (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Mike had no problem with heights (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Whew, let's rest here a moment (pic by Mike)
Day 13: There's always another challenge ahead. (pic by Mike)
Day 13: Now we have to climb down the other side to get to the Escalante river (pic by Mike)
Day 13: We rehashed our adventure while waiting here in a cave for the instructors to pick us up
