Troop 24 - The High Adventure Troop & Troop 24 Kickass Trekkers 2003 Backpacking Trips by Cascade Bill Mooseker

Escalante River Utah March 2003 Click on Photo

Down Harris Wash to the Escalante River -
Escalante River From Harris Wash to 25 Mile Wash
Up 25 Mile Wash to Trailhead

Highlights included several Petroglyph panels, Neon Canyon, and Ringtail Canyon. This was the 4th trip to southeastern Utah for our group, but the first for the Escalante. The canyons are quite different than those on Cedar Mesa, mainly because of the river which has to be crossed many times in a day.

Beartooth Wilderness Montana August 2003 Click on Photo

Clark's Fork Yellowstone Trailhead to Farley Lake-
Back to "The Beaten Path" via Jorden, Otter, and Mariane Lakes High Route.
Up "The Beaten Path" to Fizzle Lake
Then cross country to Lower Aero Lake - Return via Lady of the Lake Trailhead.

This was a scenic and spectacular hike into the heart of Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. We got a late start on Day 1 due to the long drive to the trailhead, the heavy traffic through Yellowstone, the time it took to shuttle the cars, and an afternoon thunderstorm as we were getting the gear together. Finally under way we followed the "Beaten Path" trail from the trailhead to the junction of the Crazy Lakes trail, which we then followed to our first camp at Big Moose Lake.

Day 2 started off with an exciting ford of Big Moose Lake, a wild goose chase into Wyoming, and a long grind up the trail to Farley Lake. Day 3 featured a scenic hike along the high route from Farley Lake to Jorden Lake, a scramble along the shore of Otter Lake to our third camp at Mariane Lake.

Day 4 commenced by following the outlet stream from Mariane Lake back to the "Beaten Path" trail, which we followed up to the divide for a look at Fossil Lake. Backtracking a bit, we went back to the outlet stream from Fizzle Lake and followed it up to the lake for our 4th camp.

Day 5 was an alpine scramble that would be hard to top. From our camp at Fizzle Lake near the outlet stream from No Bones Lake, we scrambled up and over a pass to Rough Lake. Following Sky Top Creek down to Lone Elk Lake, we went up a draw to Shelter Lake and then up and over another pass and scrambled down to Lower Aero Lake. Day 6 was a scramble around the lake to the trail which took us down, down to Zimmer Creek. our final camp was at Lady of the Lake lake leaving us a short hike to our cars at the trailhead.