Wow, what a trip! Box-Death Hollow, in Escalante State Park, Utah, is an amazing place, and I want to go again! Great people and great fun. The instructor, Roxanne Tea, an employee of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and an instructor at the University of Utah, and Jenny Merrill, our medical expert, were both fun and motivated, and are very knowledgable in what they do. This was a 2 credit class taken in the Fall Semester of 2010, with 11 other classmates page for a list of attendees. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the outdoors and backpacking.

People
(see the People) I was able to get this group photo in the end. Unfortunately I did not get images of all classmates while hiking, being that I was hiking in the back of the group, taking photos, and not wanting to slow the group down. So for the ultra hikers who were always in front, I apologize for not getting images of you. I am also disappointed that during group meetings, I was so focused on participating and not wanting to interrupt, that I did not get shots at all during those times. Perhaps this fall, Roxanne, will allow me to audit the class to promote it.

The class consisted of the following:

Class Meeting

• 10 days prior to trip
• 3 hours long
• Itinerary: discuss the logistics of the trip and gear we would need; details of packing our backpack; Homework—2 page paper for presentation given on second day; and get acquainted.

Friday—Base Camp, Short Hike
A few of us went on a short trail hike near our first campsite. Later that evening we held a meeting for a more detailed itinerary of what was expected, and to get more acquainted by telling a little more about our selves.

Saturday—Drive to Trailhead, Hike to camp
I got Lost! Or rather missed the group at the trailhead. Thats what I get for lagging behind trying to make my camera bag attach to my Backpack. I hiked up the mountain about 2 miles father than needed before my weekend roommate, Alex (who I would recommend for any outdoor adventure), caught up to me in his truck. He had almost given up too, thinking there was no way I could have walked that far up the hill that fast…lucky for me he checked around one more bend on the road.

About half way through the first days hike we stopped to do our presentations.

Looking at the photographs you may notice there seems to be an awful lot of stream crossing. We crossed that stream 35 times—maybe 36 (The final count was unsure). In places it was as narrow as 4 feet and sometimes as wide as 12 feet. My classmates all proved to be very helpful to anyone in need—including me, with my large pack and and camera gear in tote. I was very impressed and felt honored to be a part of this group. That evening we had another get together to finish our presentations. I hung a clothes line for people to hang socks and wet clothes from the stream crossing.

Sunday—Hike Out
In the morning we left in two groups so the people ahead could bring our vehicles down from the trail head. I left with four others in the last group.
I ended up twisting my ankle, while jumping across the stream—about 8 ft—with all of my gear attached. We were almost at the end too.

Gear I used for this trip (see Backpacking Gear for a full list)
Solid Backpack. Mine is an Osprey, however, there are plenty of efficient ones out there. If you want advice, pick one that has a good reputation and is the most comfortable. You will want to keep the pack as light as possible, so try to minimize on the gear. My pack for this trip was approximately 60 pounds, with my photo equipment bag strapped on front. Typically find ways to go lighter than this for a two day hikes, if you bring a smaller camera and less gear, but I like my comforts.

Sleeping
45˚ Snugpak bag (European bag I picked up in Northern Ireland—can be ordered online) with a thin liner. It was very chilly when the sun went down, and I kept warm by wearing synthetic long underwear, with sock liners and loose socks, light weight pants, a moisture wicking long sleeve top, with a wool sweater over that, and a beanie (cap). This system kept me pretty warm and I did not wake up through the night at all, except to pee (too much coffee I guess).

Clothes

• Mountain Hardware down filled jacket
• Salomon Hiking Boots
• 3 light wool socks/2 moisture wicking liners
• Rock climbing pants (room to move in and very light weight) and a pair to sleep in
• 2 T-shirts
• 1 Long sleeve-T
• 1 pair of REI Long Underwear

Water system

• 50 oz CamelBak
• Two 32 oz bottles
• MSR Sweetwater drops (to purify the water)

Cooking set-up

• MSR Dragon Fly. Can use many different fuels.
• Anodized Aluminum Pots, tall and short I found I didn’t really need the tall pot for a short trip.
• I have a titanium spoon, but really anything that isn’t going to break will do.
• I like to bring a titanium kettle to heat water for coffee, tea, and dehydrated meals. This boils water much faster conserves fuel.

Food
On this trek, I brought rice, lentils, oats, raisins, dried cranberries, brown sugar, coffee, tea
cliff bars, homemade cranberry-nut bars, peanuts, sunflower seeds, trail mix, jerky sticks

Remember that everything you bring in needs to be packed back out with you. So the only weight to lose on the trip is the food you eat.

Things I learned
Iodine tablets do go bad, and should have an expiration date on them.
Find a bag and strap system for attaching my camera to the shoulder straps at the front for easy access. I used a shoulder bag that I rigged up to the front of my packs waste belt. It worked alright.
Don’t jump across an eight foot stream with a 60 lbs backpack…

(Via JosephTravels, JosephDC)