trip plans

So I had to all my planning when I was home for spring break and submit my information to my boss to approve and he has assigned me three girls and one guy in my trail group around the ages of 17-22. So this will be interesting but fun. I am so excited I cannot wait to go. I have recruited my good friend Jim to come with us and be the muscles for the girls. It will just be nice to go with him to because if someone has a question I cannot answer I know he will be able and he knows a lot more than me about this trail and backpacking stuff.

Also I found out another thing we can explore on this adventure. At the turn of the 20th century, efforts were made to create an underground dam along Lost Creek — in order to create a reservoir. The project failed, fortunately. The only remaining hints of the project are a few log cabins along the creek, and a rusting winch and boiler at the Shafthouse site. Hikers can still wander through the cabins today, and the Shafthouse site sits in one of the most scenic areas of the Lost Creek Wilderness. It provides and excellent day hiking destination, and an even better destination for backpackers. There are numerous backcountry campsites along the Goose Creek Trail, from streamside locations at the .25 mile point to a granite-surrounded site near the Shafthouse.

Lost Creek

I think I might have made up my mind. I have picked the trail called lost creek. I have done with trail a few years back and for the people that I am going to take that have never backpacked it will be easy but fun. This trail gets its name from the creek that disappears nine times on this trail but at the end a nice camp spot next to the river.

I will never forget the few days I have spent here playing in the river and bouldering just me and the boys I grew up with from elementary school. That is why I have decided to do a day hike in and set up camp and then each day do a different activity than day hike out. I remember that it was a easy hike of about nine miles in to where I want to set up camp. It is a good spot because I know there are some old long cabins of old ghost towns that we could hike to one day. Then one day we could go bouldering one day or even spelunking in the nearby cave. However when we did that a few years back there was still ice in the back and really tight area to climb through and with me being clumsy fell and bruised a rib and that made caring a backpack nine miles so much fun. Another funny thing that happened was on the day we planned to hike out we played too long in the river and before we knew it was two in the afternoon and we told our my friends mom that if she didn’t hear from us by four that Sunday then to call search and rescue. So we had to book it out of there and on our way out we were on our last two miles or so and got caught in a really bad lightning storm. When we saw a flash of lightening the thunder was instant. It was really scary but we just had to stop on the side if this steep slop and spread out from each other and sit on our backpacks until the lightning was farther away. Then once we got back to our car we realized that it was four and none of us had a single so we hurried to pack the car and found snacks that my friend’s mom packed us and we all just stopped to eat for a second. We were suppose to eat breakfast and then leave but it was almost dinner and we hiked back so fast that we were so hungry that people probably thought that we have never seen food before. Then we got in the car and right as we started to go lightning struck a tree about 200ft from us. We drove down the pass and used a pay phone in this weird gas station in the middle of nowhere and then go home and slept.

Splunking

I think the coolest hike I have ever done around Flagstaff would have to be Lava River Cave. It is not a very long but it is challenging because it is so dark that you can’t even see your hand an inch away from your face when you turn your flash light off. I recommend before you go on this hike that you bring a flash light per/person (the head lamp kinds would be the best because there are a lot of times you have to climb or crawl) really good shoes the bottom of the cave id really sharp and you don't want to be wearing converse and a snack for the end (but keep it in your car it is a pain to have to have a back pack and have to crawl). The coolest part of this cave is when you are near the end and the ceiling is like thirty feet. It is really moment for all of the tall people who have been crouching for a long time. I am not sure if this hike Is open again for the season but when it does it is a fun one to do with a small group of people.