oh crap
Look at that, one i don't have to cross.
Easiest one all day.
Well good morning, so here we are. This is Willow Creek and the Willow Creek Trail in the much much
lesser known Danskin Mountain Range just east of Boise Idaho. The trailhead is actually less than an
hour from Boise up Blacks Creek Road. Many people are familiar with Blacks Creek it's popular BLM
land. People go there to shoot guns, ride four-wheelers you know just good old country stuff.
And this trail is typically used by dirt bike riders it's a popular dirt bike trail which makes
it not a popular hiking trail but i knew if i came out here in december like i have there would be
no one out here. This is a 7.2 mile loop i am doing and i'm about 3.7 miles in and wow so far
this has just been a really fun trip. I don't know if you played the floor as lava as a kid
i loved that game i used to play it all the time with my brothers we must have been really poor.
With the at least dozen creek crossings out here that i had to experience on the first day
it was like playing a game of the floor is lava except the floor is ice cold freezing water and i
had so much fun doing it. Now if you're gonna play this game out here make sure you have the right
foot situation. I have great gear on my feet. I actually
lost a couple times yesterday with the floor is lava and dipped my leg knee deep into the creek.
My feet have remained dry and have remained warm. I did a video last week on how to set up your
feet boot situation when hiking in the winter time. I've been able to test it again out here and
wow is it dialed in. If you want to check out that video link in the description, card up top. And of
course i'll leave a link as well down there to Scott Marchent's hiking book. I'm doing number (54')
on there Willow Creek. You can check it out, you can plan a trip for yourself.
I haven't changed gear too much since my last trip to the Sawtooths i'm pretty dialed in.
I have upgraded to the granddaddy of all winter sleeping pads the Thermarest Neoair Extherm
extreme. It boasts the highest r value out of all winter sleeping pads with a 6.9.
It's also much lighter than the sea to summit that i was using coming in at 1lb 7ounces'. I'm gonna hang
on to that sea to summit it's got some things that i really like, more comfortable, more fun.
I also upgraded my pillow to a sea to summit down pillow it's a $70 pillow.
Is it better, is it warmer? Yeah, it better be though for 70 freaking dollars. And then finally i brought
down booties. People were telling me to get down booties that they'd be comfy around camp and
yeah they're awesome i dug the down booties. Like if you're gonna be out here in the winter
there's no reason you have to suffer. I'm not out here to suffer every chance i get i actually i'm
out here to have some fun and this trip is fun and this trip is comfy and i love it. Who says winter
backpacking can't just be a blast. It should be fun, you should be comfortable, you should
be able to stay warm. Gear's come such a long way it's really it's really amazing it's an amazing
time we live in with the technology of outdoor gear. So enjoy it, embrace it, love it, it's really
it's really a fun time to be alive. So yesterday i followed trail 400 along Willow Creek and it was
really flat. We had all those stream crossings. Today i'm going to turn on to trail number 412
and head up into the mountains. It's supposed to be a much more strenuous climb and hike today but
with some incredible views so i'm gonna finish my coffee and we're gonna get to it. So this morning
i thought i heard a cougar really close to my tent. It was like a rarr
you know, but it was really quick so i was like, is my mind playing tricks on me?
I'm about 20 yards from where i was camped last night and check this out on the trail.
Holy cow look at those tracks.
That is a cat and i am following the same trail as these so whoo!
If you want to know how to dial in your winter hiking boot situation to the point where you can
literally get knee-deep in a creek without getting your feet wet check out this video right here.
More hiking and backpacking adventures in this playlist and this other one youtube
thinks you'll like check it out. Thanks for watching i'll see you next time.