In 1980, my friend, Jim, and I decided to hike in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. Stuart Johnson, another good friend from the Geothermal Branch of Philips Petroleum said if we wanted to find good fishing, we should hike to Cliff Lake, just to the north of Kings Peak. He said very few people managed to get there. So, we made plans.

I talked to Karen, my first wife, about taking a short backpacking trip, just the two of us. She was the one who encouraged my backpacking several years before. I had been interested in Chesler Park in the southern section of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. When I joined the Wilderness Society in 1967, the first issue of their magazine I received had a picture of the park, and an article discussing the controversy over building a Jeep road to the area. That did not happen, but I remained interested in the area.

We camped at the mouth of Waterfall Creek, which comes down from the lakes we had hiked from. Jim fished for trout in the river, caught two 20-inchers, but it was only catch and release. Jim always used barb-less hooks, which do very little injury to the fish. We made Jello® for dessert. I put the pot in the creek, which was cold enough to gel the hot solution in 15 minutes!

In January of 1972, Jim Dix and I began plans for a backpacking trip in the summer of that year. He had grown up in Caldwell, Idaho, and wanted to hike in Idaho. During lunch one day we examined a highway map of the state, looking for lakes in the mountains. We found Ship Island Lake to the West of the towns of Challis and Salmon. We ordered the national forest map for the area, which arrived in a few weeks. We opened it up and there were many lakes and trails! We ordered the U.S. Geological topographic sheets of the same area and began planning for late July.

In January of 1970, in Bartlesville, Okla., I was happy and content with the way my life was going. I was married to the love of my life, we had four young children, I had graduated with my PhD and had a very good job supporting the family. I knew I belonged with my family and would never go backpacking. But… Karen told me that “You are like a caged animal. You need to get out there.” I decided to go on my first backpacking trip. I called Bruce Miller. He advised hiking the Escalante canyon via Hurricane wash and Coyote gulch.