After almost two days underground and no apparent way out, Spencer Christiansen resigned himself to the fact that he and his wife, Jessica, might die in the Darby Canyon Ice Cave.

“We knew we were in some deep trouble,” Christiansen said. “We didn’t think Search and Rescue would get to us in time.”

It was supposed to be a fun birthday weekend.

Christiansen turned 31 on Saturday, and the couple wanted to go on a grand adventure together.

“The best part was getting out of the cave and the Search and Rescue guys singing happy birthday to me,” Christiansen told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “They were great.”

The Christiansens left their home in Idaho Falls early Saturday morning to explore the Darby Canyon Wind and Ice caves.

They had been researching and gearing up for a few weeks, he said.

“A coworker said he’d been to the Wind Cave,” Christiansen said. “I did as much research as possible. I went to a sporting goods store to look for a map. I called Teton County, and they didn’t have one. Apparently maps don’t exist.”

They left their baby with her grandmother and said if they weren’t back by midnight to call for help.

Grandma called for help at 7 a.m. Sunday.

The Christiansens had become trapped in a hole in the Darby Canyon Ice Cave above a waterfall.

A fixed rope was hanging from the ceiling and they climbed it, thinking that was the way out. But it was a dead end.

“When we figured out that wasn’t an exit, we thought for sure that we were going to run out of time and be dead,” Christiansen said. “I don’t think we would have lasted through the night.”

The two were cold, wet and exhausted. They decided to rest and hoped that rescuers were on their way.

“We ate all our food and burned everything we could possibly burn,” he said. “We burned a lot of different things like baseball caps, a backpack, gloves, knee brace and cards in my wallet.”

It hurt to inhale the smoke, and though the fire helped it didn’t provide much comfort.

“The ground in there is just mud and water,” he said. “It was impossible to get warm.”

Christiansen estimates they waited in that spot for eight hours, using various methods to try to warm up.

“We did some pushups, squats and jumping jacks,” he said.

His wife Jessica had suffered a 15-foot fall earlier, Christiansen said, and he had an old knee injury that was flaring up after they burned his knee brace.

But Christiansen said the mental toll was more challenging than the physical discomfort.

“There are not a lot of ways to describe what we went through,” he said. “We had to fight off the claustrophobia and panic.”

Finally, the two started to hear voices.

“I don’t even know how to describe it but when we heard them it was a huge adrenaline rush,” he said. “We were screaming because we knew somebody was down there.”

Several volunteers with Teton County Search and Rescue had been searching the cave for hours.

“They heard us yelling their names, which is how we located them,” volunteer Phillip Fox said.

Fox ascended the fixed rope and had to maneuver through a hole after some free climbing to reach the couple.

“We pulled up some warm clothes and water and heat packs,” Fox said, “and did a quick patient assessment to make sure they were coherent.”

The rescue crew got the Christiansens down and led them to the exit. Spencer Christiansen said it was full of water up to his neck, which is why he and his wife didn’t choose that route earlier.

“We thought for sure that wouldn’t be the way out,” he said.

Once the rescuers and the couple made the watery zigzag trek, they still had some hiking to do before getting back above ground.

“At that point you’re still only halfway through,” Fox said.

The rescuers got the couple into some dry clothes, did a reassment and climbed the rest of the way out of the cave.

“Once we got them warmed up a little bit, they were just ready to get out of there,” Fox said.

Greeted by other Search and Rescue personnel and some horses at the exit, Christiansen said it was surreal as they started to sing “Happy Birthday” to him.

“All this stuff brings tears to my eyes,” he said.

Christiansen was carried on horseback to the Darby Canyon trailhead and his wife walked to where his family and his wife’s family were waiting for them.

“It was pretty cool,” he said. “It was also embarrassing.”

The caves are mazelike and mostly unmapped, Teton County Search and Rescue Supervisor Jess King said, and they are constantly changing, making them dangerous even for the most experienced spelunkers.

“It’s a very technical and physically demanding endeavor,” King said. “The stream that flows through it can change where it flows, and rockfall from the ceiling happens every year, so you can get passages that open up that were never there before and some get closed off. It’s an active cave.”

Maps are hard to come by because rescuers worry published routes will make the caves seem more accessible to amateurs.

But information Christiansen found online was deceiving, he said. He and his wife thought they would be hiking only about 2 miles underground but ended up hiking closer to 8 miles just trying to find the right passageways.

“I hope the public can take that information and make educated decisions,” King said.

Search and Rescue personnel train in the cave each summer because the chances of rescues are high. This is the second mission there this summer.

It took 20 volunteers to successfully get the Christiansens to safety, King said, and more than 15 hours, with some rescuers underground for a large portion of that.

“We needed every single person who was there,” she said. “It’s a very demanding search. I’m just grateful we got to those people when we did.”

It was a birthday Christiansen won’t forget, he said.

“I would love to do it again,” he said. “If I could plan it for a whole month and could take enough water and food, now that I know. It was the most beautiful and amazing cave I’ve ever been through.”

In a state known for its spectacular mountain scenery and views, the Lake Plateau in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains seems to hold a special honor among some adventurous souls.

“The Lake Plateau is drop-dead gorgeous,” said Allie Wood, Beartooth Ranger District wilderness and trails manager.

Her description helps explain why the high, lake-dotted country between the Stillwater and Boulder river drainages in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness is so popular. Another reason is because people like Mark Donald, a pastor and the executive director of the Christikon outdoor ministry at the base of the plateau along the Boulder River, has introduced many, many people to the plateau.

Donald estimates that in his 33 years working at and visiting the camp, beginning when he was a staff person while attending college, he’s guided 15 to 30 people a year to the region. Fifteen is the maximum the camp can take into the backcountry based on Forest Service permit regulations. But he was just one of the Christikon guides, so the camp — along with others along the Boulder River — have likely introduced thousands of people from across the country to the Lake Plateau.

“There’s a lot of people because of the church groups,” said Earl Radonski, who for five years led Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ high mountain lakes summer fisheries survey crew into the Beartooth and Crazy mountains.

High routes

The Lake Plateau can be accessed via several routes. There’s the long hike up the West Fork of the Stillwater with a steep climb at the end of the canyon. Backpackers and horseback riders can also trek to the region via the main Stillwater River, turning west up the Wounded Man Creek Trail. On the Boulder side is the switchback-laden Upside Down Creek Trail, where Donald counted 30 turns as the trail climbs about 3,000 feet from Christikon’s back door. Then there’s the Box Canyon Trail up the East Fork Boulder River.

No matter the route, hikers and riders are in for a climb. The West Fork Stillwater Trail tops out at 9,600 feet near Lake Diaphanous after starting out at 6,400 feet 12 miles to the north. Upside Down Creek Trail starts at 6,300 feet and hits Horseshoe Lake 7.5 miles and 3,200 feet in elevation gain later.

“It’s challenging to get up there,” said Alex Sienkiewicz, Yellowstone District ranger, based in Livingston. “And there are some lakes that don’t have (maintained) trails.”

From the old Box Canyon Ranger Station on the Boulder River, it’s an 11-mile route to get to 9,850-foot Columbine Pass. The Stillwater River approach, going up Wounded Man Creek, is the longest at about 17 miles.

Many lakes

On approach or atop the plateau there are more than 30 lakes, many of them stocked with trout. The waters vary in size from 7-acre Pippit Lake to 54-acre Lake Pinchot.

“There’s good fishing at all of those lakes up there, but it gets a lot of use,” Radonski said.

Because the lakes tend to get a lot of fishing pressure, Radonski said FWP stocks the more popular lakes every four years, instead of the eight-year rotation used on other mountain waters.

Anglers will find rainbow, Yellowstone cutthroat and golden trout in different lakes, along with hybrids of the different species in the upper end of Flood Creek.

“That’s nothing that happened by design,” Radonski said, but the offspring are beautiful fish, each one a bit different than the other.

Plateaulike

The definition of a plateau — an area of relatively level high ground — is not a good description for this area if taken literally. Trails that travel to the lakes climb up and down mountain passes at 9,000 feet. The region is more pockmarked than plateaulike, as if it were once bombarded by massive meteors that gouged out deep depressions in the rock-ridden land.

Actually, the plateau was created about 50 million years ago when 3 billion-year-old rock was lifted to the surface. When massive glaciers that buried the mountains retreated they scraped out the now lake-filled basins while also exposing the rock-clad mountains.

“It has big views,” said Madeleine Kornfield, who worked on a trail crew for the Beartooth Ranger District for two years and then was a wilderness ranger for seven more. “It has more green, more lakes and it’s a little bit lower than the other rocky plateaus.”

Radonski likes that from a base camp, backpackers with a few days to spend could fish a different lake or two every day.

“There’s a lot of lakes really close together,” he said. “If you set up a base camp at Wounded Man (Lake), you could go to 15 different lakes, no problem, even though it’s a long hike in there.”

Most of the lakes also have at least one, if not more, level camping sites, and there are several peaks ambitious hikers can daytrip to from base camp.

“It checks it all off,” said Donald, the 50-year-old Christikon pastor.

Pristine lakes, great views, colorful wildflowers and good fishing — the country is so appealing that Donald said one group from Brookings, South Dakota, has returned every year for 22 years.

“It still feels the same as when I was a college kid,” he said. “It’s fabulous country, almost surreal.”

IDAHO FALLS — The city of Idaho Falls is implementing improvements for cyclists along certain city streets.

Based on the recommendations of the bicycle and pedestrian plan “Connecting Our Community,” city staffers are in the process of adding pavement markings and signs to establish bicycle routes along Fifth and Sixth streets.

Implementation of the plan will begin with the installation of shared right-of-way pavement markings on Fifth and Sixth streets, the addition of a bike lane southbound on Holmes Avenue, revisions to the bike lane treatment on John Adams Parkway approaching South Holmes Avenue, and the addition of related signage.

According to a city news release, the improvements will provide a connection between the bike lanes on John Adams Parkway and bike lanes that will be striped in the next several weeks on South Boulevard. The purpose of the changes is to increase bicycle accommodation, with added bicycle access on city streets and greater awareness of designated lanes, and provide greater connectivity of designated bicycle routes and facilities throughout the city.

The bike lane addition on Holmes Avenue is expected to be completed this week, along with the shared right-of-way markings. Revisions to the John Adams Parkway are expected to be completed within two weeks.

City officials hope the placement of shared right-of-way markings will remind motorists to expect bicyclists on the road and to drive in a manner that safely accommodates them. The markings also will provide confirmation to cyclists that they are on the designated bike route and provides guidance regarding their preferred placement within the travel lane.

Until a couple of years ago, anglers who hoped to make the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s record book wound up killing the state’s grandest fish, based on a requirement that weights of all record-setters be confirmed on a certified scale.

But Boise sportsman Dylan Smith likes knowing the state-record lake trout he recently caught in Payette Lake, located near McCall, is still out there for someone else to reel in.

In 2016, Fish and Game launched a new program enabling anglers to receive recognition for the whoppers they catch and measure, but then toss back. To qualify for a catch-and-release record, an angler must submit a photograph of a trophy fish beside a clearly visible tape measure. A statement from a witness is also preferable, and objects of verifiable length can be used for comparison in lieu of a tape measure.

Smith’s record lake trout, caught on July 21, was 41.5 inches long — 2 inches longer than the prior catch-and-release lake trout record, set by Tom Henson.

Smith, a 27-year-old engineer who graduated from Rexburg-based Brigham Young University-Idaho, said he always releases his catches, unless they’re an undesirable species, such as carp. Smith believes the catch-and-release program is wise, given the pressure of Idaho’s rapidly growing population on its fisheries.

“I think this program is fantastic because it promotes catch-and-release,” Smith sad. “We have really, really good fishing here — some of the best in the nation — and I believe we’ve got to protect that resource that we have.”

Fish and Game has continued keeping records for fish that are harvested and weighed. Martin Koenig, the department’s sport fishing coordinator, said the record lake trout by certified weight was caught in 1971 out of Priest Lake in Northern Idaho, weighing 57.5 pounds and measuring 49 inches long.

Koenig said some of the earliest certified-weight records date back to the early 1900s, and the program was “going in earnest” by the 1940s.

However, many certified weight records have become static, as the state has implemented restrictions on harvesting species such as bull trout, white sturgeon, wild chinook salmon and wild steelhead trout.

In addition to opening the door to “fresh records” on fish species governed by harvest restrictions, Koenig said, “There are a lot of anglers who would love to have their names in record book but haven’t been able to participate because they would rather release trophy fish than have to kill it and weigh it on a scale.”

The list of catch-and-release records is linked to the department’s web page, idfg.idaho.gov. Rather than replacing old records with new record fish, the department maintains the full history so visitors to the site can see the progression toward larger trophies.

Certified-weight records are printed every three years when the state’s fishing regulations are updated. Koenig doubts the next regulations pamphlet, scheduled for release in 2019, will include catch-and-release records, which are changing too frequently.

Koenig said Eastern Idaho fisheries — especially American Falls Reservoir, reaches of the Snake River, Bear Lake and Henry’s Lake — have been hotbeds for trout records.

Smith landed his record lake trout while fishing with a friend and his brother, from the new boat his wife recently bought him as a birthday gift. They’d moved to deeper water to fish near the lake’s bottom amid the mid-day heat, when a large mass appeared on the fish finder. The hulking trout struck his brother’s bait first. Twice, his brother failed to set the hook before the fish ultimately “snarfed up” Smith’s lure. The fight lasted about 15 minutes.

“About 30 feet down, I could see as it was coming up,” Smith said. “Everybody on the boat started freaking out because it was so much larger than expected.”

Smith was poised to release the largest lake trout of his career when his brother suggested it could be a record and advised that he take a quick photo and measurement. Smith admits he packed a tape measure that morning as an afterthought.

Smith plans to frame a photograph of the trout, along with a certificate he’ll soon receive from Fish and Game.

“The main thing was the memory I made catching that fish with my brother and my friend,” Smith said.

George Brown of Tiburon, California, was looking forward to seeing the fantastic scenery and riding a horse after signing up for an eight-day trip through Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness with his brother-in-law, Al Ball.

“The Bob,” as it is known locally, almost killed Brown.

“I was in bad shape yesterday,” Brown said from his hospital bed last week at Benefis Health System in Great Falls where he was preparing to undergo surgery on his broken leg. “They found me none too soon.”

Brown came face-to-face with his own mortality but survived with lessons he’s now eager to share to prevent others from sharing his near-death experience — or worse.

And he’s convinced the miserable two days he spent enduring 30-degree temperatures at night, hallucinations and scooting around a dead tree-clogged forest on his backside occurred for a reason.

“I thank God for letting me live,” Brown said.

Brown and Ball, of Louisville, Kentucky, began the trip into the 1.1-million-acre wilderness at Benchmark Trailhead 70 miles west of Great Falls and spent the first two nights in the Pretty Prairie area, camping next to a river.

The first day, guests were offered a four-hour horseback ride. That’s what Al did.

But Brown decided to go on a trail run instead, by himself.

He hit the trail at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

He was wearing running shorts and carrying a small pack with lunch, some water and a flashlight.

It was a beautiful sunny day but the trail became very rough as it climbed in elevation and Brown lost track of it.

Then it began to rain.

Brown found shelter under a log.

Then he made his first mistake.

As he attempted to find the trail he had lost, he moved too fast as he ran down a slope.

Sure enough, he stepped wrong and his foot slammed into a tree.

He had two broken bones, he would discover later, one 2 inches above his ankle and the second in the calf area, but he knew right then he was in deep trouble because he could not move his foot.

“They were either going to find me there alive or dead,” he said.

That Sunday night back at camp, with George out in the wild wearing nothing but running shorts, the temperature dropped to 38 degrees.

As he tried to sleep, Al Ball was worried sick about his brother-in-law.

“I was in a tent and in a sleeping bag, and I was freezing,” Ball said.

To manage the time, he broke the night into three-hour periods he needed to survive: 9 p.m. to midnight; midnight to 3 a.m.; and 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. and daylight. He looked at his watch each hour.

“That’s the way I got through that night,” Brown said.

At 2 p.m. Monday, Brown decided he needed to make a move because of his location off the trail where it would be more difficult to be rescued.

“The turning point was when I decided to take action,” he said.

Bum leg and all, he began to move, painful inch by painful inch.

The way back to the trail was downhill.

Brown would grab his knee and pull his broken leg up and scoot forward on his butt.

Dead trees on the ground, easily stepped over on two legs, became major obstacles.

Six hours of scooting later, Brown saw the trail, but he still wasn’t out of the woods.

During his second day alone in the wilderness — back at the camp the decision had been made by then to call search and rescue — Brown saw a helicopter fly over, and he waved his arms. Buried in the forest, Brown didn’t figure he would be seen, and he wasn’t.

On his second night alone in the wilderness, Brown heard voices and imagined people around him. Dehydration was affecting his mind and causing hallucinations.

“During the night, I’d say, ‘I’m really cold here, anybody have a blanket?’”

Voices that came from inside him helped to keep him alive.

One voice told him to hold his backpack close to his chest.

Another said to lean his back up against an incline, a tip he would have appreciated on the first night. Having his back against something solid helped to keep him warmer, he said.

On Tuesday morning, Brown spent about two hours dragging himself closer to the trail. Then he spotted horseback riders with Lewis and Clark County Search and Rescue, who had found him “none too soon,” he said. “I couldn’t have lasted another day.”

Two days after his rescue, Brown clearly recounted his wilderness saga even organizing it into two distinct parts: Bad decisions and survival.

Ball sat in a chair near Brown’s hospital bed in Great Falls.

It was a long way from the Bob and Monday, when George had yet to return from his run and the situation looked gloomy, and Al made telephone calls to family members.

“I was shocked as you can imagine,” said George’s wife, Cindy Brown, who also was at George’s bedside Thursday.

Cindy learned at 5:30 p.m. Monday that her husband was missing and booked a 6 a.m. Tuesday flight to Great Falls. She received a text message while she was in the airport in Seattle.

The text said, “He’s alive, he’s alive.”

“I said, ‘Hallelujah! Thank God. My prayers came true because I was hoping he had a broken leg.”

Brown is a 68-year-old retired accountant who lives in Tiburon in Marin County, California, which is north of San Francisco. He was expecting to see great scenery on the trip.

The 1.1-million-acre wilderness, known in Montana as simply “The Bob,” is among the wildest wilderness areas in the Lower 48 and home to grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, deer, elk, gray wolf, moose, black bear, mountain lion, mountain goat and mountain sheep, which roam its rugged ridge tops, gently sloping alpine meadows, thickly forested river bottoms and open grass parks.

“I was looking forward to a good trip,” he said.

Brown said he kept his cool and tried to stay positive after his initial mistakes. This helped save his life.

“Your attitude is extremely important when you get injured,” he said.

Brown says he’s learned some hard lessons that he hopes others can benefit from when they venture into the wilderness.

One mistake people make is thinking nothing can go wrong.

Another is hiking alone.

“A friend would have helped a lot in that situation,” Brown said.

Bringing enough clothes along on a trip to deal with changing weather is another essential, Brown said.

Even after everything he went through, Brown said he still wants to return to Montana.

“I want to see the Chinese Wall,” he said, referring to the spectacular 22-mile-long, 1,000-foot-high escarpment, one of the wilderness area’s marquees features.

“He’ll be by himself,” said Ball, who’s seen enough.

A couple of years ago, my son-in-law gave me two Fremont Knives hunting and skinning blades for Christmas. One was called the Gentleman’s Skinner, and the other was called the Farson Hatchet. The next Christmas, he sent me a little but very sharp skinning knife called the 5 O’clock. The 5 O’clock comes with an inscription on the handle that says, “Don’t cut yourself, but if you do, send us a picture. We are proud of our work.”

All of the Fremont Knives are also referred to as Farson Blades after an ancient tool that was found in the Red Desert near Farson, Wyoming

If you subscribe to American Survival Guide Magazine, Survivor’s Edge or Sports Afield, you may have seen advertisements and articles concerning Fremont Knives, which is headquartered in Riverton, Wyoming. Michael Jones, the company’s president has been in the knife-making business for many years. The name, Fremont Knives, comes from the fact that Riverton is located in Fremont County.

To date, Fremont Knives makes at least nine different skinning products it sells to the public:

• the Farson Blade
• the Farson Hatchett
• the Farson Hunting Combo
• the Hide Glider
• the Popojia, named after a creek near Lander, Wyoming
• the Baldwin Creek
• the 5 O’Clock
• the Hunters Tool Kit, which contains three knives — the Jim, Slim and Fatty — as well as a pocket knife, called the Draper Folder, that is as sharp as the others.

The Draper Folder is more of a conventional design, while the other skinning knives the company produces will probably seem like unconventional designs to most people. Jones even admits that Fremont Knives look a little unconventional, but adds that his knife designs come from his extensive experience making skinning knives as well as ancient skinning implements found in the Red Desert. The bottom line is that they are the sharpest skinning knives commercially available and the design really works well.

Now that I carry the Farson Hatchett, the Gentleman’s Skinner and the 5 O’clock in my day pack when I am hunting, I can leave the saw and other knives at home or at least at base camp. I am seriously considering adding the Popojia and the Hunters Tool Kit to my pack because it wouldn’t add to the weight of my day pack or take up any more space.

My Farson Hatchett seems to be a close copy of the Farson Blade, but it has a handle. It still retains the hole in the blade so it can be used for much of the skinning one does to remove the cape. It is 9.5 inches long with a 5.5-inch cutting edge, is made of 1095 Carbon Steel and is coated with a titanium nitride coating. It is a quarter-inch thick and weighs 9.6 ounces. It will chop right through bone with very little effort. It is sharp enough to shave with and like all Fremont Knives holds an edge while working.

The Gentleman’s Skinner comes right out of the box sharper than any skinning knife I have ever purchased and is easily as sharp as a Japanese Tanto I purchased many years ago. It has a trapezoid hole in the fat blade that will accommodate the thumb of those who like to choke up on their skinning knives while processing game. The Gentleman’s Skinner is made from stainless steel and is glass beaded with a rosewood handle. The blade is 4.5 inches long, .140 inches thick and weighs 8 ounces.

The 5 O’clock is a very small and very sharp little knife that really makes it easy to get into small places when processing game.

I have had enough experience with the Fremont Knives I own to recommend them to any one who would like better skinning knives than they are presently using and would like to reduce the weight of their day pack by carrying less cutlery that will still do the job.

If you are interested in learning more about Fremont Knives and their products, they have a pretty informative website at fremontknives.com.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.

The Fremont County Commission in East Idaho is set to finalize wording on a planned advisory vote on the subject of wildlife overpasses.

Advisory votes don’t have any binding effect on the commissioners or anyone else.

The Idaho Transportation Department is currently reviewing a set of possible alternatives for improvements to the section of U.S Highway 20 near the Montana border.

Four of the five alternatives include an extra climbing lane, wider shoulders, turn lanes, road-base reconstruction, a host of ordinary road improvements and vegetation clearing. They range in price from $15 million to $30 million, depending on how much would be spent on efforts to reduce wildlife collisions and increase the connectivity of wildlife populations on both sides of the highway.

The most expensive option would include wildlife fencing across the entire section of road and construction of three wildlife overpasses. The option involving construction of a single overpass would cost between $20 million and $24 million. Simply resurfacing the road, without any road or wildlife improvements, would cost about $3 million.

Much of the cost of the project would be covered by federal highway funds.

The issue has become a bone of contention for some in the area. Proponents say the costs are justified by the reduced risk of accidents involving wildlife and better connectivity between populations of animals divided by the road. Ken Watts and Leanne Yancey, who have spearheaded opposition to wildlife overpasses, didn’t respond to recent requests for comment.

The Fremont County Commission decided earlier this month to put an advisory question about the matter on the ballot, and directed an attorney to come up with wording for a proposed question. The attorney’s wording has been posted on the commission’s website.

“There’s a deep divide in the county about whether we should have those or not, and this is to advise the county commission about how the voters feel about it,” Commissioner Bill Baxter said.

Proponents of the overpasses said they’re happy with the wording of the measure, especially because it will allow voters multiple options for response. In its current form, the measure allows voters to say that they support overpasses, that they oppose them, that it depends on the nature of the overpasses and where they’re located, or that they don’t know.

“I’m very pleased with the language that was presented to the commissioners and … for the November ballot,” local resident Sheryl Hill said. “It provides at least four options, which is important for voters.”

“I think they were fair in the way they came up with the language,” resident Jean Bjerke said.

But they said they’re also concerned that seasonal residents, who make up a fair proportion of the county and its tax base, won’t have their voices heard in a vote.

“I think there are a number of people in Island Park and Fremont County who are really behind this,” said Kim Trotter, program director of Yellowstone to Yukon, an organization that promotes wildlife connectivity. “I think it will be a good gauge of what is happening in Island Park and Fremont County. My fear is there are a lot of people who pay taxes whose voices won’t be heard in this vote.”

Trotter said she’s also concerned that opposition to the current proposed locations for overpasses could translate, through the advisory vote, into general opposition to the idea.

“It seems premature to make a decision like this when we don’t know what the alternatives are, based on a single project,” she said.

Trotter said the science is clear: Overpasses provide the best opportunity to connect divided populations of wildlife and are the best alternative for avoiding collisions with motorists.

ITD, on its website about the project, indicates that it plans to make a decision on the Targhee Pass project this summer, well before the advisory vote will take place.

If you’ve never backpacked, I’d like to encourage you to give it a try. I think a lot of people hear about hardcore backpackers going on 20- to 40-mile trips for seven to 14 days and therefore don’t even consider backpacking. Here’s what I’d implore you to consider. You don’t have to go on the Bataan Death March the first time. Or ever.

For the first trip, just go a mile. Or even a half mile. That way you can test out your gear and see what works and what doesn’t. You can also determine what else you wish you had of packed. There are basic items you want to pack along but then everyone applies a little different twist as to what they think is important.

I don’t consider myself a hardcore backpacker at all, but to get back where the hunting and fishing is the best — and to where there are fewer people — you have to backpack or have a pack string.

I teach a few Backpacking 101 seminars each year.

The first one or two, I tried to talk about the how-to aspects but quickly discovered most people want me to talk about that for the first 15 minutes and then the rest of the time on what items they’ll need to carry and which gear works best.

So with that said, let me hit a few basic things you need to know and then I’ll list out items I suggest carrying.

First off, you need a reason to go. I backpack so I can hunt and fish in the backcountry. Maybe you just want to see cool country, climb a mountain or take pictures (always take a camera). Next question, where should you go? Grab a U.S. Forest Service map and find a fun-looking area or read a local book that tells of good hikes. After determining where you’re going, buy a map from MyTopoMaps. They will make you as detailed of a map as you want. You might even be able to get a 20 percent discount if you mention my name to her. Last year, it turns up that there were some petroglyphs where we were going. I wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t of gotten a MyTopoMap of the area.

Meals: You’ll need to plan your meals. If you forget an item, there’s no running down to the local grocery store. You’ll have to do without. Plan and pack for each meal and snack. For breakfast, I eat flavored oatmeal and supplement it with huckleberries. For lunch, I make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They don’t spoil and have protein and energy. For dinner, I splurge and eat Mountain House prepared meals or make something out of Stephen Weston’s book “In The Wild Chef.” He has a ton of tasty and yet easy to prepare recipes.

Cooking gear: I use an Army mess kit to cook with. Take a plastic cup, spoon, fork and plate.

Water: I use Aquamira products. Their filtered straws or water bottles keep me from having to pack in water. I also use a small aluminum coffee pot to heat water for coffee, oatmeal or sterilize drinking water.

First aid: I don’t carry much first aid gear, but I always carry Adventure Medical Kits moleskin and band-aids. Their small rolls of duct tape are handy to tape on torn boot soles, broken tent poles and ripped tents. Take an extra pair of glasses if you have them and a tube of Mupirocin for cuts.

Lights/fire gear: You’ll want a headlight and I love the Coast rechargeable HP7R flashlights. To start a fire, I carry waterproof matches, a couple of boxes of regular matches and some fire-starting material in case it’s wet. I also take two or three cheap Bic lighters. You can break them over damp wood.

Clothes: I wear Irish Setter boots (check out their Drifter series or their Vapr Treks are super light); three pair of Browning hiking socks; Carhartt base layers for cool nights; nylon fast-drying zip off pants; a cap; and a GORE-TEX rain coat. I don’t pack a lot of clothing.

Sleeping gear: Lightweight tent, sleeping bag and pads. I love Alps Mountaineering gear. Take a tarp to lay on the inside of your tent so your bag doesn’t get wet.

Packs: OK, I’m old school. I still use an old frame pack but all of the modern little yuppies use internal frame packs. They don’t sway like a frame pack, which can throw you off balance. You’ll also want to take along a day pack for hikes out of camp.

Miscellaneous: I carry two mouse traps to keep the rotten little vermin from eating my groceries; a compass; a pistol and good ammo (like Hornady for bears); a roll of string; a beanie for sleeping in; roll of paper towels to clean up; toilet paper; and Bushnell solar panel to charge your electronics.

There are a lot more items I’d like to list but we’re out of room. Like I say, go on a short hike the first trip or two and determine what items you like personally. Get out and have fun.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

Didn’t draw a tag in the first round? It’s not too late to apply for the second controlled hunt drawing for more than 2,250 unclaimed, controlled hunt tags for deer, elk, pronghorn and bear. The application period for the second drawing runs from Friday through Aug. 17.

A list of available tags by hunt number is available on the unclaimed and leftover tag page. Hunters can apply at Fish and Game license vendors, by telephone at 800-554-8685, online or by mail. (All mailed entries must be postmarked no later than Aug. 17). The application fee is $6.25 for residents and $14.75 for nonresidents for each species.

For information on rules and dates for specific hunts, consult the current big game seasons and rules brochure or the online version. Please note that some hunts will be underway by the time the second drawing is completed and tags are available for sale.

Results of the drawing will be available around Aug. 24. Any tags not drawn in the second drawing will be sold first-come, first-served Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. 

Anyone who has spent time at the range shooting high-powered rifles knows that sustained fire or continuously shooting without letting the barrel cool down between strings of shots will get the barrel so hot that accuracy will suffer and shots can be thrown off a couple of inches. It isn’t hard to fire a military-style rifle in semi-auto mode at 100 rounds a minute, and many owners of these rifles do just that at times when shooting at the range.

Even when shooting a semi-auto rifle in rapid fire mode, an enormous amount of heat is generated, which can quickly ruin a rifle barrel .

The leade, which is the unrifled portion of the barrel just forward of the chamber as well as the first few inches of rifling, are subjected to enormous temperatures approaching those on the surface of the sun as well as pressures exceeding 50,000 PSI during rapid-fire exercises.

During slow-fire conditions, this area is allowed to cool sufficiently between strings of fire.

Under sustained rapid fire, however, there is no time for the heat to dissipate and temperatures soar into the thousands of degrees Fahrenheit.

Currently there are four very different methods used by shooters to protect and extend the service life of their barrels.

Those who participate in bench-rest and long-range completion use very heavy and long barrels which can last much longer than the barrels found on most sporting and hunting rifles. Still, those big heavy barrels have to be replaced when accuracy begins to deteriorate.

Currently, the military hard chrome lines the barrels of their rifles to protect them from the excess erosion that occurs during sustained fire. This greatly extends the barrel life of rifles that are fired for prolonged periods in full auto or semi-auto mode. It takes a very knowledgeable professional person to evenly apply the hard chrome lining to the inside of a barrel, but the barrel will have approximately twice the service life of an unprotected barrel. Both the military and civilians who shoot semi-auto versions of military style rifles swear by the hard chrome lining of the barrels.

Some claim that hard chrome lined barrels aren’t as accurate as unprotected barrels because the rifling of hard chrome lined barrels is not as sharp as in unprotected barrels. This is true, but the difference in accuracy will never be notice by the majority of shooters. One MOA is pretty common in most of the military rifles and their semi-auto counterparts being built with hard chrome lined barrels today.

Another method of dealing with the heat and pressure that rifle barrels can be subjected to is a process where the un-blued barrel is immersed in a very hot liquid nitride salt bath for a period of time. The process is known as “ferritic nitrocarburizing.” This is not a new technology but has recently been applied to rifle barrels to protect them from the heat and pressure from sustained fire.

Most people will recognize terms like Melonite, Tennifer, Ni-Corr, Blacknitride or Salt Bath Nitride. They are all variations of the same process. During the process, a two-part surface layer is formed, an outer iron nitride layer with a nitrogen diffusion layer below it. Nitrogen and carbon are diffused into the surface of the metal.

Nitriding is not a coating; carbon and nitride are broken down to become a 20 microns thick part of the barrel which stiffens the outside and inside of the barrel but not the core. It creates a hard, slick, friction-free surface that reduces heat and stands up to the high pressures generated by prolonged and sustained fire. Nitride treated barrels have a Vickers hardness of 800 to 1500 HV, which is harder than hard chrome.

One half MOA can be achieved with nitride treated barrels as the rifling remains sharp. Many of the Bench rest and long distance competitors are buying nitride treated barrels for their rifles. Barrels can be purchased for $89 to $100, and several manufacturers such as Sig Saur are offering their AR platform rifles with nitride-treated barrels.

Lastly, two companies — Advanced Barrel Systems and Proof Research — have been trying to wrap carbon fiber around a thin steel barrel for several years in an effort to create a barrel that is accurate and lighter in weight than conventional barrels. The basic idea is that a thin steel barrel wrapped in a tight carbon fiber sleeve would be lighter, impervious to moisture and more accurate due to the stiffness the carbon fiber wrap would produce. The idea has merit, but the science didn’t support the concept at first. Steel barrels expand as they heat up while the carbon fiber used in the original attempts, contracted causing uneven tension on the barrel which adversely affected accuracy.

It was later determined that the wrong carbon fiber was being used. Advanced Barrel Systems came up with a carbon fiber that is the result of the polymerization of coal tar pitch. Tests so far indicate that the tar pitch fiber actually does conduct heat away from the barrel and accuracy is much improved, while the carbon fiber keeps the barrel stiff without producing uneven tension. I plan to watch this technology for the next few years. I don’t think they are through improving the process yet.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing. He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.