A subscriber, now friend, Gabriel, or http://www.youtube.com/user/NEWTFACED85 joins me on his first backpacking trek. I chose this trail to assure he would like and want to continue many more. We bagged a quick peek, ( Smith peek) then set off on a trial to walk Bear creek, end to end. I had planned on heavy rain and cold but still chose only a tarp shelter to show it is a good shelter even under bad conditions BUT, it also snowed! Having a great sleeping bag makes all the difference. The sleeping bag is where the warmth comes from, put your $ into this first, then the shelter. we walked up to the saddle, then bagged the peek, then did a 180 and went back down and into the canyon, exiting the next day on the west fork river. Then back to the lot and road, walked 1.6 miles north with our thumbs out, catching a ride by some cool guy and his kids, reached out cars near days mid. It was a great trek, the begging of GABRIELS time and another trail to trail connection on my own chart. We both had a great time, excellent food, drink, conversation and plenty of laughter. I am sure we will walk again in the future. here is a link to the cook system http://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-cone-system