Thirteen-year-old Ethan has just one goal: rescue his parents from the earthen prison that devoured them. While visiting his crazy Uncle Bart at Crater Lake National Park, Ethan's world collapses when all the adults at Crater Lake disappear, including his parents. Ethan must decipher the legends of Crater Lake and rally his friends to find the key to rescuing his parents before their captivity becomes permanent.
Steve grew up and graduated from high school in Salem, Oregon. He enjoyed hiking and camping with the scouts in the Oregon mountains, but his least favorite campout was a snow camp on Mt. Hood that is now referred to as "Camp Hypothermia." Instead of building a snow cave like he was taught, Steve and his friends dug a wide ditch and placed their sleeping bags inside, figuring the ditch would protect them from the wind. It did. But it didn't protect him from the rain. His down sleeping bag became a freezing pile of mush, and by 9:00 p.m., he was warming his freezing body next to a small camp stove.
"That camp was the longest night of my life," Steve remembers. When exhaustion set in, Steve gave up the heat of the stove and found a small corner in his Scoutmaster's snow cave where he huddled on the ice in a puddle of water with no blankets or sleeping bag. The Scoutmaster treated Steve for hypothermia, and the entire camp ended early the next morning when the Scouts cross-country skied out of camp and back to warmth.
Steve now lives on a small farm with his wife and four children, chickens, dog, cats and a duck. Steve has officially retired from snow camping.
