Abbey's Road

I left Idaho early Thursday morning and settled in for a long 2 days of driving. Driving through Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho there was a long line of cars going the other way, even at 7:30am. I felt like I was going the wrong way and I was missing something, but happy not to be in the traffic. I never did figure out what all those people were doing going to Ketchum that early in the morning on a weekday. The drive through eastern Idaho and northwestern Utah was pretty boring. I know 2 areas I don't want to live. Instead of taking the interstate through southern Wyoming, another one of those places not to live, I opted for the scenic route and headed to Park City, UT. I only stayed a few hours, long enough to get Abbey out a bit and to find a coffee shop with internet access to check email. It seemed pretty nice, though fairly touristy. I managed to find a state campground on a reservoir a few hours east, just before you get to Colorado. It was kind of a strange campground, but it was cheap and not an RV park, and I was tired of driving. Abbey got riled up by all the rabbits running around the grounds. She wasn't happy that I wouldn't let her chase them.

On Friday, we headed out again and got to drive through Dinosaur, CO, the gateway to Dinosaur National Monument. Sounds like a great place to take kids, but we didn't stop. We made it to Steamboat Springs by noon, another nice ski town. Unfortunately, it was mobbed with people but we still managed to do a short hike to a waterfall. We didn't go too far cause it was real hot. We eventually made it to the Gibbons' house in Loveland around 6 or so.

Dan and I got up early Sat. morning and headed up in the mountains. He chose a trail to the top of Signal Mt. Not a real popular trail, we were about the only ones on it, but it was pretty nice. It was long and steep and we were real tired by the time we finished, but the views from the top and along the way were worth it. It was also nice not to have any crowds. It was the longest hike (almost 12 miles) with the highest elevation gain (3300 ft.) I've done so far. Abbey stayed behind since it was so hot. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I think we'll rest and I'll take Abbey for a walk around the local lake.
Longs Peak - highest peak in Colorado
View of the Mummy Range

Posted by Ed at 4:00 PM | Permalink

I got up a bit late this morning (guess I'm still on Pacific Time) and couldn't decide what hike to do. I really wanted to do one with a little climbing, nice views and some water for Abbey, but they were all a bit long. I finally decided to give Sawtooth Lake a shot even though it was 10 miles roundtrip. At least there was another lake about a mile before that we could always stop at and cut off a couple of miles. It was hot again today, but there was a nice stream a good part of the way so it was bearable. The first lake, Alpine Lake, was really nice.
We stopped to take a break and I would've eaten my lunch except for one minor problem. I realized I left my sandwich back in the refrigerator in the RV. I was pretty bummed, but luckily I had brought along some snacks. After a good rest we hiked up a bunch of switchbacks to what I thought was Sawtooth Lake.

I finished off the rest of the snacks while taking a break there, but then started to wonder why the lake was so small. It was supposed to be much bigger. So we headed on further just a little ways and came to the real Sawtooth Lake. For you sentimental republicans, the mountain in the background is Mt. Reagan.

I named the first lake Faux Sawtooth - kind of like a false summit. The lakes were all beautiful. This was really my kind of hike with the scenery I love '? alpine meadows, alpine lakes and mountain peaks all around. Abbey had a great time going in all 3 lakes and it really helped revitalize her after a tough climb up. It turned out to be 11 miles, the farthest we've hiked by far, so I was a little worried about her leg, but it seems to be fine. In fact, we found a new campsite heading south. It's by a stream in a dispersed camping area and it's real quiet. When we got situated I let her out and she still had a lot of energy. We walked around quite a bit through the woods, across the stream, up a hill and she still didn't seem tired. And her leg seemed fine so I was relieved. Tomorrow we're starting to make our way towards Colorado so we'll have a lot of driving the next two days. I'm meeting up again with Dan Gibbons, who lives in Loveland. We're hoping to get some nice big hikes in. His wife and kids don't like to do the more strenuous stuff so we are both looking forward to it.

Posted by Ed at 12:53 AM | Permalink

I have never been to Idaho before so everything has been a new experience so far. I drove out through eastern Oregon yesterday to make my way to Idaho. Eastern Oregon was a lot of high desert country, but there were actually a few large national forests that were quite green and mountainous. The first part of Idaho I drove into was also high desert, though not quite as bleak as parts of Oregon were. When I stopped at the Welcome Center I was told the correct pronunciation of Boise (the 's' is NOT pronounced like a 'z') and I also got some good camping info. I was supposed to meet up with the sister of Carol Davis, a woman I worked with in Germany. She just recently moved to Boise. We had a slight miscommunication on the day I was going to be there and she had already made plans for that night. Luckily, I found out just as I was checking out an RV park in town. Thank God. I was disappointed I didn't get to meet Judy, but very happy that I narrowly averted the horror of staying in an RV park. I've only had to do it once and it was early in the season and there was only 1 other camper there. And it was in a very picturesque setting in the Gila Wilderness in NM, so I don't really count it. Speaking of picturesque, I'm sure Boise is a very nice city, but once you get north of there, Idaho also starts to look pretty nice. It becomes mountainous fairly quickly and even gets a little greener, though it is still pretty dry. That first night I pulled into a campground that didn't look all that nice, but I was tired and it was cheap so we stayed. There was even a hot spring there, but since the temperature was still pretty warm it didn't look real enticing. I didn't mention that when I got to Boise, it was in the mid-90's. This is actually quite normal for Boise in July. Today while I was parked next to a lake I ran into a couple on horseback (not literally) and they said it is normal for it to hit the low 100's in July and August. The climate here is quite moderate for being so far north. I guess it goes along with the desert thing. It doesn't even snow much in town, just up in the mountains. But they told me to tell everyone that Idaho sucks and the people are jerks. They moved out from Michigan 15 years ago. It still isn't that crowded and they want to keep it that way. So, if you ask me, I have to say that Idaho sucks. I sat in the RV while we were at the lake because the flies were pretty bad, but Abbey was having a ball wading in the water looking for whatever it is she looks for. I think anything that moves. On the way into the lake I saw some more elk. 3 big males ran out of the woods and crossed the dirt road we were on only about 50 ft. in front of us. So far the only big animals I've seen have been elk. No moose yet, but I keep looking.

The scenery ain't bad though. I made it to the Sawtooth Wilderness and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area today. It was in the upper 80's but we managed to find a hike that was near water (for Abbey, that is) and was fairly flat so we wouldn't die. Then we found a nice campground near a lake so I went for a swim to cool off afterwards. Well, maybe 'swim' is exaggerating a bit. After standing in the very cold water for several minutes, I finally dove under and nearly lost my breath. I didn't last long in the water but it sure cooled me off.
Sawtooth Mountains
Redfish Lake

Posted by Ed at 10:05 PM | Permalink