Late Summer & Anniversary

We rode our bikes on the rail trail as well as down to the river a few times to see the fish.

Dave cooked a delicious breakfast on our anniversary and surprised me with these gorgeous flowers.

We hiked up to Deep Lake off of Warren Wagon Road.  This was our first time on this hike!

It was a short and easy trail with incredible views the whole way and a crystal clear lake.

We thankfully grilled a lot this summer.  Dave made the most incredible meats and we discovered that these small peppers taste like honey after they're grilled.  Also enjoyed Delta's tip of grilled carrots!

Dave began building a huckleberry picking trail on the steep top corner of our property this summer while I was gone at work.  He put in days of brutal labor hauling huge rocks up in a wheelbarrow - a feat that required a running start every time.  He excavated a foot deep and hauled up gravel from the previous road that cuts our property.  It's shockingly long for a trail and is absolutely beautiful!

Some of the rocks along the winding trail up to the top of our property.  A beautiful labor of love.

This bike ride followed the rail trail down to the river and then we tried out the dirt roads along the BLM lands.  Really cool to see something new nearby.

This was a new to us hike: Lake Rock Lake.  It's an unofficial trail and the book discusses tarn and scree fields rich with marmots and pika.  We had no such luck, but did catch the first of autumn with the huckleberry bushes turning a bright red.

Blossoms at Sharlie's Garden off of Warren Wagon Road.

The Gardens are an incredibly peaceful place to visit and we try to go several times a summer.

Another grilling feat: homemade hamburgers!  They were so good!  And patio dining is always a summer treat!

We celebrated our 20th Anniversary (5th Wedding) in the tiny town of Lowman, Idaho.

We drove the unpaved forest service roads to get there, in order to see new country and avoid construction on the main thoroughfare.  The road winds along the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.  We had the great fortune of coming across a flock of sheep that was being moved.

Our original sightseeing plan was to visit an artist town in the Sawtooth mountains called Atlanta.  The fires in the area prohibited that, so we went to Idaho City instead, where I had been on a previous trip with Emily.  It's a fantastic historic gold mining town.  This is Lil's, the famous historic saloon, which was closed due to Covid.

We had sweeping views of the foothills and mountains across the way from the yurt we rented on Airbnb.  The yurts were only 6 months old and were located about a mile from some natural hot springs (Kirkham).  They are also just a short walk uphill from a pub/pizza place.  The whole town of Lowman has a population of 25 people (2018) and that's part of the charm that keeps bringing us back.  We stayed at the Sourdough Lodge there last year on our way to Stanley for a multi day backpacking trip.

We spent a lot of time on the yurt's patio admiring the scenery, reminiscing of past visits, drinking pink champagne and even playing scrabble.  Dave tinted this photo green as a joke because we had differing ideas about what color the yurts are.  We had some delicious Trader Joe's pasta dinners as well as a legitimately delicious pizza from the Pub below.  This is the second anniversary that we've celebrated in a rustic setting with hot springs and I think it would be incredible to keep the tradition going!

Downtown Idaho City is very reminiscent of the old gold mining towns in central California.

Our view from the patio: another one of the yurts and the gorgeous mountains.

One day when the wind cleared the smoke from the fires, we drove to Grand Jean.  What a beautiful place!  We had been there in 2006 and had to leave our campground because of a forest fire nearby.  We ended up hiking to a fire lookout in the Whitecloud Mountains instead on that trip.  But Grand Jean is definitely on our short list of places to visit.  There is nothing but the Sawtooth Lodge and a campground there.  And this incredible view!

The river and view of the Sawtooth Mountains from the road to Grand Jean.

The Sacajawea natural hot springs, like gems, dot the river along the way to Grand Jean.  Maybe because of the fires or because it's such a long way away from other tourist places, we and another couple had our choice of six pools in this location.

This photo is from the upper pool at the Kirkham hot springs near the yurts.  What an incredible treat to be out in nature this stunning and have our choice of pools.  We soaked in this one on our last day, but on our first we chose one closer to the entrance.  There is also a main pool below this next to the river.  All for just a parking fee or free for those with the National Parks Pass.

The last night before heading up to work we had an impromptu get together with our friends at Fireman's Beach on Payette Lake.  We all brought lawn chairs so we could keep our distance.  Dave grilled sausages and bell peppers.  We got to catch up with our friends Colin & Delta, Sean & Emily and an Antarctic guest who took this photo, Julie Grundberg, who was the McMurdo Area Manager.  A great send of, in sandals with friends, to work where winter and the snow had arrived.

Summer in Quarantine

 

The hike to Pearl Lake off of Warren Wagon road was a new one for us.  

We were rewarded with the most abundant wildflowers we've seen in years!

We were fortunate to see some bear grass in blossom.  They are our favorite!

Wild lupine.

Red paintbrush.

On a different day, we arrived at Hidden Lake by accident, intending to see Hard Creek Lake off of Brundage Mountain Road.  

Dave looks dwarfed by the corn lillies.

Gorgeous views and lots of flower filled meadows.

Hard Creek Lake is a hike we can't wait to try again.

We relaxed at Fireman's Beach on Payette Lake in order to be away from the crowds. Avoiding the hordes of tourists has been tricky and has really gotten us out of town and off the beaten path.

We've enjoyed grilling, cooking and baking.  This was a really delicious deep dish crust from scratch that Dave tried.  And of course we made the sauce from scratch as well.

This was the stunning view headed up to Duck Lake off of Lick Creek Road.

Duck Lake.

Bear grass on the Duck Lake hike.

Ferns on the Duck Lake hike.

We had a fantastic, hike filled week together.  During my next two weeks off Dave was at work, so I took a lot of walks.  This is Payette Lake at Art Roberts Park in downtown.

I also went huckleberry picking several times.  One especially fruitful (pun intended!) trip was with Delta headed north towards Last Chance Hot Springs.  

Biking on the rail to trail path (wild lupine).

I drove around Lake Cascade to see the progress at Tamarack and construction around the lake. There are lots of huge new homes being built on both sides of the resort and near our property as well. 

Biking by the ranches to Lake Fork.

Rocky Point on Payette Lake with the ladies.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the construction progress in our town.  This is the paving of Park Street. They also buried the overhead power lines, planted decorative trees and installed a wide sidewalk with grey paver stones.  Next will be light poles out front and pavement in the alley out back.

Payette Lake.

Hike to Louie Lake with Delta.

Watching construction on our townhouse has been a fun daily event!  

Sunset at Legacy Park.

Dave and I worked on our property when he returned, and found this lovely beach closeby.

We tried another new hike off of Lick Creek Road called Fall Creek Saddle.

The views were worth the 2,250 feet of elevation gain.

The hike offered some of the best, long distance views we're ever seen in the area!

This is Crystal Lake from the top of the saddle.  We could also see McCall and Council Mountain.

The next hike to cross off our list, Cougar Rock, is off of Warm Lake Road.

Dave at the top left of the photo shows how massive the granite rocks are.

Me hiking up to Cougar Rock.

Wildflowers on the Fall Creek Saddle hike.  And below, a bike ride on our last day.

We were very lucky to have beautiful weather and be able to get out on numerous new hikes this summer.  I learned how to ride with a mask on and most of the hikes we chose were strenuous so that we wouldn't run into people.  Love you!