Bear Valley, Three Forks Hot Springs, Middle Fork Of The Owyhee, Mt. Borah, Seven Devils And A New Bike

This is the blog to cover many of last summers trips. Yeah, I kinda lumped them all together, but summer is too nice to be blogging right?

Bear Valley Lake

Jake, Ashley and Laura at the entrance to Minnetonka Cave

Laura and I

The stairway out of hell? Turns out it's cold

I think I saw an alien back in there

Be prepared for extreme winds at night at Bear Valley Lake! Many tents were blown down

Bear Valley hot springs, highly recommended!

Three Forks hot (warm) springs. It's an entire creek and extremely beautiful!

Lucy, Joey, Ozzy and Laura crossing the Owyhee River

And to think that is all nice and warm at about 95 degree. Best soaked on a hot summer day.

The mouth of the canyon along the Middle Fork of the Owyhee River. Watch for rattlesnakes before the canyon on warm days! We saw three

Crawdad warfare

It's a small creek in the summer with deep sections!

Just outside of Arco

Starting the ascent of Mt. Borah

After climbing 2,000 ft, only 3,000 to go

Starting Chicken Out Ridge

The Lost River Mountain Range

Mike on the class three scramble of Chicken Out Ridge... and then add snow.

The view from atop Mt. Borah

Tired and ready for dinner and a beer

The new Karbona Elite with Campagnolo Chorus! Finally, a nice road bike that is alllll mine.

The view of the Seven Devils from Nut Basin

4th Of July Family Camping Trip On The North Fork Of The Clearwater

Camp fires are so serene

The fam on a hike to find crystals, but the trail disappeared into overgrowth

The bridge to Weir Creek Campground

The view from Clark Mountain Lookout

Memorial Day Weekend At The Honeycombs

Echo Rock Hot Springs, a perfect place to soak away the stresses of life.

On the boat back from the hot springs.

The front side of the Honeycombs at sunset

From camp, a fantastic way to spend an evening

The other side of the Honeycombs, where it got really impressive! Unfortunately, the camera suffered a heart attack and died before the good stuff.

We Were The Highest Of All

Dear blog, you have been neglected for quite a while now. So here's to at least a minimal return to the blogosphere.

On September 12th, Mike and I decided we would attempt to conquer the highest peak in Idaho, Mount Borah. At 12,662 feet above sea level, this behemoth presented a number of challenges including a mile of vertical elevation change, a class three scramble with severe drop offs on both sides (Chicken Out Ridge), and snow deep enough to sink waist deep into. Two days prior, a friend had attempted it and got into far too much snow to reach the top. We were lucky enough for at least half of that to melt by the time we got there. Knowing not entirely what was in store for us, here is what happened:

If I Could Make Time Stop

Ah summer, to you I owe some of the greatest satisfactions in life. You allow me to walk out the door in virtually any combination of clothing or, hypothetically, none at all. It takes so much less effort to prepare everything. To top that off, the sun is up just the right amount! You give me exactly the right amount of darkness. Eight hours and we're back for another round of fun.

Just about now, the back country is opening up entirely. Way back destinations that require a backpack are my favorite! A mountain bike and/or car camping are tough to beat as well. Miles upon miles of pine trees, endless kinds of plants, flowers, valleys, rivers, creeks, lakes, ridges, saddles, peaks, mountains, wildlife and wide open blue sky as far as the eye can see.

Not only is the back country opening up, the rivers are dropping and warming up enough to float them in comfort while the sun builds up those big stores of the happy drug, vitamin D! The rush of a few big rapids going back to back or an hour or two of slow moving laziness are pure bliss on a blazing hot day. Bring it on in all of it's glory! Or maybe a rope swing in a lake is more your thing? Maybe even it's a jet ski or boating the open waters of the big lakes that get your engine running. It's all so do-able right now and we have that great big glowing globe in the sky to thank.

Soon the freshest fruits and vegetables will be giving us their best as well! A juicy peach with the powerful flavor punch that just overwhelms the taste buds or a ripe tomato that leaves you drooling for more. Mmm, these first few boxes of ripe cherries will have to hold me over until the masses come in in droves here shortly.

To top things off, we get September, the single best month of the entire year! Steady highs in the mid eighties and lows that let you sleep like a baby. The weather is usually the most stable of the entire year, not too many storms and typically not overyly gusty. Leave the windows open the whole month and forget about utility bills. Ah yes, thank you September, it is our one month that we might actually compete with California on the weather front. Is the ocean an absolute must when we lack millions and millions of angry drivers to contest with in return?

So here's to summer time! Raise another frosty cold one and stay out late for an Alive After Five or a barbeque with friends and family.