Fall in Montana

 10/5/20

We hiked to Cliff Lake via Milwaukee Pass. We went to an overlook that looked down on Copper Lake, but it was drying up, so we felt not worth hiking down. After lunch at Cliff Lake (sort of like an endless pool idea of a lake, with Noxon Reservoir far below) we hiked up to the top of St. Paul Peak, which had great views of the cabinets, including Snowshoe Peak, Rock Peak, and St. Paul Lake. We then hiked down, and I hiked up to the top of Chicago Peak. 

The road up and down to the trailhead is the highest road in the Cabinets, and it's not maintained. It says for 4WD only, but my suby was able to make it up!

10/6/20

Biked from Sandpoint on singletrack up to near the Schweitzer Base, then took high point trail all the way to the top of Schweitzer Mountains. It was 27 miles, and I had no food b/c I hadn't planned to go so far. But it was okay, bonked a little near the top. I saw a beautiful mama black bear and 2 cute cubs foraging for huckleberries on the way up. They looked at me for a few seconds then took off down the trail

10/8

Voted by mail from Heron

10/9

Biked out to Uleda Point via high point trail and the new solar ecstasy trail. Very nice views and fall colors amongst the bushes.

Trip to the Gem State to visit both geological and human gems

 9/11/20

We drove to McCall via highway 55. It was super duper smokey in Lewiston, but not too bad in McCall. We had beers at the beach of Lake Payette. We then hung out at Shermans' mom's condo until Emily and Sherman arrived

9/12/2

We went to Chris' favorite bakery for breakfast and then to his favorite sandwich spot for lunch. We hiked the short but steep trail up to Snowslide Lakes

9/13/20

Cinnamon rolls from Sherman's favorite bakery, then he and Emily took off to Boise. I mountain biked a nice trail loop just outside of McCall. But it was so, so smokey today

9/14

I the morning, I mountain biked a fun trail off of Lick Creek, then we drove to Boise to stay with Emily and Sherman

9/15

We hung out around Boise and did some city stuff, like going to Sierra Trading Post. We had a social distance backyard hangout with Sherman, Emily, Yosh, Yosh's new girlfriend Bonnie, and Lael.

9/16

I had tea with Dr. Walser in the North End at Hyde Park. It was really great to chat with him. I then mountain biked some of my old favorite trails in the Boise Foothills above Camel's Back park and the old military reserve. That evening we had a wine hangout with the Righteous Rev aka Dr. Phil (the College of Idaho campus ministries minister) and his wife Tricia. We had a great time talking about everything from the Sawtooths to travel to politics

9/17

Biked a sweet new trail (Polecat Loop and Peggy's) and hooked up with an old favorite (Sweet, Sweet Connie). Elisha hug out with her Boise friends where she had dinner. Emily made us some of her fancy cocktails. Still incredibly smokey in Boise

9/18

We drove up to Stanley via Sun Valley because the shorter direction was closed due to a fire on the west side of Stanley (this fire had obviously not been the cause of the smoke, it was the horrific fires occurring in Washington, Northern California, and especially Oregon). It rained hard, so I didn't end up biking, and we set up our tent--at Stanley Lake--and cooked in the pouring rain. Sherman arrived pretty late, and we set up his tent in the rain as well

9/19

We went to the famous Stanley Bakery. We then all hiked to Leah Lake within the Alpine Lakes area. Pretty good weather with 30 mins of hail at the end of the hike. But the rain had removed much of the smoke. Even Donna made it up to the lake (Donna has prosthetics for her 2 back paws), but I carried her in my arms up the very steep, off-trail part of the trail, and put her in the backpack to carry her down. We had brats and s'mores by the fire for dinner

9/20

A beautiful day! We went to the bakery again. We then soaked in the nice Cove hot springs. Sherman then headed home, and Elisha and I headed to Redfish Lake Lodge. We booked a boat shuttle to the other side of the lake. We then hiked 5.5 miles up to the gorgeous Alpine Lake. We set up our tent, and then hiked up to Barron Divide (pass). Along the way we passed several small lakes. At the pass, I climbed a little peak with amazing 360 degree views of the 2 different lake basins, the surrounding Sawtooth Range, and the White Cloud range in the far distance. So beautiful! We then hiked down to the 2 Barron Lakes, which were also beautiful. And had you been a lucky marmot watching out over the lake, you would have also seen our "barron" butts as we went skinny dipping in the Upper Barron Lake. We then made our way to camp. We were the only ones camping in the whole basin.

9/21

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise with the flame-red peaks reflecting in the still waters. I then hiked back up to the peak for morning light views. Back at Alpine Lake I did some cliff jumping. We then packed up camp and hustled back down the trail to catch the noon boat shuttle.

We drove back to Heron with a stop in Missoula to eat at Masala's, which came highly recommended from M-Nugz' sister as cheap and yummy Indian food ($16 total for a a big plate that filled up both of us). We were welcomed back to Heron with 2 Trump flags, one hanging right below our window...

Late Summer in Montana

 8/28

Darby, Sue, Elisha, and I went to Sandpoint to hang out at city beach and eat burritos. I also ran across the long bridge and back. Boy did it feel good to jump in the lake after that!

8/29

Elisha and I hiked up to Little Ibex lake after spending the night in the car by the trailhead. Very beautiful with snowy mountains and huge granite slabs and blocks. We saw snakes, lizards, and frogs. Herpalicious. But oh the huckleberries! So. Many. So. Big. Also lots of thimbleberries and some raspberries and blackberries

We attended a potluck for Darby's graduation. Elisha was feeling a bit sick in her throat

9/1 

Elisha got a covid test. Negative. Wasn't painful. Just a little swab in the nose

9/2

Hiked back up to Little Ibex Lake to specifically pick those amazing huckleberry patches. It's 6.5 miles in. By far the longest Elisha had ever gone to pick berries. In the end we came away with a total of 27 pounds! (in the bucket, not to mention what was in the bellies). Our 2 other huckleberry picking drive-to events had yielded only 13 pounds total.

9/5-9/7

Went to the Franks' (Jim and Julie) for a labor day bash with Conrad, Whitney, Candice, Tom, Hannah, Bill, and Clair. Did both waterskiing (slalom) and wake boarding. As per usual with Jim and Julie, beer, wine, and cocktails flowed readily. Especially good were the mango daiquiris. The food was also amazing. Raw oysters on the 1/2 shell, smoked pulled pork tacos, huge steaks, pancakes, bacon and eggs, and a fresh fruit platter (mangos, peaches, papaya, apples, and grapes.

9/7

There was a crazy windstorm during the early hours of the morning. It more or less destroyed Same Owens camp where I was parked, but luckily no trees fell on Elisha's car. There were tons of trees down, including trees that had fallen on top of camper trailers and RVs. I had to wait until they could clear the road of the downed trees before I could drive back to Heron. Power would be out in Heron for the next 2 days, which of course did not make poor Grandpa Don happy. But it's kind of nice to sometimes be kicked back to a time of no power

9/9

I had a doctor's appointment in Libby for my yearly physical. We hiked up to the lower 2 of the snowshoe lakes. The trail was a bit changed b/c of private property, so it was a bit longer than the map indicated. The trail also went by the big mine (no longer working), and the trail partly followed and old mine pipeline.

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