Monthly Archives: July 2010

Alturus Lake /Sawtooths

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Alturus Lake Beach

7-16- 2010 They said it couldn’t be done but we snagged a campsite at Alturus Bay Inlet on what is the warmest  Saturday of the summer thus far.    This is a lively campground: kids, bikes, dogs, and every campsite seems to have several of each.  The nights entertainment was watch a parade of 12 made up of adults kids, bikes and strollers circle the campground twice.  Recovering from yesterdays strenuous climb to Sawtooth Lake we sat at the crowded beach & relaxed with a beer & lunch.  I jumped in the water and it was absolutely freezing.  About 2pm we got the energy for a two and a half hour hike along Alpine Creek the trail didn’t gain much altitude between the mountain and the stream.  One unusual sighting was a couple loudly nude bathing in the creek.  Dennis said I gawked.  I don’t have a picture of them just the creek.

Hike Alpine Creek (Alturus Lake)

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Kechum/Craters of the Moon

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Hemingway

7-17-10 Sunday  We drove to Ketchum for lunch and did a bit of a walking tour.  It’s a upscale resort town if ever there was one.  I had a salad for lunch that featured an entire head of lettuce I think.  We found Hemingway’s grave but did not add a bottle of whiskey nor did we site Muriel but we didn’t really know where to look.  We arrived at Craters of the Moon about 2pm.  On first approach it looks like a terrible accident with asphalt.  We easily secured a campsite but it was too windy to safely put up the tent.  We took a long hike, TOO LONG for me.  I quit & walked back the campground about a half hour before D.  We did the auto tour at sunset and attended the ranger’s “Critter Talk” at 9:30pm.  We learned that foxes mate for life and sometimes hunt in pairs.  A wolf print is bigger that a St. Bernard but has no claws.  We were more tired than the little kids attending in pajamas.

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Craters of the Moon Caves and All

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

7-18-10 Monday   We did three hikes in the park.  Using our 50 cent wildflower guide we are actually making some botanical progress.  It helps when your choices are limited.  At least we are always sure of Dwarf Buckwheat.  Dennis liked the cave hike best.  There are four caves and we entered the two easiest.  I like the hikes best when they allow you to walk over the fields of basalt.  I also really enjoyed running up the cinder cone yesterday at sunset.  I fade in this heat. 

We spent the night in a motel in Burley.  It felt fantastic to have a shower and wash our clothes.  We also located a steakhouse on the Snake River for dinner.

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Rock City

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

7-19-10 Tuesday

Drove to City of Rocks for a short but rigorous hike.  I never saw so many prickly pear cactus in bloom.

We spent the rest of the day on the road.  We ended up in Weiser, ID.  Quite a nice little town and friendly too.  D. noticed it’s the home of the workplace education.  The friendly people had diplomas posted. 

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Last night Hell’s Canyon. (again)

Posted on July 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Just to prove we are tough we hiked over 5 miles and back up Hell’s Canyon.  Some discussion about whether the name refers to the temperature.  We started with an overcast sky at 83 degrees about 1pm and returned about 5pm with the sky sunny and the thermometer indicating it was 102 degrees.  Dennis said he had the best beer he ever had in the tiny piece of shade we found.  I think it was 7:30pm before we could even think of cooking dinner or setting up our tent,  Due to the fantastic weather we had the walk-in campground to ourselves. 🙂   I jumped in the Snake River right after our hike, water is a little chilly, but I was comfortable the rest of the night.

We fled our comfy campsite by 9:30 am due to excessive head.

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