Polar Plunge For Me!!

This weekend I hiked the most popular trail in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area: Iron Creek Trail to Sawtooth Lake. It was a moderately rated hike with incredible views. All in all, we hiked a total of just under 12 miles that day- including some scrambling to and from the waterline so as to avoid the group of people at the "beach" area.

A great deal of the trail was through decently shaded forest with large boulders and fir trees all around. The switchbacks were pretty gradual, so the hike was not incredibly difficult. We encountered a forest ranger on the way up who stopped and checked to make sure we had a permit- of course we did. The first of many spectacular views was an opening into a meadow full of wildflowers of all different colors. Once in the meadow, you have a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. (Talk about gorgeous)

After snapping some pictures and taking in the views, we continued on up the trail. It wasn't long before we arrived at an overlook of the first of two alpine lakes. This lake's blue-green water was sparkling in the sunlight as if it was completely saturated with glitter. The water was enticingly clear and I could see what appeared to be the perfect camp spot on a flat looking rock formation that jetted out into the lake. I'll definitely be keeping that in mind for possible backpacking trips in the future.

After spending a decent amount of time taking pictures here and just soaking it all in, we make the final climb up the rest of the trail leading to our destination for the day.

Just as I began to get a stitch in my side, the first glimpse of our destination comes into focus and all pain was forgotten. Sawtooth Lake is a thing of beauty and I cannot recommend this hike enough. The water is crystal clear and blue. The surrounding mountains, with their frustrating patches of snow in the middle of July are perplexing but beautiful all the same. We scrambled down some rocks to get to a good sitting area amongst the rubble close to the water's edge.

I started this hike with the notion that I would be jumping into the lake upon arrival and had even packed in a towel to ensure that I could do just that. Upon an initial toe-dip, I determined that it was going to be a bad time- but that wasn't going to stop me.

After a bit of mental preparation for my plunge into the icy waters of the lake, I was ready. I stripped off my hiking gear and stepped into the water. I stood there, motionless, for a minute and a half trying to stop psyching myself out and JUST DO IT. Finally I dove in, my sunglasses were pushed off of my face (yet somehow I managed to catch, and not break, them in my knee pit), and immediately all of the air was forced out of my lungs. When I surfaced, it felt like my lungs were spasming in attempt to pull in air. This resulted in some very odd gasping and grunting sounds as I returned my sunglasses to my face and pulled myself back over to the shore.
As awful as that all might sound, it was truly an exciting experience and I'm definitely glad that I did it. I was all smiles as soon as I started heading back to the shore anyways. After drying off, enjoying some lunch and fresh filtered water from this pristine alpine lake, we headed back down to the trailhead, thus concluding this weekend's adventure.

How Neat Is That?!

Everyone needs a good adventure buddy!

The views in the Sawtooths are incredible!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing The Border For Me!

We got done with everything so late last night and we were so exhausted that we decided to not worry with trying to find a campground, so we pulled into a boat launch parking lot and slept in the car. We woke up the next morning and got ready for the day, accompanied by the judgemental stares from various visitors to the boat ramp who likely assumed we were homeless (we certainly looked it after the previous day's events).

An easy day was on the agenda based on how incredibly sore and tired we still were from my birthday hike. Being that we were already so close to Canada, we decided to make the short drive up to the border just to say we did it- and so we did! When we finally realized we were at the border, we were already across and in the line of cards to get through customs. Neither of us have a passport, so we start searching for an out. There was a small dirt turnaround to the right of us, so we backed up and headed there to pull around the building and park at the US customs building. We figured we would go inside to see what it was all about and to ask if they had passport applications there. A grumpy old man greeted us with an abrupt "What are you doing in here?'' When we explained, he informed us that they don't have passport forms there, gave us a 1-minute summary of how the border works (x-raying trucks and all that) and sent us on our way. We left the building and walked up to the official border, which was marked with a small cone shaped concrete structure- which I, of course, took my picture with. The border was marked to the left and right up into the forested ridges by a thin pathway, completely cleared of trees. We took our pictures, hopped back in the car, and headed for the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.

I hadn't realized there was a NWR up there, so it was a pleasant surprise to find it on my map when we were deciding what to do for the day. It seemed like a neat little place to spend some time relaxing and observing nature. There are a few displays around the refuge office buildings, a story trail that leads to a beautiful waterfall, and an driving tour that promised excellent chances to see moose this time of year. As pretty as everything was, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed in the lack of moose that day (we saw a whopping ZERO).

After finishing our visit to the Refuge, we started to head towards Priest River in anticipation of our campsite reservation in Priest Lake the following evening. After driving through one campground with no luck in finding an available site, we pulled into a second and lucked out with a pretty solid campground with access to showers! (I'm all for spending days in the backcountry without showering and embracing nature and all that jazz, but after Scotchman Peak I really needed/wanted a nice hot shower). After cooking up some dinner on a pitiful little fire that really did not want to light, we crashed super early (it was very much still daylight out) to ensure we were well rested for the next day's adventures!

How Neat Is That?!

 

  



As an added bonus to the day, I found some Cactus Cooler at a gas station. We used to drink this as kids (we thought it was actually cactus juice) and I've been searching for some for YEARS now and there it was, staring me in the face in Sandpoint, Idaho of all places!

 

 

 

Bagging Peaks For Me!

After a great night at a pretty solid campground, I woke up to the first day of my 25th year! I had big plans for the day, but didn't want to feel rushed and stress myself out- after all, what's the point of a vacation if you're stressed out the whole time?!
I enjoyed my breakfast up on a small rock face overlooking the lake, watching the movement of the water and listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks. It was truly a peaceful start to my day. After breakfast we packed up camp, loaded up the car, and headed North to Sandpoint, Idaho. The road took us across a 2 mile long bridge over the water where I was able to spot two mature bald eagles perched in a snag along the shoreline. We made a quick pit stop and then made our way east to the trailhead just outside of the small town of Clark Fork. The road to the trailhead wound through dense forests and skirted by a few small logging operations before pushing us across a rocky streambed and ending at a small parking area.

Finally at the trailhead and rearing to summit this peak, we packed up our day packs with snacks, water, rain gear (just incase) and bear spray, and made our way onto the trail. Right off the bat, the switchbacks were brutal- but I remained hopeful that they would ease up once we gained enough elevation. Switchback after switchback, the gain remained consistent; but, I was determined to summit this mountain so we pressed on. After what felt like forever, we reached a small clearing and the switchbacks ended! HOORAY!!

Alas, we celebrated too soon. After taking a breather and admiring the view, we looked up the trail to find that it was a straight shot, but at an even steeper incline than the switchbacks. In effort to escape the loud trio that was coming up behind us, we tried to power up the next section of trail but eventually opted to take a snack break off to the side and allow the trio to slowly pass us. As we waited, an elderly couple (still have no idea how they managed this hike) passed us and the only thing that either of them said was "It's a grunt." Oh how accurate those three words were...

Shortly after this point, the trail experience improved drastically- breaking above the tree line and becoming more rocky the closer we got to the summit. I saw my first Pika (SO CUTE!!), my first summer snow (what kind of hell has snow at the end of June?!), and my first wild mountain goats- none of which were expected but all were a pleasant surprise!! The weather had started to turn sour right before we got to the mountain goats and only got worse. We still had a bit of a scramble left to officially reach the summit, so after spending a few minutes admiring the goats, we continued on- hiding in our rain jackets to try to keep dry and slightly warm. With each step it seamed the weather worsened, the wind speed increasing and pelting us with freezing cold rain and soaking my rain jacket through completely. We heard rumor of a small shelter at the summit and we made it our mission to get there and hide from the elements, even if just for a few minutes.

We crammed into the small shelter and had a snack to keep me from hitting a wall that was rapidly approaching. We waited for a break in the weather before making a beeline for the tree line! Going down was almost harder than the trek up the mountain, but we made it to the car just as it started to downpour.

Sore, wet, cold, sweaty, hungry, and completely exhausted- Scotchman Peak was a GRUNT, but 100000% worth it and one hell of a way to spend my birthday!

How Neat Is That?!

 

 

 

 

Journey To Northern Idaho For Me!

On June 28th, I left Nampa and began the 8 hour journey to the first destination of my 25th Birthday adventure in Northern Idaho! This day was primarily designated for traveling as I had a big hike planned for the next day (my birthday) and wanted to already be in the area by then. I selected a free "first come first serve" campsite called "Green Bay Campground" that would put me just over an hour from the trailhead I needed to be at the following morning. I selected the campsite based purely on location (and the bonus that it was FREE) and didn't know much else about it.
After passing the forest road that leads to the campground at least 3 times, we made it down the bumpy, rocky road and arrived at the parking areas, only to find that both lots were packed full of vehicles. Holding onto hope, we got out of the car and made our way down to the camping area, praying that there would be at least one open site.

As we walked through the first grouping of sites and saw the incredible beauty of the place, we became even more determined to camp there- even if it meant begging another group to let us pitch my small backpacking tent on the edge of their site. ALL of the sites are right on the edge of the lake, with just a few feet of rocky shoreline separating you from the water. The lake is essentially a bowl, with beautiful mountains and forest on every side. The rocks along the shore were perfectly smooth from years of erosion and were a multitude of colors- much like the photos I have seen of the rocky shores of lakes in Glacier National Park.

 Determined to find a campsite, we continued on to the next grouping- scrambling up a cliff (still wearing my flip-flops) rather than walking back to the car. The other side is even MORE beautiful than the first! After passing a few dishearteningly full sites, I caught a glimpse of a suspicious area that I hoped would turn out to be an open site. Running up the beach and into the trees I found an open site that was PERFECTLY sized for my little tent!! Apparently it was left unclaimed because the other campers in the area were large groups with multiple big tents and tables that would not fit in this cozy little campsite.

After setting up camp, skipping the smooth stones across the glassy surface of the lake, I built a fire- the first fire I built from scratch all on my on in fact. I AM A WILDERNESS WOMAN!!! We roasted hot dogs and s'mores, battled a brief bout of rain, and then went to bed- my last night as a 24 year old.

How Neat Is That?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becoming A Homeowner For Me!

Big news in the life of Rhian!
This past weekend I bought my very first home!! (Or at least what will eventually become my home)

Over the next "however the heck long it takes me" I will be working to convert this school bus into a tiny home on wheels! This is something I have been looking into for quite some time now, so I am SUPER excited to have finally found my magic bus! Its sure to be a long and difficult journey- blood, sweat, and tears will be plentiful; but, I am, excited to dive in and learn new skills as I work to make this bus into a home!

I cannot wait to see how everything turns out! I hope to create another blog exclusively for my bus conversion as well as a youtube channel to highlight some of the progress as I go along. I will be sure to link those in a post here when that gets sorted out!

How Neat Is That?!

 

 

 

 

 

Rafting The River Of No Return For Me!!

This past weekend I ventured up to Riggins, Idaho to experience The River Of No Return (also known as the Salmon River) in all its glory. Idaho is considered by many to be the whitewater capital of America, and Riggins is the whitewater capital of Idaho- so basically, there is no better place to go rafting. It wasn't quite at high water, but the rapids were raging nonetheless. Being my first time white water rafting, I was fairly unsure of what to expect aside from the basic idea that we would be going down the river in a raft. Driving along the first portion of the river we were going to raft, the rapids didn't look big at all and I was a bit worried that my rafting trip would turn into a float- boy am I glad I was wrong!

After a quick safety talk to prepare us for the unlikely event that we flip and end up in the water, the four of us and our guide, Tall, hopped into the raft and started heading down river. The first rapid we came to was Ruby Rapid- pretty wild during high water, but about a Class III rapid the day we were there. Tall made jokes at the other raft guides about only ever flipping once....per day, and then told us that they never flip with guests but that when its just staff in the raft, they push the limits and have fun. When we were pulling up to Ruby he said he never hits it head on with guests but asked if we wanted to have some fun- a question to which we all shouted YES!!

Clicking my helmet strap in place just in time- into our first rapid we go. Crisp water splashing into the raft, we start to slip off of our seats, I try to brace myself and end up in the floor of the raft thinking "I've got this, I'll just ride this one out from the floor, paddling when I can actually reach the water." Ruby, however, had other plans. In no time, she pushed the right side (my side) of the raft up into the air, dumptrucking all of us out of the raft and into the rapids. Immediately, all of the safety tips we were given were put into practice.

Feet down river.

Look for the raft.

Don't try to swim.

Tall frantically grabs any gear within reach and tosses it into the raft before climbing back in himself. He pulls Zane in and starts scanning the water for the rest of us. Zane pulls me in, Rebecca gets picked up by another raft, but where's Kate? We paddle to the side of the river and start scanning. We can't find her. Tall grabs some rescue gear, scrambles up to the road, and starts running up river. As other rafts run by, they start helping us look for her. At last, we find her climbing the rocks on the opposite side of the river where she had apparently eddied out. After another raft picks her up and brings her over to us, we are on our way once again- down one flip flop, one water bottle, two hats, one pair of sunglasses, an oar, and a few paddles. Nothing is going to stop us.

After an experience like that, we can handle anything. We continue down river, hitting rapids as they come, taking in the beautiful views, and talking and laughing with everyone. Stopping for lunch back at the shop, we then head back out for the second half of our trip, continuing down river. We hit some really fun rapids and even had an audience along the way. Apparently people will just pull off to the side of the road and sit and watch people take on the rapids (probably eating popcorn and hoping someone will flip).

I'm so glad I got to experience White Water Rafting in Idaho with such an awesome group of humans. I'd say it was a super successful adventure and a pretty great Mtn Chicks event. I'm definitely going to go rafting again- next time on another river!

How Neat Is That?!

Listening To Nature For America!!

Yesterday, I lead a program at the Caldwell Public Library for their summer reading program. I remember going to those programs as a kid, so it was cool to get to be the presenter for one of those programs. The summer reading theme this year is "Libraries rock" so the fist portion of my program was about the sounds of nature, which was the best way I could think of to incorporate the theme into what the refuge has to offer. After the general intro to the refuge and encouraging the families to come visit us this summer, I lead a nature sounds activity where I would play a sound clip (of something-plant, animal or otherwise) and ask the kids to guess what made the sound. They were all way more interested in it than I anticipated, and they were pretty good too! After that activity, we broke into stations where kids could do fish printing, interact with our pelts, color pictures, and match bird feet with the picture of the bird and match repliscat to the animal that left it. The program went really well and it definitely helped to slightly improve what started as a pretty rough day. Fiona, the librarian, gave me a thank you card and a mug to say thanks for all the programs I have done for her this year and to say good luck at my next job.
How Neat Is That?!

 

 

 

 

Springtime Summits For Me!

A whole other world without snow

This weekend, we trekked up Station Creek Trail to Bald Mountain- the same trek I made on snowshoes earlier this year! I had been wanting to hike this trail and see what it looks like without snow for some time now and this past Sunday was the perfect opportunity.
Let me just say that hiking it was WAY easier than it was on snowshoes! The views from the top were definitely more impressive when the mountains and trees were snow covered, but it was a beautiful hike nonetheless. I am definitely feeling it a little bit today- but in a satisfying "I hiked that" kind of way.
Definitely going to start adding some high elevation gain hikes to the agenda as I have decided to summit Mt. Borah this summer (Idaho's highest peak) and I definitely want to be at least a little more prepared than I am right now, or it will be a miserable 10-12 hours.
How Neat Is That?!

Same spot, but with snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Confusion For Me!



This whole "there is still snow here in June" concept is still mind blowing to me! We tried to go for a hike out to a lake near Cascade, Idaho yesterday but were thwarted by the last section of road still being icy and covered in a thick blanket of snow! I was in a tank top and shorts, but the mountain didn't seem to care that winter is over now and summer is knocking on the door!
I feel like I learn something new about Idaho every day. This stake sure knows how to keep it interesting and keep me on my toes.
It was just crazy for me to have gone from sweating my ass off in the desert of the Owyhee Mountains on Saturday to trekking through deep snow on Sunday! What a time to be alive!
Despite the snow, we played around on the mountain for a bit before heading down and driving up to McCall for a bit. We paid a quick visit to Ponderosa State Park where I got to hug some aspens and a HUGE ponderosa pine (my favorite) that smelled super strongly of vanilla (I'm in love with these trees). After a quick walk through the park and being eaten alive by mosquitos, we headed into town and got some ice cream from  a little shop in an alley that advertised having "mountain sized scoops". That was a serious understatement! There three scoop cones are A PINT AND A HALF of ice cream!!! I got a double scoop thinking it would be like any other ice cream shop, but boy was I wrong! Their huckleberry ice cream was amazing though- complete with whole huckleberries mixed in! (definitely going to have to take the fam there when they come for a visit in august!)

How Neat Is That?!

 

 

 

Blazing Trails For Me!

This past Saturday was National Trails Day and I spend the day on a trail maintenance project with ITA (Idaho Trails Association) and REI. We met up at the Boise BLM office to get situated and then headed down to Perjue Canyon in the desert of the Owyhees. In total, we hiked about 10 miles and spent a fair amount of time widening the trail by trampling small plants that had sprouted up in the trail and by cutting back plants that were growing out across the trail. There is still PLENTY of work to be done on that trail, but we did as much as we could with the timeframe we had.
It was a beautiful hike through the canyon. The trail followed and crossed (several times) a small creek that flowed through the canyon, creating unexpected stretches of lush riparian areas in what would otherwise be a stark, dry desert canyon.
I am really enjoying these trail building and maintenance projects and hope to continue participating in them, even after I have left Idaho! In fact, I have signed up for another project with the Winter Wildlands Alliance towards the middle/end of June, so I'll be looking forward to that!
How Neat Is That?!

 

Perjue's cabin- the namesake for the trail

We were literally in the middle of nowhere

This was the ONLY bunch of these pretty purple flowers in the entire area we hiked!

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring The PNW For Me!!

SUPER cheesy tourist photo from our visit to the Space Needle. (It was included with admission- we HAD to do it)

The Lunar Rangers Take On The Space Needle

 Zane and I took an extra long weekend and headed on over to spend some time in Seattle and Portland. He had an interview in Seattle, so we started there.

After a little chaos in trying to find a hotel room that was not disgusting or one first born per night we had a pretty great trip. After his interview we took the train into downtown Seattle for lunch and a visit to the Space Needle- so that was pretty neat. We walked around town and along the water- all in all covering about 8 miles on foot! Can't say I'm a huge fan of Seattle though- it's WAY too big for my liking- so I'm glad my "Seattle" job that starts in August is really more Tacoma and even then is further outside of the cities.
The next day we went down to Portland where we met up with some of his family/friends. We rode the train, hit up the Portland Saturday Market (got some elephant ears), visited the Oregon Zoo, and grabbed some drinks with his cousin.
We attempted to visit a waterfall on the drive home but after waiting in line to board the shuttle for at least an hour, we learned that virtually the entire area around the falls is closed, so all we would be able to do was see it from the base. So, rather than wait for another hour or more (who knows!) we decided to just drive by it as it was essentially the same view but without the waiting in line part.

All in all, it was a pretty great weekend- and my first time visiting Washington OR Oregon!
How Neat Is That?!

The Space Needle!!

Big fan of the walrus things on this building

 

The Oregon Zoo has SO many ducks.....they're in enclosures EVERYWHERE!