Post from the wilderness

I'm staying at Taylor ranch which is part of the university of Idaho. It's a research faculty that takes dropins and let's them use the internet and electricity. It's a great refresh on a long trek in the middle of the the wilderness.

Stanley, ID

Stanley, ID is a mecca of the outdoors. To the south are the Sawtooths with hiking, climbing and mountaineering; to the north lies the Middle Fork of the Salmon River driving right through the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return. It's not a big town, but it has character. I was only planning on staying a night, but was feeling sick so stayed around for an extra night.
I had one of the best hitching experiences out of Stanley. I walked to the edge of town and stuck out my thumb. Along came a pickup, so I gave my best hiker look. Then I saw the lightbar on top and realized he was law enforcement. It's illegal to hitch in most states, so I hid my thumb. He rolled up and asked where I was going, I said "Marsh Creek." To my surprise, he said, "That's a little far for me, if it was closer I'd take you myself." Not a ride, but not a ticket! At the same time a girl in the parking lot behind me heard me, so when she was ready to go, she pulled around and asked if she could take me. She wasn't heading that way and took me the whole 17 miles out there. We had a nice chat and she had a frozen gatorade for me. The world is full of nice people.

Sawtooths

I headed out of the valley and up into the Sawtooths. As I left, fires were starting behind me on the plains. I came to my first stream crossing in the first mile. It was just a little to deep and wide to rock hop, so I figured I'd take off my shoes. I was fully clean after spending two weeks in the city, why get wet feet so quickly. Little did I know how much water I was in for... The snow was still melting, but the trail was clear for the most part. There were a number of abandoned cabins in the woods. They were erie and neat to come across in the woods. They were slowly being reabsorbed back into the environment. I made it to the wilderness, and the mountains lived up to their namesake. By this point I'd given up on caring on river crossings until I got to this one on the third morning. In the picture below is the stream crossing. Straight across where that log is sticking out is where the trail carries on. That water was at least 3 feet deep and pumping. This is the problem with hiking alone. Making these decisions and knowing there is no one to help. I chose to skip this crossing and spend the next hour bushwhacking a mile through swampy pine and scrub oak, using fallen trees like catwalks to avoid the brush. It was a long mile. That's what it was all day. Follow a stream up to the ridge and the snow, back down another stream on the other side to where it meets the river in the valley. Fortunately the rivers in the valley usually had bridges. Since I was heading north, the backside also meant more snow patches. It's these times when maps became really important. And this was in mid-July There was water everywhere. Melting, rushing, flowing, falling... Then the trail meets up with the South Fork of the Payette and is next to the water as it pours over fern falls. That night I camped next to the falls, and one of the largest bear scats I've seen. I made sure to hang all my food that night. The next day was 15 miles into Stanley. There were lots of burned out areas that were hot in the sun. On the hike into town, I was caught in a predicament I can only really explain in person.
View CDT Check in in a larger map

Boise

After 2 months on the trail it was nice to take a break. I stuck around Boise for a couple weeks getting ready for the next segment. I got there in time to see Wilco play. It was a great show with Blitzen Trapper opening. I hung out through the fourth of July and had a few fun grill outs, times at the horse races and out at trivia. Mallory drove me to the trailhead which was right up the road from where I worked for a summer on a fire crew. It was fun to drive up the valley, past Featherville and stop into Shake Creek. Not much had changed, the weeds guy was still even there. It was the weekend, so no one else was around, but the log furniture we cut was there. Wilco Set list
Idaho Botanical Garden / Boise, ID / 26 June 2012 setlist:
One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)
Art of Almost
At Least That's What You Said
Sky Blue Sky
One By One
Spiders (kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)
Impossible Germany
Born Alone
Side With The Seeds
Misunderstood
Whole Love
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Box Full of Letters
I'm Always In Love
Dawned On Me
A Shot In The Arm
..
Handshake Drugs
Jesus, Etc.
Walken
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm the Man Who Loves You
..
California Stars
Hesitating Beauty
Monday
Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Scramble, Be Flexible

Well after about two weeks off in Boise, I'm heading back to the trail. I've done about 1000 miles now and gone through 2 pairs of shoes. To me, this has been the preseason warm up before the regular season begins. All the snow, the high altitude passes, the large mileage days is all in preperation for what I've been looking forward to most. After looking at snow levels and reading blogs of south bounders, I've decided to flip around my schedule. I'm going to start in southern Idaho and head north along the Idaho Centennial Trail to the Canadian border. I plan on seeing my friends Chet and Melissa and their new baby in Sandpoint, before making my way to Jasper. I'm thinking of taking the train to Vancouver, then up to Jasper, but those plans aren't firm. I'll hike from Jasper south and down to Helena. Hopefully I'll miss most of the snow issues that some people are having. As we said in Philmont, "Scramble, Be Flexible."