Dusty lake hikes, hot spring star-gazing, and truck bed pizzas

 

Sorry we’re late! We were having too much fun in Idaho :) What a beautiful state! Our drive from Montana was maybe the prettiest travel day yet. Once we entered Idaho, the road followed the winding Clearwater River and was framed by picturesque Ponderosa pines and rolling hills. We enjoyed a life of luxury this week in two different Airbnb’s, both quite a step up from life in the big blue truck. We spent a few very fun, but sweltering (temperatures got up over 100!) days in Boise and gathered up our crew of friends to celebrate Matthew’s birthday. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with an AmeriCorps friend I haven’t seen in years (thank you Jenna!), jammed out to Caamp at the Idaho Botanical Gardens, and visited maybe one too many Boise brew pubs before heading to the mountains.

 We spent Matthew’s actual birthday driving out to our cabin in the Sawtooth Mountain range. It was a beautiful day for a swim, so we pulled over to hop into the river and picnic for a few hours in the afternoon. It is wonderfully easy to just pull over and find a swimming hole or camping spot throughout all the places we were in Idaho. We really appreciated that. That night we celebrated Matthew with lots of laughs, late night card games, peanut butter pie, and an impromptu game of limbo.

After a later than usual wake up and a hearty breakfast, the birthday crew took off for a beautiful hike near Stanley, Idaho. It was another very hot day, so our group of 6 slowly worked our way up towards Goat Lake. Luckily the hike began in a cool, thick forest. We hopped over a few streams and dunked our hats—or if you’re Matthew your entire head, to cool down. The trail then started to gain some elevation and we started up some switchbacks in the sun. Our reward for roasting out in the open was our first up close view of the appropriately named Sawtooth Mountains. The peaks of these mountains were so unique and looked exactly as named with jagged pieces jutting out from each summit. This was the sandiest hike we’ve encountered by far and many of us were comically covered in dust by the time we reached the top. The push to the top was one of our most difficult because it was all loose gravel and sand. You know how walking or running on the beach is always so much harder because of moving through the sand? The climb was like that, only straight up. One step forward, one giant slide back. The crew stayed positive and somehow still managed to have a great time. We hiked along beautiful Goat Falls until it met up with the glacial lake. It was surrounded by a bowl of the Sawtooth Mountains that you simply couldn’t stop looking at. The crew took a dip in the ice cold lake and fueled up with some PB&J’s before heading down the mountain. Sliding down the sandy mountainside turned out to be much more fun than expected. We were down quickly and checked out the local town of Stanley for a game or two of pool, a beer and a snack. Later that night we soaked our tired muscles in a natural hot spring just down the road and were treated to the most beautiful star-gazing yet.

The team took off again Saturday morning for another long, but rewarding lake hike. This time we headed for Alice Lake. The trail started along another lake that looked very tempting to just hang next to all afternoon. This hike was nice and gradual, but long, and had some brutal stints in the hot sun. It was all worth it when you looked up and saw the mountains around you. Alice Lake itself was like its own little paradise. It was good size and had many spots you could stop and camp or swim all around it, each with spectacular views of the Sawtooths. It was so quiet and the lake was so calm, such a peaceful spot to stop and rest. Some of us swam, some of us photographed, some of us napped, and all of us devoured a sandwich on the shore of Alice Lake. We stayed for quite a while and soaked up the good views and vibes and then headed back home. We went a different way back and had to cross over a good sized stream twice. It was interesting to see how everyone made it to the other side each time. I played it safe, of course, took off my boots and walked across the icy, fast-moving water. It actually felt really nice after putting lots of miles on my feet. Matthew went further down the stream and somehow made it across hopping from rock to rock. Others walked across a log balance-beam-style to carefully make their way across. After we made it back to our cars, the crew worked up an appetite, so we found a local pizza spot and ate a few, very tasty pies before heading back home. I felt like a real Idahoan as we ate our slices parked on the dirt road that served as the Main Street in town, in the back of our friends' pickup, with a few American brewed beers in hand.

After two long hiking days in a row, it was an easy choice to spend the day at idyllic Redfish Lake on Sunday. A large lake, humming with speed boats, jet skis, and that feeling of an endless summer day, Redfish was an absolute treat. We found a large, sandy spot and set up camp. We made a few tasty breakfast beverages, played frisbee in the water, and took in the views of the Sawtooth Mountains in the background. We even found some lakeside live music in the evening and grabbed a few ice cream cones while we relaxed on the lawn and listened.

What a great week of celebration and memories made! Thank you for all of the love and birthday wishes! And a huge thank you to all of our buddies that drove or flew lots and lots of hours to make Matthew’s birthday special. Off to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park this week. Stay tuned for another exciting chapter of our adventure :)