Hikes

Besides a few jaunts up the Menan Butte, we made it on few hikes this summer. The planning and execution of a wedding filled up some of our time, but we still managed to make it outdoors.

Monday, July 7: Darby Canyon Wind Cave (6.5 miles, 1,811 feet elevation gain)

Miriam wanted to try out some hiking since her feet have improved somewhat, so we went on our beloved Monument Hike. Grandma and Grandpa Scott came with us, but we soon outpaced them (with their blessing) and met back up with them after we came out of the cave.

Group selfie at the trailhead. Andrea, Seth, Rebekah, Winnie, Miriam, Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott. Ana had to work. (She worked the front desk at a mental health clinic. A lady in our ward is one of the providers, and she asked Ana if she wanted the job for the summer.)

Underneath the rock shelf that sometimes has a snowmelt waterfall. 

Seth coming through the cave. Seth, Winnie and Rebekah went back to/through the army-crawling part together. I went into the cave but didn't go back that far. (Good news! This time I didn't have a panic attack!) Miriam opted to come into the cave with us but stay near the mouth.

Sitting below the cave mouth.

Meeting up with Grandma outside the mouth of the cave. We got to sit together at the monument and have lunch.

Seth holding the sole of his boot. He chose to wear a pair of boots that Grandpa Scott had passed down to him. That proved fateful because, by the end of the hike, the sole had come off of both boots. That doesn't make for very comfortable hiking. 

Friday, July 11: Elk Mountain Fire Tower (7 miles, 2,339 feet elevation gain)

Rebekah had heard me talk about "the Beacon of Gondor" (actually just an old fire observation station) the year before, and she wanted to check it out with me. We loaded Dixie up with us (she's proving to be a good hiking companion) and drove to Alpine, Wyoming, to experience it together. This was an especially sweet experience for me because Rebekah got married less than a month after this hike; we had some great one-on-one time during this hike.

Dixie and Rebekah headed up the trail.

Inside the fire tower. Rebekah started to feel really nauseous on the last little bit of the ascent to the tower. I worried that she would have a rough time for the rest of the hike, but after taking some time at the top, she felt much better. There was also some kind of rodent that was scurrying around under the wooden floor of the little shack, and it was driving Dixie crazy. She would sit there with her ears perked up and try pouncing on the floor. 

The three of us hikers outside the tower.

The friendly little caterpillar Rebekah found on the way down.

Saturday, July 26: Union Falls (17.5 miles, 848 feet elevation gain)

Rebekah chose to do this hike with the family while her fiancé was here. Seth and Nathan got to experience this hike for the first time while Grandpa Scott, Rebekah, Winnie and I enjoyed a repeat. We shared the trail with a bunch of horse riders (I dumbly startled one by shaking out my foot-drying towel after one river crossing), and we switched things up by seeing the waterfall first, then going swimming at Scout Pool. Honestly, that's the best way to do it, so if we go again, we'll have to remember that order.

The other notable thing about this hike was the dumb way Google Maps wanted us to get to the trailhead. Instead of taking the direct route through Marysville on Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road, it told us that the road was closed and we should take a series of forest roads that would add an extra hour of driving time and include 22 miles of unpaved roads. We started on this route as prescribed by Maps, but not too far into it, we realized that this was a dumb idea. The route was leading us through cattle gates and possibly onto private property. The roads were bumpy, narrow, rutted and sketchy. So we turned around and went the real way. The road we wanted wasn't closed because it was July and there's no need to plow roads in July. So with a little detour we were back on track and made it to our trailhead.

Our first river crossing.

Andrea and Grandpa crossing the river. 

Rebekah and Nathan resting on the log while Grandpa and Winnie eat their lunch in sight of the falls.

Rebekah with the snake she found on the trail. This is when I learned that my future son-in-law doesn't like snakes. 

Seth crossing the river on the way back. You cross three times on the way there and three times on the way back, so you get quite proficient at switching shoes, etc. 

Winnie dunking her hair in the river after crossing.

Tuesday, August 12: Leatherman Peak (7.7 miles, 4,022 feet elevation gain)

Grandpa Scott started talking about summiting Leatherman Peak in the fall of 2024. "Have you heard of Leatherman Peak?" he asked me. I hadn't, but I did my research and found out that (1) it's Idaho's second-highest mountain, (2) it's in the same mountain range as Mount Borah, (3) the road to the trailhead is a beast, and (4) it's a tough slog through loose rocks for more than half the trail. But hey, it would be an adventure, right?

Winnie was the only one who took on the responsibility of accompanying the two of us. Knowing that it takes 1.5 hours to drive to Mackay and another 2 hours after that to get to the trailhead (even though it's only 47 miles away from Mackay), we drove up the night before so we could camp at the trailhead. I knew that we'd need something with high clearance and four-wheel drive, so we took our pickup and loaded up our gear in the back. The first part of the road after turning off the highway is great; it's gravel, but it's well-kept. But 10 or so miles in, the road transforms into something like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. We had to drive through a creek, but that wasn't the scariest part for me. Often I was going only 2-3 MPH over huge boulders, and a time or two I had to put the truck in 4WD just to get up a steep embankment. The entire time, I had both hands clutching the steering wheel like it was my salvation. 

At the trailhead, however, we enjoyed a little slice of backcountry heaven. There was a creek running through it, several cows to hang out with, some picnic tables, and a latrine. We set up our tents, ate dinner at the picnic table, and even played a game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (a game that relies on quick reaction time, hence Winnie beating both of us fuddy-duddies) before heading to bed. One other couple showed up and set up camp a ways from us before we retired for the night, but everyone just kept to themselves.

Poor Grandpa had forgotten to grab his sleeping bag, so I gave him mine and instead used a couple of blankets I had brought just in case. We also had four rechargeable handwarmers, so I gave one to Winnie, one to me and two to Grandpa. All of us managed to get/stay warm enough (eventually), but Grandpa and I didn't sleep well because (for Grandpa) the creek was a little too much white noise and (for me) the thought of people suffering from the cold and anticipating waking up at 5. But we made it.

The next morning while it was still dark, we quickly and quietly got dressed, ate some breakfast, and set off down the trail with our headlamps. The first 2ish miles of this hike are extremely misleading. We traipsed through a beautiful forest and a lovely meadow and passed over the most picturesque little water feature with wildflowers before cutting over and basically going straight up loose rock for the rest of the ascent. Eventually we kind of spaced ourselves out over the loose rock; Winnie in the lead, me in the middle, Grandpa bringing up the rear. With every step you took going up, you slid back about a half step. It was grueling. It was, at times, frustrating. When you looked up, you'd see a seemingly never-ending mountain. When you looked down, you'd wonder if you had actually made any progress.

With many recharge breaks (snacks, water, huffing and puffing), Winnie and I reached a little snowy saddle. We crossed that and continued up until we got to the top. We enjoyed the amazing view for a while, then I tried turning on my walkie talkie to see if Grandpa had (by chance) also turned his one. Gratefully, he had, so I was able to direct him over the snow saddle and up the right way. I went back down a ways from the top until he could see me, then the two of us joined Winnie on top.

Winnie had already eaten her lunch, but Grandpa needed time to eat and enjoy his accomplishment. (How many 75-year-old men can do what that man does?!) After eating, enjoying the view and taking several pictures, we headed back down the trail.

You would think that, if climbing on loose rock takes 2x the effort, going down on loose rock would take about half the effort. In some ways, going down was easier in that you "skree skied" the whole way. (You take a step, and you slide several feet.) But then you have to take into account the balance and dexterity it takes to do that safely. All of us fell several times coming down, with Grandpa bearing the brunt of the injuries (scraped up forearms) because as you get older you naturally lose some sense of balance and reaction time. But then we were back to the safety of the beautiful meadow and forest trail. 

We made it back to camp (without ever seeing another hiker on the trail the entire day), took everything down and loaded it back up, then had to traverse the crazy-bad mountain roads back to the highway. It was only slightly less nerve-wracking on the way out only because I knew we had made it in. 

When we got to Mackay, we made a stop at Scoops Corner Cafe for (of all things) Mexican food (served by the cutest family of little redheads) and ice cream. Then we drove home without incident and spent the next few days walking gingerly down stairs.

This is a hike that I'm super proud of (all of us) making, but I'm not sure if it's one we'll be doing again. The ride alone to the trailhead gives one pause for thought. That being said, the views from the snowy saddle on up were absolutely breathtaking, and we could see Borah from the top. I'm proud of all of us for making the summit on this one: Dad because of his age and grit, and Winnie because of her age (in the opposite direction, of course) and determination. I told Winnie, "If you can do this, you can do Borah." "Really?!" she asked. We'll see if that's on her radar sometime in the future.

Eating dinner on the cute picnic table at our cute campsite.

Headed up the beautiful trail.

The slog. Sometimes you could kind of make out a trail, but you really had to make your own way up the loose rock. Sometimes it worked best to make your own little switchbacks. Sometimes you looked out for the really big rocks that wouldn't slide away from you as you stepped on them.

Winnie on the snowy saddle. There's still a fair climb after this, but it's much more rewarding because of the views. The folds and lines in the mountain behind Winnie were so cool.

Winnie relaxing on top.

The three of us on top.

Headed back down. 

The beautiful tiny creek with wildflowers that I wanted to pack up and take home with me.

The beautiful meadow.

And end-of-hike trailhead photo since it was dark when we passed it on the way in.

The funny latrine at the trailhead. I guess that little doors covers the important stuff.

Thursday, October 23: Drake Creek and Grove Creek (7.5 miles, 1,729 feet elevation gain)

It had been a minute since I'd been hiking, but due to a mild fall I was able to squeeze one last one in. I took Dixie with me and tried out something slightly different for this trail. Rather than parking where my trails app told me to for this loop, I parked at the Grove Creek trailhead, then walked along the road that connects the Grove Creek trailhead to the Drake Creek trailhead. Then I hiked the loop going the opposite way I did a few years ago, going counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. I liked going in this direction better, so in the future I'll take this route.

Dixie accompanied me, and we only saw a few other hikers but lots of beautiful fall colors on the way. It was interesting how in some parts there would still be colorful leaves on the trees while in other parts they would all be brown and on the ground. Regardless, it was a beautiful hike.

Dixie running down the trail. She loved drinking from the creeks and recognized the van when we got back to it.