In what would become nearly a month in the state of Idaho, we left for our first trip as the calendar ticked over to July. On the schedule were two places I'd had on my list for a while - Indian Hot Springs and Idaho's City of Rocks State Park. Both of these turned out to be everything I'd imagined - Indian Hot Springs was rugged and remote, the old bridge across the river impassable*; City of Rocks was as unique a sight as we could see in Idaho, the granite outcroppings rising up out of the valleys and reaching for the sky.
* [update 2019-04] The bridge at Indian Hot Springs was replaced in late 2019/early 2020, so experiencing that little bit of history is no longer possible.
And then, with an extra half day before our next adventure, we called an audible and headed even further east - to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The remnant of volcanos not-so-long-ago, the landscape here is like no other. While it was a bit crowded for our taste, it was still a place worth visiting - if only to walk through the harsh environment and wonder what it would have been like to witness such a dramatic event.
Double Dose of Indian Hot Springs - The day started out just like any other. Well, any other where the previous included a 12-hour drive from home to the starting point of our next adventure. So let's back up for a moment... We'd arrived at Bruneau Canyon Overlook just after 10:00pm the day before - our drive from home behind us, capped off by dinner with Ben @m3bassman, Kirsten, Mikey @pizzaviolence, and Amber at their local taco joint - Enrique's - a place they'd recommended a year before when we spent Two-and-a-Half Days in Idaho. Having grown up in California and with a few great taco trucks at…
We Take Up Residence in Idaho's City of Rocks - There's nothing better than a night with temps in the high 40's a light breeze, and a river gurgling along below camp. Coupled with our position at the bottom of a valley, there was no reason to get up for sunrise, and it was nearly 8:00am before we finally poked our heads out of the tent to take in our beautiful surroundings - the creek below, the hot springs to the west, and pinnacles to the east. And, we did it mostly because we knew that it wasn't going to be long before it got even hotter than the previous…
From City of Rocks to Craters of the Moon - July 3, 2019. Hoping for a colorful sunrise framed by City of Rocks' formations, I was up early - right around 5:00am - greeted by clouds on the horizon and a showing that was at best, "meh." You can't win them all, and I was quickly back to bed for a couple more hours of sleep. Still, we were up earlier than we'd been the previous mornings - because we had no idea how long today's adventures into the Sawtooth National Forest would take - and we figured it would be a good idea to evacuate our adopted camp site…
Rig Review: Idaho July 2019 - What worked and what didn't? - July 29, 2019. In perhaps our most-traveled month to date, July was nearly an entire month in Idaho. In fact, we've had four trips in the last couple of months to this tiny state - after only having visited once before. After our SE Idaho trip to Indian Hot Springs and City of Rocks, our trip to the Highest Roads in Idaho, and running the Idaho Backcountry Discovery route, there are definitely a few things worth mentioning on the rig. So let's get right down to it. Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews The Electrical System - now with moar…