Fuzzy Friday

My big kitty Cupid.

He follows me around to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.

He likes the packing paper.

Cupid also likes attacking the paper and tearing it into pieces. He gets really excited when I rustle the paper around and play with him. His excitement manifests itself in viciously attacking the paper like a lion kitty.

MEOW!

To Find Spring Backpacking Weather....go into Hells Canyon!

Every year since 2006 Ryan and I have gone to Hells Canyon for our first backpacking trip of the season. It is warmer down in the canyon and reminds us that spring is not far behind in Moscow!

The dirt road down into Hells Canyon.

We drove through a big cloud on the way into Hells Canyon!

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Dirty suebee! I love my car. I am so glad Ryan talked me into this particular Forester among all the ones we looked at in Portland last August because it never lets us down and takes us so many awesome places!

When we got to the trail head everything was very wet and misty. Once we hiked for a few miles everything cleared up and it ended up being a beautiful weekend.

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Nice rock trail/slope. Climbing out of the Pittsburgh Landing valley area.

Pittsburgh Landing on the Snake River
The trailhead is in the the valley in the distance. This is the last view of the valley we have on the trail before it winds behind the cliffs.

The views in Hells Canyon are spectacular. Especially when there is a certain hawaiian backpacker leading the way.

Ryan and I above Kirkwood.

It's such a pretty place!

Grace Jordan, a homesteader from the 1930s, wrote a book about Kirkwood! It's called "Home Below Hells Canyon," click HERE to read more about it! It is a good book. A snapshot of life on a sheep ranch in the early 1930s that I enjoyed very much.

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These are the original buildings from the 1930s. The far building is the main house (complete with concrete tub made with ancient ash from Mount Mazuma), and the closer building is the old bunk house, but now it is a museum with old farming artifacts and interesting local facts.

This is the sign down by the river that all the jet boaters see when they go flying by!

Some of the old farming equipment on display at Kirkwood.

Daffodils

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We brought glow sticks from the dollar store with us for entertainment!

Can you smell dinner cooking?

Actually it's just hot water for dinner, but I love the jetboil just the same for all the warm meals it has provided us with.




Candle lantern and Burts Bees Res-Q!

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Waiting for the sun to shine into the canyon in the morning. It hit our campsite around 10 a.m!

Pretty pink flowers on the trail homeward.

One of the long stretches of trail along the canyon walls before it dips into a valley full of flowers again.

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A few of the wild animals we saw in Hells Canyon:

These guys were right alongside the dirt road we took through the Nez Perce national forest into the Hells Canyon Rec area.

Don't step on the snails!!!


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This was my Easter present from God.



These little dudes were one of the last things I saw on the trail out of Hells Canyon. So curious about us but obedient to their masters and stayed put where they were told to. They remind us how much we want our own little trail dogs someday. One day the stars will align and we'll be trucking down the trail with furry pals. Until that day I can look at pictures of all the dogs I have met on trails over the past years and oogle at their cute little faces.

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Hells Canyon trip: BIG SUCCESS!

Where will the next trip be?

Oregon coastline in June?!

Stay tuned.

Backpacking Mood Time

It's almost that time of the year again!

In anticipation of backpacking season I've been looking at trail photos from the last few years. Some (oh, wait, there are a TON, so it may take awhile to read: BEWARE!) of my favorites are sprinkled throughout this post....You'll probably notice that I spent some quality time with photoshop over the weekend.

It's sunny and beautiful on the Palouse, and I love to take advantage of it! The next few days are suppose to be in the 60s and sunny! It's what I've been waiting for. On Sunday I started some seeds: spinach, lettuce, cucumber, and sweet orange peppers. Only time will tell how these early little seedlings will fare. I planted all the seeds in pots, so I can bring them inside if it gets too cold. The pepper pot will stay inside with those delicate little seeds, but I think the spinach will be ok outside as long as it doesn't frost.....If I bring the plants inside I'll have to lock the cats out of the bathroom so they won't dig in the pots, but I think we can handle that.

I can't wait until the seeds sprout and I have a little more greenery to enterain myself with!

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Hiking Trails
Favorite Photos
2006-2009

Kamiak Butte in Washington
May 2008

We spent a day on Kamiak Butte the day after we lost our kitty Hugo last June, it was very relaxing and healing to be up on the butte all by ourselves. We did a lot of cloud watchin. It was beautiful.

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Our first trip this year (and for the past 3 years) will be in Hells Canyon. We're crossing our fingers that the weather will cooperate this coming weekend! It's a great early spring hike before the rattlesnakes and intense heat come out for the summer.

Hells Canyon
Idaho trail along the canyon wall
April 2008

Hells Canyon
April 2008

This part of the trail is one of my favorites, it meanders through some pretty open meadows and valleys in between sections on the canyon cliffs.

Hells Canyon 5 Mile Marker
April 2008


Hells Canyon
April 2008


One of my pretty little meadows with the trail seeming to stretch for miles.

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I love hiking in Hawaii!!
We make it a goal to try a new trail every time we are on the island.


Maunawili Trail on the windward side of Oahu
December 2007


Kuliouou Ridge Trail
June 2008
Ko'olau Moutain Range

It was pretty scary from the top. You could see right off the edge of the Ko'olau mountains. It was also very windy with not much to hang onto besides the "end of trail" sign. We stayed for a few minutes to snap photos and then we were outta there!

Here are some of the pretty views:

The dirt you see is the end of the trail.

The Ko'olau Mountain Range above Waimanalo.

End of the Kuliouou Trail!

The Mokoula islands of Kailua beach are small in the background.

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One of our favorite places to hike is in the St. Joe wilderness to Heart Lake. From the first time we took a 10 mile detour while hiking on trail 65, (read about it in my first post, "Heart Lake Expedition"), we have loved the challenge and mystery this forest holds. It also helps when there are tons of huckleberrys waiting to be harvested by purple hands. :)

Wearing sandals in between the 4 crossings of Sawtooth creek.

"Make your own trail" while crossing Sawtooth Creek.

August 2008

Backpackers hiking out from Heart Lake.

September 2008

Heart Lake cutoff trail from trail 65 ridge.

August 2008

The best Heart Lake camp is kind of in the middle of the trail that winds it's way to the very edge of the lake where the cliffs meet the water.

September 2008

The trail coming down from trail 65 goes across a few rock slides. The trail is well worn ito the rocks but this is the view down to the lake off the side of the trail!
August 2008

The same Heart Lake cutoff trail going across a rock slide. You can see my pink shirt in the background!

September 2006

Another shot of the trail worn into the rock slides along the Heart Lake basin.

August 2008

Puddles in the trail. Pack horses also use this trail so parts of it are sometimes destroyed and fill with water. The puddles were fun to jump over!

September 2008

This is the view leaving Sawtooth Saddle trailhead after a few days of backpacking in the St. Joe.

September 2008

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Moose Creek Reservoir

February 2009

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Elk Creek Falls

Idaho

August 2008

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Cook Lake

North Idaho

August 2008

My family navigating a canoe (with wheels!) down the rocky 4x4 trail on the way back to the truck after a nice day of canoe and fishing fun.

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Wenaha River Canyon

Oregon

June 2008

We saw 3 rattlesnakes here...eeeekkk!

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Stanley Hot Springs

Clearwater National Forest

Hiking back out to the car from the Hot Springs on a hot summer day.

July 2008

Leaving the hot springs on a very rainy May day

May 2007

Water trail across Boulder Creek to Stanley Hot springs

July 2008

Beautiful trail photo in the Clearwater National Forest, with Boulder Creek in the valley below.

July 2008

It was so pretty I had to put up a second version of the same trail photo.

This is one of my favorites.

Trail goes where?
On the other side of the Hot springs toward Huckleberry flats.

July 2008

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I saved my most favorite photo for last.

This is at Idler's Rest preserve at the base of Moscow Mountain. This was the first day hike Ryan and I took together in the Spring of 2006 before we went full steam ahead with our backpacking obession. I love the sun coming through the Cedar trees as Ryan balances on a fallen tree.

Backpacking has been the best experience during the past few summers; I'm not sure how I would have gotten through some of the most major college decisions and events without the time in the forests to recuperate and rejuvenate my body, mind, and spirit. I plan to continue this way as long as I can put one foot in front of the other.

These trail pictures are nice, but the real thing cannot be replaced. The photos still bring a smile to my face every time I remember our trips into the wilderness.