1/27-28/12: Fish Creek Meadows, ID

I arrived at the trailhead around 9:00, after having put the kids to bed. The temperature was in the low 20's and the remnants of a crescent moon was setting. I turned on my headlamp and skied a little over two miles to get to the Fish Creek Cabin, a small warming hut on the cross country ski loop. I built a fire in the stove, threw out my sleeping bag and turned in.

The horizon began to brighten a little after 6:00 and I got the woodstove going again. I ate a Cliff Bar for breakfast and enjoyed the view of the sunrise over the Gospels.

A little after 7:00 I had packed my gear and began to kick and glide the rest of the loop. The moderate temperature (16 degress) and packed powder made for perfect skiing conditions. I finished the loop in solitude, having enjoyed a great trip.

1/21/12: Fish Creek Meadows, ID

Jen (only two days away from her due date), Sabrina, Laurel and I headed up to Fish Creek for some skiing and snowshoeing. The temperature was a pleasant 30 degrees and a light snow fell as we made our way around the loop before heading back home.

1/15/12: Tolo Lake, ID

Monique and I headed out to the lake Sunday afternoon for a short hike and to fish a bit.

1/8/11: Klopton Creek Trail, Hells Canyon NRA, ID

I slipped away for the afternoon to explore the Klopton Trail down in Hells Canyon. It isn't a long trail (5 miles), but the logistics really lay in how to get back to my truck when I was done. I didn't have time to head back down due to the short winter afternoon and my late start. I instead dropped off my mountain bike at the top where it exits out on Deer Creek Rd as I figured I could blast the 3,000 ft back down into the canyon a lot quicker on the bike than I could on foot.

It was 1:00 by the time I made it to the trailhead. I was a little concerned as sunset was to occur just a little after 4:00. The trail started by skirting an area of grassland as it headed into the canyon of Klopton Creek. I soon arrived next to Klopton Creek, which was flowing well. The trail intermittently paralleled the creek along the margin, or plunged right in through the riparian tangle. There were a few spots where tread became difficult to spot, but it was usually easy to regain the trail.

Close to 1 1/2 miles in the topo showed the trail climbing steeply up the left slope. Indeed, when I arrived at this spot a found a trail deeply etched by the hooves of deer and elk. I climbed steeply up the trail, often on all fours, only to later realize that a good trail bypasses this route staying next to the creek. The brief diversion did give me some great views of the canyon.

The flora shifted to montaine woodland with some beautiful virgin timber at the point where Klopton Creek and its North Fork meet. From that point on to the top I passed alternating between meadow and ponderosa. I then crested the small pass I packed a bear down this last spring and headed down to where my bike was waiting.

I arrived at the bike, ate a couple of cliff bars and blasted down into the canyon. I had debated whether to take some gloves, but for whatever reason in the end I didn't. Unfortunately my mistake meant that I was to have absolutely no sensation in my hands for the trip down. On my way out I passed numerous herds of mostly mule deer does with some occasional bucks mixed in. I would guess that they numbered around 100. I arrived back at the truck around 4:30, having seen no one.

12/26-27/11: Green Creek Point Ridge, ID

My parents were in town and it had been a while since the last time he was able to camp with the kids. We decided to hi some low elevation forest and see if we could find any grouse wandering around.

We drove up the Lightning Creek road to an abandoned forest road. The seven of us walked about a mile on the old road before we set up camp.

We put up the tents under a canopy of relatively young ponderosa. The early sunset (around 4:00) didn't seem to bother the kids as they spent most of the evening running around in the woods playing hide and go seek and "exploring". We turned in a little after eight.

Morning brought just a slight dusting of snow, a far cry from the 2-4 inches forecasted. We fixed pancakes and spent a little bit tramping through the forest to try and flush some grouse. Around 11:00 we headed back to the car. According to Wyatt, "This was my favorite camping trip all year".

12/18-19/2011: Hungry Ridge, ID

With only a few days left of bow season I hoped to get out overnight to hunt hard and get a late season buck. I was surreptitiously packing when my middle son figured out my secret and pressed me to come along. Very quickly my oldest son also decided to come along as well. I tried to talk them out of it, describing the cold and snow and that I was going to tarp it. In the end I lowered my odds of getting a deer, but increased the odds of a good time.

Wyatt, Colter and I left as quickly as I could pack after church. A very mild and snowless winter made the trip to our destination easy, only about six inches of snow lay on the ground at 4,400 ft. We parked the truck and shouldered our packs as flurries fell intermittently.

We only walked in about 3/4 of a mile before setting up the tarp under a large Douglas fir. The thick canopy of the tree had kept the ground beneath it free of snow and the needles helped to insulate us from the cold. We then found a spot to sit and wait for deer to begin to move. The boys managed for a little more than an hour before the cold began to make their fidgeting more than either I or they could bare. With sunset upon us (before 4:00 in the afternoon) we made our way back to camp.

The boys built us a fire while I fixed dinner. In the inky blackness of 5:00 in the afternoon I had the boys guess the time. One though 8:30 and the other 9:00. We spent the next four hours by the fire before retiring to our sleeping bags.

Monday morning dawned clear and cold. The boys decided that it would be a lot more fun to warm up by a fire than to sit over a cold game trail with the bows. We warmed up, ate breakfast and as the sun crested the trees we made our way back to the truck.

The highlight of the trip for the boys was getting to walk on the ice beneath the culvert back at the trailhead. The three of us spelunked our way through it before firing up the truck and heading home.



12/5/11: Unit 15 Archery

I spent a very cold morning on a late season archery hunt. Came across quite a few whitetail, but none in range. It was cold enough for condensation from my gloves to freeze to my bow. Had a great time.

11/26/11: Cutting out Christmas Tree

Saturday morning the eight of us along with my parents loaded up and headed up into the forest in search of the perfect Christmas tree. While we maybe didn't find the perfect one, it was at least a little less "Charlie Brownish" than the last few years.

11/20-21/11: Upper Pittsburg Landing

Jen took Sabrina for a mom-daughter overnighter in honor of her eighth birthday. Rather than keep the other five at home I decided we should head down to the Snake for an overnighter. We arrived at dusk and and I threw together the tent while the kids worked on getting a fire going. We read by the fire before retiring into the tent.

We awoke early in the morning to a temperature of 30 degrees, much warmer than we had expected. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning fishing and playing by the river before heading home. It was a quick trip, but any night outside sure beats one with a roof over your head.

11/7/11: Service Flats, ID

Spent a cold morning hunting Service Flats. Beautiful solitude.