- December 23, 2012
- 31 photos


While my brother Jesse and Jessica’s sister Amanda are visiting for Christmas, the boys go for some adventure in snow on lava.
While my brother Jesse and Jessica’s sister Amanda are visiting for Christmas, the boys go for some adventure in snow on lava.
Heather and Eric invite us up to the cabin in Atlanta, Idaho we’ve heard so much about while under construction these past many months. We are excited to see it and spend Thanksgiving together.
A long loop with unknown impediments requires an early departure. Snow and fire kept us out of the Trinity Recreation area this year. I’m curious to see what remains. Some effort is required to push the GS uphill through snowdrifts.
I ride for an autumn night by myself near Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains but am kept from my intended destination by wildfire. I find myself camped instead near an old fishway and falls along the Middle Fork of the Salmon, gateway to wilderness and “river of no return.” I spend the evening exploring on foot and the morning trying to warm up.
Jess and I narrowly avoid fire closures as we make our way north of Ketchum to spend the night high within historic Boulder Basin. The last five miles are quite challenging. They take longer than the first 200. It’s evening when finally we make it to the breathtaking basin.
Where will the Oregon Trail lead? Back to Missouri, obviously, but before getting that far, I found a few interesting things within an easy day’s ride of home.
Snow prevents us from reaching the Trinity lakes so we set up for a night along the cold creek below the lookout.
Having scouted it by motorcycle with my brother Joel, we decided our first Jeep camping trip would be near the historic Birch Creek homesteads along the Owyhee River.
A stretch of warm days give me hope we can take our new Jeep out for its first foray into the foothills above Boise.
Tyson and I ride our big bikes through the desert from Boise to Juntura, Oregon with a gnarly stop in Dry Creek Gorge. Dinner at the Oasis caps a day that ends with us flying home on the darkened Interstate.
Eager for a spring ride, I flew around in Google Earth and found a day-long route with highlights along the Owyhee Uplands Back Country Byway — an ancient shoreline, waterfall and big canyons.
Our brother rides have been in North Idaho forests so it was time for different scenery. Joel and I were lucky to have good weather while visiting Succor Creek, Leslie Gulch, Birch Creek Historic Ranch and Jordan Craters.
We stopped here last fall after motorcycling up for an evening at the Sourdough Lodge. We knew the kids would love it. The tiny car, not so much..
Jessica and I plan a backwoods cabin getaway at the end of a short hike through snow north of Idaho City. It’s only two days after hernia surgery but I figure I can walk slowly. I didn’t anticipate needing to chop wood.
If I get a snow day then Brenna does too. Roads too slippery for commuting give us a day to see the neighborhood recast in white.