I signed up for a hiking group camp-out at Bruneau Dunes. I’ve visited several times but never camped there so that sounded interesting. And I’ve never visited the observatory, which is on the itinerary, which also seemed interesting. And I don’t know any of the people so figured that could be interesting as well. Here goes nothing.
Another Memorial Weekend, another desert camping trip with Brenna, this time featuring a venomous antagonist and a Ninja Warrior competition.
Apparently making up for lost time now, my neighbor Tony sends out word of another autumn ride, this time to the south. I RSVP in the positive once I’ve secured permission from the boss.
More trips with Europeans: Nick from Poland joins us for an exciting adventure to one of Idaho’s frontier towns.
It is just Brenna and I this weekend which means … there will be camping.
My neighbor and I take advantage of the year’s waning sun to find high desert adventure across the Snake River in the once heavily mined hills around Silver City.
Brilliant but cool autumn days beckon us south to explore again the Lake Idaho seabed, hoping for treasures both emotional and material.
Michael and I take advantage of unseasonably warm February weather to explore roads and histories south of the Snake River. [ Addendum: I’ve added images at the end showing some motorized restrictions we overlooked during the ride. Plan accordingly. ]
Something we’ve said we’d do for a while now, we load the kids up to visit Silver City then camp somewhere in the hills above. It was near freezing when I camped with my brothers recently but it seems warmer now. I hope so.
Keeping to the recent pattern, we drive south with the kids to camp at a place in the Owyhees I reconnoitered by motorcycle, stopping along the way to see the Owyhee Museum in Murphy.
From my secret campsite behind Silver City (disregarding the GPS track), I descend Bachman Grade to explore some lesser known canyons within the Owyhee Front.
I ride across the Snake up Reynolds Creek to explore roads and routes I’ve not seen before camping somewhere in the mountains behind Silver City.
Michael and I ride from Succor Creek Road through the Oregon Owyhees in an eighty mile loop around Three Fingers Butte.
She has been asking about it almost daily for weeks and finally we’re making it happen, a camp out for just Brenna and me. I liked what I saw last week motorcycling around Little Jacks Creek so that’s where we are headed with hot dogs, marshmallows and our best hiking flip-flops.
Per my usual process for a solo ride, I pan around Google Earth looking to see things I haven’t seen, consult with the Idaho Trails site and finally lay out a route in the GPS software. It works great thirty percent of the time.
After running through some options to break the television-watching rain routine, we settle on the forty-five minute drive to Jump Creek Falls, what some call a “locals’” attraction because of unclear, zig-zag access through private pastures and occasional use by teen revelers.
Jess and I with our two youngest travel to the southern edge of prehistoric Lake Idaho for a sunny walk around one of the world’s more unique environments.
Hunter and I explore a homestead and ancient petroglyphs along the Snake River across Swan Falls Dam. Heavy clouds darken the sky as we’re close to completing our arid loop. (Before you get excited, note this route is currently closed to motor vehicles.)
Little Brenna and I take the doors off the Jeep for a drive to Idaho’s historic Silver City and the surrounding alpine mountains. On the way we stop at the Owyhee Museum in Murphy then begins our search for the gold we finally discover in the setting sun with only a minor loss of skin.
Hunter and I trailer our motorcycles to the Hemingway Butte riding area where we spend the afternoon improving our hill skills. Hunter does great, especially considering it’s only his second motorcycle ride.
Usually obscured by layers of rock and recollection, there are places where the history of land and people unfolds to reveal our own small place in the twining and termless chains of causality.
While my brother Jesse and Jessica’s sister Amanda are visiting for Christmas, the boys go for some adventure in snow on lava.
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.
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.
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.
After seeing it alone while motorcycling, I knew the rest of the family would be excited to explore the peculiar landscape of Jordan Craters, made stranger by a skiff of snow.
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.
I meet up with a new rider, Ben, for a ride south across hills arid and unknown to us around Big Jacks Creek and beyond toward Nevada. We explore a homestead and Zeno Falls before struggling to find the route home.
“Special” Ed leads four of us through his old stomping grounds along the Owyhee River and Reservoir. I’m the only one without a KLR. We find evidence related to a homicide and visit Leslie Gulch before I part from the group for an eerie night visit to Jordan Craters.
I join Phil, Ryan, Sam and Tyson for a little of Idaho’s Centennial Trail along the Bruneau and an overnight along hot springs. The road into the canyon conspires with morning snow to mean us harm.
Jessica and I ride together on the GS to Jump Creek Falls then overland to Leslie Gulch where we explore fantastic rock formations and camp for the night. We return by way of Succor Creek.
Sam leads three of us on a day-ride around the Owhyee Uplands Back Country Byway. We encounter a little weather at the highest altitudes while Toni and Heath on their smaller bikes pursue a more exploratory route. They show up later muddy and disheveled.