Tag Archives: hiking

Aug 9 2020

Bear Valley Lakes, Idaho

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This weekend Corey and I had the opportunity to hike to Bear Valley Lakes. Bear Valley Lakes is located in the Lemhi mountain range in the Salmon National Forest. It was a 3 hour drive from our home to the trailhead. Once at the trailhead it’s a 6 mile hike up to the Bear Valley Lakes. We hiked the whole 6 miles in 3 hours. It is a continual upward climb gaining more than 2000 ft of elevation.  It wasn’t too difficult but my legs were fatigued by the time we made it to the lakes just from the constant upward climb. The trail itself was a little rocky and made it difficult to hike on at times. The scenery was beautiful. There is a creek that runs for the most part all along the trail. We often came upon little waterfalls. Once at the lake there was a little wind that made a hot summer day feel really nice and cool. The lake is a glacial lake so it was pretty cold. I soaked my feet in it and it felt really refreshing. Corey spent his extra time up there fishing (he caught 3 fish) and I spent my time finishing a book. The best part of our trip is that we had the whole lake to ourselves not another soul in sight. The only time we saw someone else was as we were packing up to leave another group of people and livestock arrived.

Corey and I at the lake

At the trailhead
Our little paradise
Corey getting ready to head out
Selfie before we head up
Reading my book off my phone.
North end of the lake
Corey catching his third fish
Resting his legs after the hike
Fishing
Beautiful view from our campsite
It’s not camping without a campfire
Enjoying the fire
one of the many waterfalls on our hike
Another waterfall from our hike
Selfie in front of a waterfall on our way back
Beautiful majestic peaks around the lake
Jun 15 2016

Day Hike with Activity Day Girls

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This morning we left for a fun adventure with our 10 and 11 year old activity day girls. I was called to activity days last September. I was so excited to get to hang out and teach these girls. This has to be one of the best church callings I’ve ever had. We decided since summer is here we could try and do some fun activities with these girls. So today we hiked the Menan Buttes. I love these girls all there silliness and craziness too. We had a ton of fun and the view was spectacular. I hope the girls enjoyed it as much as I did. Mary and I also took our own girls with us and they had a fun too. Oh and there may be a rumor going around that I got lost on the way home. I may or may not have taken a wrong turn in the tiny city of Menan. The girls had fun using my phone to navigate me back to the right road.

Before the hike picture.

Before the hike picture.

Silly picture

Silly picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just the beginning of the hike.

Just the beginning of the hike.

Aren't these guys the cutest!

Aren’t these guys the cutest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another silly picture.

Another silly picture.

Mary and I were behind and when we got closer we could here the girls pretending to cry and whine. So funny I had to snap a picture.

Mary and I were behind and when we got closer we could here the girls pretending to cry and whine. So funny I had to snap a picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating lunch at the rim.

Eating lunch at the rim.

reading the signs.

reading the signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great view

Great view

The girls climbed up on this outcrop. It almost gave Mary a heart attack.

The girls climbed up on this outcrop. It almost gave Mary a heart attack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are having so much fun

They are having so much fun

Another silly picture. Every time I took a picture they felt it important that we take a silly picture too.

Another silly picture. Every time I took a picture they felt it important that we take a silly picture too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

climbing around on the rocks

climbing around on the rocks

Last climb before heading back.

Last climb before heading back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of hike picture. Do they look tired?

End of hike picture. Do they look tired?

Last silly picture.

Last silly picture.

Sep 4 2013

Last summer Hurrah

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Family Photo at Harriman State Park

Family Photo at Harriman State Park

For the Labor day we went for a hike at Harriman State Park.  This is the last fun thing we got to do before school started the next day.  It was beautiful.  My friend told me that I was pretty much guaranteed a moose sighting. Well she was wrong we didn’t see any moose.  We did however see a lot of moose scat but no moose.  We did enjoy the water fowl that we saw.  There were a lot of geese, a few swans, a pelican and a couple of cranes.  We did the golden lake loop which was a very easy hike.  We hiked in total 4.5 miles.  The only person who seemed tired of walking was the littlest.  It’s the longest she has hiked without having to ride on daddy’s shoulders. It drizzled on us off and on throughout the day.  It was never enough to soak us through but enough to keep us cool. This area is also one of our favorite spots to cross country ski.  They groom the trails in the winter and it is so beautiful covered in snow.

The trail through the meadow

The trail through the meadow

Stopping to look into a pond.

Stopping to look into a pond.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the winter warming huts.

One of the winter warming huts.

Taking a break.

Taking a break.

 

 

 

 

 

A Couple of swans.

A Couple of swans.

Our destination Golden Lake

Our destination Golden Lake

Aug 10 2013

Girls getaway

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Every year my husband puts together a guys hike and they take an overnight hiking trip into the woods.  Finally it’s my turn.  We have been talking a long time about going on a camping trip just us girls and we have finally made it happen.  We went up to coffee pot campground and kayaked part of the Henry’s fork river.  This was my first time kayaking.  As you can see I’m the only one wearing a life jacket.  Most of these women have been down this stretch of the river and swore I wasn’t going to need one.  I’m a little nervous around rivers especially since Corey joined the local search and rescue team.  There have been too many stories of people drowning and their life jackets were on the boat but not on them.  Well it turns out that most of the river is very shallow.  We even had to walk our boats in some areas.  It took us about 2 hours to get down the river.  The best part is we could kayak right up to our camp site.  The next day after breakfast we went on a hike.  We hiked farther down the river where there were class 4 rapids.  Not something I’m going to tackle any time soon.  There were lots of huckleberries along the way.  Andrea was always hanging back to pick a handful at a time.  When we got back to camp we packed up and squeezed one more trip down the river.  This time I did it without a life jacket!  We had a great trip and I couldn’t think of a better butch of friends to experience this with.  Thanks guys I had a great time.  We need to start planning for next year.

Setting up camp

Setting up camp

View from our camp

View from our camp

Taking a short break before hitting the water.

Taking a short break before hitting the water.

Getting ready to get in.

Getting ready to get in.

On the water

On the water

Walking our kyaks through the shallows.

Walking our kayaks through the shallows.

Melanie

Melanie

Andrea chillin with her peanuts

Andrea chillin with her peanuts

View from Debbie's Kayak (photographer of the water venture)

View from Debbie’s Kayak (photographer of the water venture)

Andrea and Jennifer

Andrea and Jennifer

our camp is in site

our camp is in sight

back at camp

back at camp

Oh Deer!

Oh Deer!

Rapids

Rapids

picking huckleberries

picking huckleberries

The hiking trail

The hiking trail

A wonderful bunch of Ladies. Andrea, Jennifer, Me, Debbie, and Melanie

A wonderful bunch of Ladies.
Andrea, Jennifer, Me, Debbie, and Melanie

Jun 23 2013

A hiking we will go

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We have gone on a couple of hikes this season.  We did Hell’s half acre again but this time we hiked a little further along the red line.  Sophia walked about 2 miles but Corey had to carry her for a mile in between. It was a fun first hike.

What a cute group of people

What a cute group of people

Eating lunch

Eating lunch

 

 

 

 

 

Family Photo

Family Photo

DSCF4714

Corey Hiking with Sophia

Preston Shooting his new BB gun

Preston Shooting his new BB gun

 

 

 

 

 

Another hike that we went on was Palisades creek trail.  It is actually a pretty easy hike just really long.  In total we hiked about 5 miles (Sophia 4 miles).  If you went about 1.5 miles more then we would have made it to the lake.  The kids kept complaining all the way hiking in but on the way out they were just fine. On the way back we sang songs to take their minds off of hiking.  I wish I had thought of that on the way in.  Corey and I are hoping that we can make it to the lake next time.   It was a very pretty hike.

The creek that goes along the trail.

The creek that goes along the trail.

Pretty wild flowers

Pretty wild flowers

Hiking the trail

Hiking the trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

More trail

More traill

More wild flowers

More wild flowers

Corey's sneeky bouquet. He put flowers in my backpack while I was hiking.

Corey’s sneeky bouquet. He put flowers in my backpack while I was hiking.

 

 

 

 

 

Mid point over look.

Mid point over look.

Oct 26 2012

Meadow Lake 2012

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Our campsite

After posting about the snow the other day it occurred to me that I haven’t posted for a long time.  So I decided that it was time for me to share our camping trip we had at Meadow Lake this year.  We went the first weekend of October.  It has become a tradition for us.  This is our third year.  This year was extremely cold.  As soon as the sun went behind the mountain until it rose up at 9:45 we huddled inside our sleeping bags in the trailer.  Once the sun was up we were able to move around and play.  Preston liked to go to the Lake and fish.  We spent a day in the ghost town of Gilmore.  Gilmore is an old mining town and we even found an old mine that was safe to explore.  On another expedition we hiked up the mountain and found a pond that was frozen over.  The boys tried to break the ice with rocks.  Yes, and when I say boys that means Corey too.  Even though we were freezing at night we had a lot of fun and created a bunch of memories.

Preston fishing by the lake

A fort Corey and I built for the kids

exploring the mining cave. It was so dark in there.

An old stove in one of the many run down mining houses.

part of the ghost town of Gilmore

The “boys” trying to break the ice

The Edwards Meadow Lake 2012

Jul 16 2012

Mesa Falls

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Upper Mesa Falls

The last weekend in June or first weekend of July, however you want to look at it,  we went camping up by Mesa Falls.  The falls were a beautiful site.  It was pretty crowded up there but well worth seeing.  They have an old log inn there that they have turned into a visitor center/gift shop.  I told Corey that someday I wouldn’t mind retiring in a log cabin like this.  We went through the visitor center and a park ranger gave the boys a booklet to look through that had a comic in it.  Afterward we walked the path that went by the waterfalls.  While everyone is looking at the falls Levi would find a bench and sit to read his comic.  He was so much more interested in what happened to smokey the bear than the beautiful scenery around him.  We had a really nice weekend.  We are so lucky to live near such beautiful areas.

Beautiful!

Levi and his comic

Really neat Inn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see the Tetons in the back?

Love Sophia and Levi’s expressions here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a couple of nights in this area and the next day we ended up hiking by Warm Springs.  They have an old fish hatchery that you can rent out and near there was a bunch of hiking trails.  We decided to hike a couple of miles (all Sophia can handle).  Have I mentioned how beautiful the area is?  This was a great weekend.  We had beautiful scenery accompanied by equally beautiful weather.  I love going camping.  It really helps me relax and get away from the world.

Hiking along Warm Springs

 

Taking a trail mix break

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The grass is as high as Sophia

Family Photo at Lower Mesa Falls over look

Jun 12 2012

Camping

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Mike Harris Campground

Yay!! School is out.  We have been out about a week but I’m slow at posting.  On the day that school ended we celebrated by going out on our first family camp trip for the year.  We packed up and went to Mike Harris Campground in the Grand Targhee National Forest.  This is a place we have been before and like to go to for our first campouts of the season.  Despite forecast for rain we decided to tough it out.  The weather actually turned out perfect and it only rained for a couple of hours on Saturday.  We got there pretty late on Friday and discovered that we forgot many things including bug spray.  We didn’t want to be bug dinner so we had to go into to town and buy some. The other stuff we did without.  That’s what the first campout is about right?!  In the morning we warmed our breakfast up on the fire (breakfast burritos I learned from pintrest).  The kids really liked it.  They were easy too.  It rained for about and hour and we just read and played games in the trailer.  After the rain let up we went for a hike.  There is a really neat trail near the entrance to the campground.  It leads up to some peaks.  We didn’t go that far.  We only went as far as Sophia’s little legs could take her.  It ended up being about 2 miles round trip.  It was a beautiful hike.  On the way back it started to rain again.  By the time we got back to camp we were all pretty wet.  It rained for about another hour.  After that it was beautiful.  There was one other family camping in the campground.  We introduced ourselves.  Their kids are the same age as ours and they hit it off really well.  The kids went and played hide and seek.  After talking with them a little we discovered that they live just on the other side of the airport from us (small world).  We also found out that although they wear red and we wear blue we can still get along (those of you who are cougar and ute fans know how hard that is). We exchanged phone numbers and the kids have future plans to hang with them sometime.  We packed up and left Sunday morning.  On the way home we stopped one more time for a short hike.   Not as great as the first one but still fun.  This outing was a great start to our season.  I love being out in the woods.  It really helps me appreciate all that Heavenly father has created for us.  I can’t wait to go again.

Cooking breakfast on the fire

Beautiful Hiking trail

Sophia and her hiking stick

All of us on the hike

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids getting warm after the hike

Gorgeous sky as the sun was setting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost full moon

Our little home away from home

Jun 11 2012

Menan Butte

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Our family likes to go on a small hike to kick off the camping/hiking season.  In May we decided to hike the North Menan Butte.  It’s about a mile up the butte.   Over all we hiked about 3 miles.  Sophia made it to the top and then Corey had to pack her around the rest of the way.  She did pretty well for her first hike on foot.  I have to say it was a little challenging, although it doesn’t look it, most times it felt like we were hiking straight up.  It was a beautiful day to hike and once we reached the top we loved the view.  At the top there are many different rock formations that the kids (and Corey) loved to climb around in and on.

The boys starting out up the butte

A nice little critter we saw along the trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

taking a rest

Beautiful spring flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking another rest

One of the many caves up the butte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute little hiker with her cute little backpack

Lunch time

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the rim

Corey climbing around on the rock formations. "I'm king of the Mountain"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking back out of the caldera and then on down the butte

May 16 2011

Busy Weekend

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This past weekend we were really busy.  It started Friday night.  Preston had his spring concert with the Eastern Idaho Children’s Choir.  Ever since he was really young Preston has loved to sing.  He was singing “I am an Child of God” in Japanese by the time he was two.  When I found out about the local children’s choir I knew it was a good fit for him.  This has given him an opportunity to meet new people and to develop his talent.  He is learning the fundamentals of singing.  I’ve heard a great improvement from when he started.  He tells me he would like to be in choir again next year.  They had a good concert.  The only thing I would change is that they have a better sound system.  It was difficult to hear the children sing especially the youngest group.  They only had one microphone and that was only used to announce the songs.  It’s a shame because that’s why we go, we want to hear the kids sing.

Prelude Choir

Doesn't he look nice

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday we went on our first family day hike for the year.  We went to Hells Half Acre.  This is becoming a yearly tradition.  It didn’t take us as long as it did last year.  The kids are becoming seasoned hikers.  Next year we think we might do the red trail which is considerably longer.  We were a little worried about Moxie and what the lava rocks would do to her paws but she did really well and by the end she was leading us to the next marking post.  We were only there for a couple of hours and it did start to sprinkle on us a little but it was really fun.  We can’t wait to go on another hike.  Next weekend it is Fathers in Sons camp out.  The boys will get to explore a cave and Sophia and I get to have a fun girls night (princess movies, painting nails).

Hells Half Acre spring 2011

Levi Climbing down the rocks

Levi needed a little help getting down

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preston climbing down

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophia, Mommy, and Moxies backside

Me: "Levi watch out" Levi: " I know dad's behind the bush"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whole Family

Also on Saturday was our 12th anniversary.  It is hard to believe that it was 12 years ago that Corey and I were sealed for time and eternity in the Portland Oregon temple.  He has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Saturday night my friend Jenn came over and watched the kids for us.  We went out to dinner and then had a nice quiet drive and walk.  We love our kids but it was really nice to have an evening without them.  We played a game of name what happened to us each year that we’ve been married.  It was fun to reminisce and remember both the good times and hard times.  Really makes you appreciate the here and now.  Thanks Jenn for giving us a great evening.  I’m sure the next  12 years are going to be just as fun.

Twelfth Anniversary