Hike to Ski Lake

City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho

The City of Rocks National Reserve is a state park with dramatic granite rock spires and unique rock formations. This area has extensive Native American ( Shoshone Indians) history and was part of the California Trail wagon train route during the 1840's and 1850's. 

May showers bring may flowers!

AND RAINBOWS with PRETTY SUNSETS!

Teton Canyon bike & hike

The best part of hiking in Teton Canyon early season is being able to hike before the crowds arrive. The road to the trailhead is 6-7 miles and it remains closed to car traffic until the end of May. It's a great time to dust off the bikes and go for a scenic ride and hike the trails because you will literally have the entire forest to yourselves! And we DID!

Mushroom Hunting

This spring has been very dry and warmer than average which is not good if you want to find those delicious morels. We didn't find mushrooms of ANY variety so we knew our odds of finding morels would be slim to none. However, with the ground being dry as a bone, the trail conditions were prime for hiking!

First float of the season!

The beautiful Teton Valley summer is off to a gloriously early start! Usually, it continues to snow the entire Month of May. We are not used to having temperatures into the 70's with very few rain showers this early but we are taking full advantage of it! Summers are astounding here in Idaho but they are always so short. It's nice to get an entire extra month of summer added onto the season. With summer starting as early as it is this year let's just hope winter doesn't start early either. 

First Hike of the season!

Off season fun

This was our 4th year going to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

We had a wonderful crew of amazing fun people and we are already in the beginning stages of planning for Coachella 2014. It gets better every year.

Happy 100th Birthday Grandma!

My sweeter than sugar, frail, precious little Grandma turned 100 years old last Saturday. She's the only person I've ever known to turn 100 and I'm fairly certain the key to longevity is consuming pastries, Italian deserts, fried food, coffee and soft drinks. And don't forget keeping the brain sharp by doing crossword puzzles and watching shows on T.V. like Entertainment Tonight, Wheel Of Fortune & Jeopardy. This woman is such an inspiration to me. She's always been so sweet and so laid back. She's so content in her life and never complains about any of life's curveballs that are thrown in her direction. I've never seen her mad or upset. I've never heard her raise her voice or argue. Although she does't know it, she has taught be so much about life. To live and to do what makes you happy. Example: If eating those dozen mini eclairs makes me happy-- then I should certainly eat them!

Beautiful way to start the morning!

Backcountry Snowboarding

Yesterday was my first time ever on a snowmobile and first time snowboarding in the backcountry. Needless to say my entire body took a beating from riding on the sled as well as snowboarding untouched deeeeeeep powder. (Poor Julie, right?) I was a nervous wreck for most of the morning. All I could think about were the risks of getting caught in an avalanche. Just last week a 44 year old man lost his life in an avalanche while skiing in the backcountry. A risk I don't want to take all for the thrill and enjoyment of riding perfect powder. I have't taken any avalanche classes and neither have most of the people we were with. I checked the avalanche forecast for the day before we left the house. The avy forecast for the day was a #2 "moderate,"(out of 5, 5 being the highest/dangerous) which was the same forecast when the avalanche killed that skier last week. He was also skiing in extreme terrain that is prone to slides. The terrain we rode is much more mellow and not extreme at all. So when I dropped into my first run my adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I had butterflies and anxiety but after a few smooth turns I was able to truly enjoy the ride. I'm looking forward to doing more of this and learning more about potential risks and educating myself to stay safe and be responsible in the backcountry.