The Life and Times of Zach, Katie, and Claire

Claire Four Month Update

2012-01-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Another month has passed and it's time to share some more pictures of Claire. Enjoy!

Claire Four Month Update Pictures!

McAfee Peak Snowshoe

2012-01-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

With the winter weather still good, Dan and I went on another winter outing. This time we selected McAfee Peak in the Independence Mountains of Northern Nevada. The drive down was a little long and extended by our choice to use Maggie Summit and NV-226 to reach the peak. After leaving Boise at 5am, it was after 9am before we were hiking. We were amazed at how little snow there was at the 7800' trailhead!

The route to the peak follows a 4x4 road for awhile before crossing a mix of open and forested terrain to reach the summit ridge. The forested terrain was bouldery with a thin layer of snow which made things a little treacherous. It was the annoying "too much snow for boots, too little for snowshoeing" problem - I preferred snowshoes despite hearing them scraping rock much of the time. Eventually we got above the rocks and into deeper snow near the summit ridge. Once higher, the wind picked up and it started to get a little chilly. The summit ridge was even windier but with intermittent patches of bare rock and soft snow. We eventually got annoyed crossing rock and ditched the snowshoes, instead just hiking the last few hundred vertical feet to the summit.

The peak has great 360° views of a huge part of northern Nevada. Oh, and lots of brown terrain! Other than the steady wind at the summit, it was a perfect winter day. We relaxed for a bit (out of the wind), refueled, signed the register, and identified the nearby peaks. The descent was much easier and proceeded without issue. We were back to the vehicle in just over 6 hours having climbed a 10000' peak in January. Not bad!

On the way out we drove from Jack Creek Summit directly to NV-225 which got us home in 3 hours. This route was much faster but one that is rarely possible in mid-January!

McAfee Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Williams Peak Winter Hike

2012-01-10T22:51:00.002-07:00

With the winter snowpack in Idaho being pathetic, Dan and I decided to ascend a big peak that is normally inaccessible in mid-winter. We chose Williams Peak in the Lost River Range, a peak with good vehicle access and a low-angle canyon approach. We left Boise just after 5am and were hiking just after 9am.

The ascent was very straightforward and the route up the canyon was much less difficult than we remembered from our last visit (climbing Mount Church and Donaldson Peak) in 2003. The canyon is a little bit brushy and rocky but almost always offers a decent route choice. The snow was not very deep in most places and we didn't even put on snowshoes until we reached 9000'. From there the snowshoes were really only helpful until we reached the summit ridge at 10000'. The final push to the summit was windier but on easy talus which was mostly blown clean of snow. Temperatures were likely in the low 30s and aside from the wind, it was quite pleasant!

The summit views were a little disappointing due to the clouds shrouding all of the nearby big peaks. However we were thankful that visibility was never a problem on our ascent. We retraced our route on descent and made it back to the vehicle before 4pm. On the way through Arco we stopped at the Deli Sandwich Shop which was pretty decent. Another dining option discovered!

Williams Peak Winter Hike Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Claire New Years Update

2012-01-04T00:50:00.001-07:00

Our New Years was pretty uneventful. On Friday the 30th we applied for Claire's passport which is needed if we ever take her to Canada. Kind of silly but it did make for a funny photo! On New Years Eve I hiked with 18 (20?) others to Cervidae Peak just outside of Boise. The weather was very mild (for December), the moon and stars were out, and there was no snow so it was quite enjoyable! The past two years I skipped due to snowstorms and subzero temperatures so it was definitely a nice change.

The rest of the weekend was dominated by relaxation, football watching, and decoration-taking-downing. Also, some more pictures of Claire are below!

Claire New Years Update!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Once again we traveled to Vancouver for Christmas. This time we were traveling with Claire, which gave us some concern ahead of time but turned out to be a non-issue. Claire was a great traveler, either sleeping or being quiet on all four legs of our journey! Someone in the Bellingham airport even called her the perfect baby! Megan picked us up late Wednesday evening after we arrived in Bellingham. Other than Claire crying in the border lineup, our trip to Vancouver went very smoothly.

In Vancouver, we went to the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Gardens for the first time. It features 1.4 million lights on display in a garden. It was much bigger and brighter than the display at the Idaho Botanical Garden but way more crowded. I think I like the Idaho experience better - less crowded, more spaced out, and it has LED trees! Dave works at the garden and was very helpful in arranging our visit - thank you Dave!

Our visit to Vancouver was dampened by a stomach flu bug that was being passed around. Dave, Greg, Liz, Megan, and Emily were all affected but somehow all three of us managed to escape. Despite at least one person being sick for much of the visit, we did a little bit of shopping, attended the Christmas Eve service at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church, and were there for the Christmas brunch and Christmas dinner at the Shepherd house. We had lots of good times with family and had a great time giving and receiving presents! Of course Claire had a big haul, consisting of books, toys, clothes (thank you Dave for the Santa suit!), and other items. Everyone was excited to meet Claire and we were very happy that she behaved well during her first trip away from home.

Our return trip was also uneventful (thank you Claire!) and was highlighted by a quick stop at Trader Joe's in Bellingham where we got a few things to cram into our already stuffed suitcases and some food to eat in the Bellingham airport. We got home late in the evening on Tuesday and I had to look forward to two days of work.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas 2011 Pictures!
Christmas 2011 Video
Present Opening Video

Claire - December 2011 Update

2011-12-20T22:53:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Claire from the past month or so. The last few are taken from the nighttime Christmas light display "Winter Garden aGlow" at the Idaho Botanical Garden which we attended with Bonnie. We offer our apologizes for the low quality cell phone pictures. While the poor quality pictures may not reveal it, the lights were great and Claire was mesmerized the whole time! Also included are a couple of pictures from downtown Boise. Enjoy!

Claire December 2011 Pictures!

Christmas Decorations

2011-12-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Usually we don't do much in the way of decoration, but this year we decided to up the ante a bit. Besides the usual tree and train, we put lights on the house, car, and my desk at work. I got the idea for putting lights on the car from Ian and it has proven very popular here!

Christmas 2011 Decorations Pictures!
Train Video

Bull Mountain Snowshoe

2011-12-12T23:27:00.003-07:00

Dan invited me on a snowshoe trip to Bull Mountain just over the Utah border. This peak is noted for being a county highpoint and for having substantial topological prominence. Dan had failed on this peak the weekend prior (due to bad weather and navigational errors) and was ready for revenge. We met at 5am and were soon heading to south central Idaho to bag the peak. After a stop in Burley crossed the Utah line and we were at the trailhead ready to go just before 9am. The weather was pretty good for us - mild temperatures (in the 30s), high clouds, and minimal wind.

We were able to make good progress up the ATV trail and thence to a smaller trail up Lake Fork. This trail started out good but was soon obscured by blowdowns in several places. Dan did an amazing job bypassing the obstructions and managing to find the trail fragments, making what would have been an arduous struggle through snowy forest into a reasonable endeavor. Eventually we worked our way high enough that we could see a clear path to the ridge leading to the summit. It was a steep grunt up to the ridge top, but from there it was a straightforward ascent to the very flat summit of Bull Mountain.

The summit views were great and took in some ranges I had not seen in a long time. Due to fog, we couldn't see the Great Salt Lake immediately to our south. The summit register was filled with familiar names from the county highpointing community and made for great reading. Other than the flatness of the summit, everything about this peak was great. Our descent was much quicker than our ascent and we were easily back on the interstate heading home before dark.

On the way home, we stopped at Wendy's in Burley. This choice was questionable due to the really slow service. The highlight of the Wendy's visit was the person in front of us who had to wait 5-10 minutes to get his order taken. After ordering a frosty, the cashier said "That's it?! If I had known you were only ordering a frosty, I would have taken your order much sooner!". Fortunately we didn't have to wait as long as he did for our orders but I left with a great memory of bad restaurant service.

In short, this was a very fun and rewarding snowshoe ascent under very pleasant conditions.

Bull Mountain Snowshoe Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Peak 5140' Hike

2011-12-01T23:37:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I embarked on a short hike in the Boise foothills above Robie Creek. The destination was Peak 5140', a little known peak in a mostly ignored area. After driving up Robie Creek and over Crooked Summit I parked at a suitable spot and began hiking up up the west slopes of the peak. The going was easy at first but got brushier as a I got higher. After slogging for a bit, I eventually reached the summit which was simply a mass of brush with no views. Disappointing, but not unexpected!

After a short time visiting the high areas in the brush, I decided I'd see if I could find a good route over to nearby Daggett Point. I quickly found a good trail and made nice progress, however soon I was surfing through heavy brush again slowly descending toward Daggett Creek. Since I had limited time, I chose to turn around and save Daggett Point for another day.

On the way out I decided to explore a third peak, Zephyr Ridge Point. A little bit of hiking from Crooked Summit revealed it has a house on top and is part of the Wilderness Ranch subdivision. At that point I lost interest and returned to the vehicle. Only one peak, but it was nice to see a nearby area that is seldom hiked.

Peak 5140' Pictures
Trip statistics: 3h, 4 miles, 1600' elevation gain

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T00:45:00.001-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving Katie, Claire, and I met Gary and Bonnie for dinner. This year dinner was at Berryhill & Co., an upper-end casual restaurant in downtown Boise. They had a buffet which featured turkey, roast beef, ham, an excellent salad, bread (yum), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, pasta, and various dessert dishes including pumpkin pie. It was very good and made for a very enjoyable Thanksgiving evening! Oh and Claire was very quiet throughout dinner!

The rest of the weekend was dominated by football watching and Christmas decorating. There will be a separate blog post on the decorations but for now we have a few more Claire pictures!

Claire Thanksgiving Pictures
Claire's Bath Video
Claire Babbling Video

Granite Peak Hike

2011-11-02T22:22:00.001-06:00

Dan put together a trip with Michael and Sean to visit Granite Peak in Nevada. After minimal deliberation, I decided to join. We left Boise just after 6am on Sunday and began the long drive down to northern Nevada. It was just after 10am when we parked at the trailhead above Hinkey Summit and below Granite Peak. From the start, it was a relatively quick hike up and down the peak at just over two hours for the round trip. The route was very straightforward (follow a fence line, then hike up) and got us to the top in a very direct fashion. The summit block has some easy and fun class 3 climbing to finish off the ascent. The summit views from Granite were impressive and were new vistas for all of us!

Since we drove so far, we weren't content for settling for one short hike. We also climbed nearby Peak 8560+ and Buckskin Mountain before departing. Both of these were very simple and direct ascents from nearby roads. Michael's FJ Cruiser was very helpful in getting us close to these peaks!

In short, this was a great hike with two new hiking partners in a new area under beautiful Fall skies and warm weather. Simply put, it was a great day!

Granite Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Claire - Halloween Update

2011-11-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

Below are a few pictures of Claire in her various Halloween outfits and a duck costume courtesy of Katie's coworker Richard. While Claire looks cute in the costume, she wasn't very happy with it and we were lucky to get any pictures where she wasn't fussing!

Also included are a few older pictures from my phone!

Claire - Halloween Pictures

Gardiner Peak Hike

2011-10-26T21:28:00.000-06:00

On Sunday I went on a short hike in the Boise foothills. The destination was Gardiner Peak, a little known peak in the Boise foothills which seemed to have a trail. I parked at Peace Rock (along the Boise Ridge Road south of Bogus Basin) and followed the very obvious bicycle trail through the forest in the general direction of the peak. Before long, there was a junction and I headed right. From there the trail climbs to an open ridge and leads almost all the way to the summit. A quick jaunt off of the trail under the forest canopy led me to the summit, which is adorned by a cairn and register. Summit views are limited but I was blown away with how pleasant the day was - warm weather with a mild breeze and lots of Fall colors!

The day was so enjoyable I extended the hike by exploring the trail in the direction of Clear Creek Summit. I didn't go all the way but it probably extended the hike by an hour or so. In my opinion, this little known hike is one of the most pleasant in the foothills!

Trip statistics: 7.25 miles, 1100' elevation gain, 2.25 hours

Claire - October 2011

2011-10-23T22:23:00.000-06:00

Here are few pictures of Claire (and the rest of the family) from Grandma Vickery's visit. As a special bonus for our readers, a few other pictures are included as well. Enjoy!

Claire - October 2011

Claire's First Bath

2011-10-01T16:34:00.005-06:00

Here are a few pictures from Claire's first bath last Thursday. She seemed to like the water very much and didn't put up any sort of fuss. Our future swimmer perhaps??

Bath Pictures!

Baby Pictures

2011-09-26T23:45:00.003-06:00

We decided to post a few baby pictures of us as well as few more of Claire. Enjoy!

Baby Pictures!

Announcing Claire Elizabeth Vickery!

2011-09-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

As many of our readers have likely heard, our daughter Claire Elizabeth Vickery was born on Wednesday September 14, 2011 at 4:50AM MDT at St. Luke's Hospital in Meridian. She weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 21" tall!

Katie's doctor recommended that she be induced so we headed to the hospital around 2:30PM on Tuesday afternoon. As the induction progressed, Katie's contractions intensified around 11PM and she labored through the early morning. The nurses initially didn't think the labor was progressing well but around 3AM it became clear things were moving quickly. By 4:15AM or so it became apparent to all of the staff that the baby was imminent and after a little bit of delivery drama, Claire emerged into the world healthy at 4:50AM! It was truly a magical moment for me, unlike anything I've experienced before. After I got to hold her, I was surprised how calm Claire was after such a traumatic experience!

The labor and delivery was difficult for Katie but she was great and healthy as well. I'll let her elaborate on her experience in a future blog post! Afterwards, we spent the next two nights at the hospital getting acquainted with Claire and trying to get her feeding properly, a task that is still ongoing but progressing nicely. The nurses at the hospital were great and provided all kinds of help with regard to laboring, baby care, feeding, swaddling, and anything else we needed. On Thursday Claire got her first visitors: our friend Diana, her Great-Grandma Dow, her Grandaunt Bonnie and her Granduncle Gary. She may have not shown it, but I know she was super-excited to meet all the new people! On Friday Claire got to go on her first car ride as we were officially discharged to begin our life together. On Saturday Liz (Katie's Mom) arrived from Vancouver to meet her new granddaughter and hopefully make our transition a little less overwhelming.

Claire has her first doctor appointment tomorrow which will hopefully be all good news. Then after that, she'll be ready for her one week birthday. More soon!

Baby Pictures!

Due Date!!.. and a Short Hike

2011-09-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

Today is our due date, however as of this typing there is no sign of "Baby Vickery" arriving imminently. Katie has her doctor appointment tomorrow so maybe we'll know more then. For now, it is day-by-day!

With Katie's approval I used the nice weather and "lack of babyness" to go on a short hike in the Boise foothills. After leaving the house, I tuned in the Jaguars game on the satellite radio and listened to them achieve an opening day victory. As that was playing out, I drove up the 8th Street Extension which was quite rough - I got my old LeSabre up this road in 2001 and now there are a few spots where I wasn't sure about the Escape making it. But all was well and I was soon hiking uphill toward Peak 6218', an extremely obscure peak along the Boise Ridge. The hike promised to be short, only a half mile each way. I started in an open area but soon found myself trying to avoid increasing amounts of brush. It soon became evident that the peak is surrounded by an unbroken thicket of chaparral and other vegetation which I would have to confront directly. What I assumed would be a short and easy hike turned into a arduous slog through thick, chest-high (and higher) vegetation. Eventually I made the summit, which fortunately features a small rocky area devoid of the brush that was everywhere else. The views of the surrounding area were good, including the Bogus Basin area, Boise Peak, and Gardiner Peak. I decided to descend a different way (a more western aspect) but found the brush to be just as bad that way. On the way home, I drove down Bogus Basin Road which is a much better access route than 8th Street for this area.

In short, I don't really recommend anyone climb this peak unless that person likes miserable plodding through thickets. Maybe it would be better in late Fall?

Trip statistics: 1.25 miles, 650' elevation gain, 1.5 hours
Peak 6218' Hike Pictures

Baby Vickery Update time!

2011-09-04T19:47:00.012-06:00

Well, folks, once again it's update time on the baby-baking process! This time, there are even some exciting pictures to entertain you! So, sit back, relax, and let the 39-weeks-pregnant lady do all the talking (er..typing) :-)

As Zach mentioned in his last post, this past Friday was officially my last day of work - I'm now on Maternity Leave, so I've joined the ranks of the unemployed! While it's very strange to think that I won't be going back to work on Tuesday, I know it will be great to have a different type of boss once this little kiddo arrives!

Last Saturday (Aug 27th) was my baby shower with all my coworkers. It was a very relaxed afternoon of chatting, baby-holding (one of my coworkers brought her 3-week-old son), and snacks (including homemade peanut butter & jelly cupcakes with peanut butter buttercream frosting...I have an AMAZING coworker/cupcake-making queen!). Oh, there was also some gift-opening that took place! My coworkers were outrageously generous, and the little peanut now has a whole bunch of blankets, lots of onesies, many toys & books (including "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch!) and adorable stuffed animals, to name just a few items! We also got a few packs of diapers & wipes, so we're set for at least a couple of weeks in that department. One of my coworkers donated her (barely used!) baby carrier, as well as her (gently used) baby monitors among other things. It was a wonderful day, and as soon as the host sends me the pictures she took, I'll get them posted! For now, you can see some of the items in the below pictures of the nursery.

The nursery has progressed, and we now have most stuff ready to go, including the artwork I found online. There are still a few things that we need to get (a laundry basket might be useful, for instance!), but that's something I'll be working on this week. I'm also going to try my hand at making a mobile to hang over the crib...because it is appalling to me that crib mobiles range from $50 (for your standard plastic arm with little animals hanging from it) to $80 or $120 (for a handmade mobile out of dowels/fishing line/hand-sewn felt animals). I figure that I can pick up a dowel from Home Depot, some cheap fishing line and some felt animals or something from the Craft store, and throw it all together for much cheaper! We'll see how this goes...wish me luck!

****You can click on the below pictures to make them bigger*****

View from the doorway, looking into the nursery (note my awesome Cabbage Patch Kids sitting on the toybox - one was even used for swaddling practice!). Also, the blanket over the side of the crib was a gift from Zach's coworker Linda - just beautiful!
View of the change-table/dresser station, as well as the bookshelf (lovingly filled by Grandma Vickery & the Aprim family!), and my Mom's awesome rocking chair that she rocked all of us in, just a few years ago! The green blanket is from IKEA, and is being used as a buffer to keep the rocking chair back from hitting the wall. You can also see the artwork on the walls - more on that shortly! The stainless steel garbage can by the door is actually the diaper pail :-)
A shot of the ceiling & light fixture, so you can see the colors & the sunshiney light!
View of the crib (don't worry, the blanket & stuffed animals/pillow will be removed before the baby is put in the crib - don't want any suffocation to take place! Also, the crib bumpers (there's one on the front, too) are made of breathable mesh...I haven't made up my mind about their design/colors yet, but if anything they'll keep the kid from getting limbs stuck through the crib slats! The adorable blue dog was a gift (along with other great items!) from Jan's friend Michelle, in Tampa - thank you, Michelle! You can also see the hand-made blanket on the front a little better in this shot.
A shot of the (kinda wild!) curtains!
Here's a close-up of the alphabet print I found on etsy.com - the artist who made this print (who is from Kamloops, BC!), also made the farm animal prints below - so cute!!
What? A sheep? How unexpected!
And of course an adorable pig!
And finally, this cow was too cute to pass up!
Me, modeling the awesome cloth diapers I got on sale - look at those totally adorable colours! In case anyone wonders, we'll be doing disposable diapers for the first few months (while we adjust to life as parents!) and then I'll try switching to cloth (at least while we're home - travelling with cloth diapers just seems like a LOT of trouble & mess!). This is our starter set of 6 - I couldn't pass up the sale, and loved the colours. Plus, they're "one size", with adjustable snaps, so they'll fit from infant to toddler.
Annnnnd finally...Here are a couple of shots of me in all my 39-week-pregnant glory. Pardon the "goofball" aspect of the first picture!
The profile picture was a special request from my Auntie Barb (Hi Manitoba relatives/readers!), but I figured others might also be interested!

And there you have it, folks - a baby update, complete with pictures! Big plans for this week include:
- Sleeping
- Washing/folding/organizing baby clothes
- Cleaning
- Shopping for a few things
- Attempting to be crafty & try to make a crib mobile
- Doctor's appointment & Non-Stress Test (to monitor the baby's heartbeat)
- Cooking/Baking to stock up some food in the freezer

Should be an exciting week! Hope you have a great week, too!

Also, sending lots and lots of love & hugs to my Grandma, who is being sprung from the hospital & heading home today...I'm sure you're glad to be outta there, Grandma!! We love you!

-Love,
Katie

Boise Hawks Game

2011-09-04T12:57:00.004-06:00

Despite living in the Boise area for nearly five years (!), Katie and I had never been to a Boise Hawks baseball game together. I last went during my bachelor days back in 2003. On Friday evening (after Katie's last day before starting maternity leave), we went to our first game. The opponent: Katie's hometown Vancouver Canadians! We arrived at 6:45pm just in time to hear the last few bars of O Canada before getting to our seats. The weather was perfect as it has just started to cool off after a hot summer. The game was well played and decided on a top-of-the ninth RBI double and the Canadians won 3-2. The night also featured guest mascot Reggy (and his pal, a 9 foot inflatable monkey) and a nice fireworks display after the game. It was a sold-out crowd and a great way to spend a Friday night!

Game writeup

Early action with Reggy doing a dance

North Twin and Red Cone Peak Climb

2011-08-22T21:17:00.003-06:00

At 6am, I met Dan and Tom (author of Idaho: A Climbing Guide) for the long drive to climb North Twin in the Lost River Range. We arrived in Arco at 9am and met Margo (who drove in from Pocatello) for the drive to the trailhead. The road up Elbow Canyon was pretty good and we were moving around 10am.

The route starts along an road/ATV trail, crosses a very nice meadow and enters a thick forest. The forest was a surprise and is very uncommon for a Lost River ascent, particularly on the west side. Down in the trees we made a slight navigational error but after a correction we made our way above treeline and into a gorgeous basin beneath the northwest face of North Twin. A short class 3 stretch got us into the upper reaches of the basin after which we soon were able to take a nice break at the flowery saddle between North Twin and nearby Red Cone Peak.

After our break, we made the final push to the top of North Twin. On our way up we saw some sheep who were just as interested in us as we were them. They probably aren't used to visitors on this seldom-climbed peak! After they scattered, we finished the climb on very solid terrain. Once on top, we enjoyed beautiful weather and the incredible panorama of the Lost River Range. Some clouds were looking questionable for awhile but once on the summit it was clear that they would not threaten our day.

We descended to the saddle and then all agreed to make the short climb up Red Cone Peak. We actually didn't know the name of this peak until we discovered Rick Baugher's register from 1993 - it appeared that we were the first visitors since then! After a brief time on the summit of Red Cone Peak, we descended the canyon to the northwest of Red Cone Peak. This was a very direct descent on mostly solid terrain, although it was a bit of a slog since it came at the end of a long day.

Once at the truck we all enjoyed a beer - thanks Margo! It hit the spot and after a few minutes we headed back to Arco. As we were leaving Elbow Canyon we saw a black bear which made some serious climbing moves up a cliff to get away. Impressive!! Before we parted ways, we had a nice dinner at Pickle's Place in Arco. This was memorable especially for the large group of French (Cajun?) speakers in there. Our drive home was long but uneventful and I didn't get home until 11:45pm. A long but great day in the mountains with a great group!

North Twin/Red Cone Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report
Margo's Trip Report

Peak 11087' Climb

2011-08-17T23:01:00.002-06:00

Last Sunday Dan and I climbed Peak 11087' in the Boulder Mountains. We left Boise just after 6am and were hiking around 9am. Dan had an evening commitment so we were hoping to get back to Boise by 7pm.

The hike starts on a nice trail up the West Fork of the North Fork of the Big Wood River. After heading up the trail for roughly two and half miles, we left the trail and headed straight up toward the basin containing Lake 10062'. Once up in the basin below the lake, we started heading directly up the south slopes of the peak. Initially this was pretty easy but the terrain degenerated into steep, loose Boulder Mountain scree as we got above 10000'. Between that and my struggling with the elevation, it was a bit of a slog for awhile. Eventually we reached the reached the ridge top and the footing got much better. From there it was a direct class 2 ascent to the summit, which has an incredible view of the Boulders and surrounding mountains!

After enjoyed a well-earned break on the summit and taking in the great views, we headed down with the realization we weren't going to make our 7pm return time. After quickly descending the scree, Dan found us a more direct and enjoyable route back to the trail. Before hitting the trail we filtered some water from the West Fork and enjoyed some high quality H2O to help us finish the hike.

We ended up missing our return time by 45 minutes but it was still an outstanding day!

Peak 11087' Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Aprim Family Visit 2011!!

2011-08-15T20:55:00.006-06:00

In the first weekend of August, we were lucky enough to have the Aprim family visit us from Vancouver! Ben, Megan, Emily & Matthew made the drive down (with no A/C, and almost 100*F weather in Boise), stopping overnight to camp & arriving on Friday night.
We spent Friday night hanging out & having dinner, and the kids enjoyed the free Water Park (aka our neighbors sprinklers!).
On Saturday, it was a scorcher of a day, so after a leisurely breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast & fruit, we headed out to Settler's Park. This park was pretty great - in addition to a water park, it also had a very cool Pirate Ship-themed playground, a rock-climbing area for kids, a fishing pond, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, tennis courts & horseshoe pits! The kids had a wonderful time running around on the playground & getting drenched at the water park!
After hanging out at the water park for the afternoon, we headed back to the house for dinner & the kids ran around in our backyard sprinklers - yay for our at-home water park!
Sunday was another low-key day. Megan & I did some shopping and Ben & Zach took the kids on a little shopping excursion of their own, to Wal-Mart & Fred Meyer. The kids got remote-controlled trucks that Zach & Ben had fun doing "quality control" on :-) We had home-made pizza for dinner, and tried to call it an early night, since the Aprims had to head out the next morning, and Zach & I had to go back to work.
On Monday, Megan, Ben & the kids left for their next adventure, in Bend, OR. We were sad to see them go, but had SUCH a great visit!! We're so glad they were able to make it down here & hang out with us for a few days! Thanks guys!! :-)
There are a couple of pictures below for everyone's viewing pleasure.
(PS: I promise that Megan & I didn't wear matching shirts on purpose!!)

The gang at Settler's Park

Playing with Legos on the patio

Also, as a teaser: We'll be finishing up the nursery soon & will post some pictures for everyone to see...and maybe I'll sneak in a picture of me looking (barely) pregnant (even with only 1 month to go!).
Have a great week, everyone!
Love,
Katie & Zach

Seven Year Anniversary!

2011-08-12T23:54:00.002-06:00

Katie and I celebrated our seven year anniversary today! Mostly it was spent at work but in the evening we went to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and watched their production of Cabaret (not a Shakespeare play, but that's how they roll). After a quick dinner at the cafe (which provides pretty good food and Table Rock beer) we settled in for the show in our lawn seats. It was a very memorable evening as it was the first time we've ever been to a play together! We both enjoyed the production and the outdoor theater by the river is outstanding. It makes me definitely want to go again and see another play!

Yay for seven years of marriage!

Texas Trip 2011

2011-08-08T21:16:00.007-06:00

My parents arranged a trip to visit family in Texas so I decided to tag along. Katie didn't go because she is in the third trimester of baking Baby Vickery!

We coordinated our flights and I arrived on Friday the 29th and quickly met my parents at the airport. Pretty soon we had our car rented and were off to the hotel, the Comfort Suites in Grand Prairie. This hotel was memorable mainly for the softball tournament and baby shower it hosted while we were there. Oh, and the bed was really comfortable.

After meeting Teresa and Charles (and their new dog Rosie), we headed to Babe's Chicken in Arlington for a great family style dinner. The place was super popular as we had to wait close to an hour for our large group to be seated. Attending were myself, my parents, Aunt Teresa, Uncle Charles, my cousin Becky, her husband Kenny, their two children Brayden and Grace, my cousin Matt and his fiancee Kasey, Charles' parents Clint and Barbara, Grand-Aunt Joyce, cousin once removed Letitia and her husband Chip, cousin once removed Loretta and her husband Charlie. Suffice to say it was a big group but the restaurant was designed to handle it! The only sad part was that I didn't take any pictures...

A constant theme of the trip was Texas' epic heat wave and drought. As we arrived the Dallas area had experienced high temperatures above 100° for over 30 straight days! Combined with the fact that there had been no significant rain in two months, everything was super dry and brown looking. I'm trying my best rain dances to help but sadly they appear ineffective...

On Saturday we (myself, my parents, Teresa, and Charles) went to visit my Nana in Palestine. Before we got too far down the road we had a breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Desoto. Along the way to Palestine we stopped at Teresa and Charles' lot where they plan to build a retirement home. It was in a very nice area along a reservoir with a nice clubhouse - sadly, my camera ate the pictures. After the stop, we continued to Palestine where my Nana is in the care of the Alzheimer's unit of the Cartmell Home. She is doing pretty well physically but Alzheimer's has definitely taken a toll on her mind - I think she only had a vague idea about who my parents were and I'm not sure she knew who I was at all. It was great to see Nana but of course very hard to see how much Alzheimer's had affected her. The facility was very nice and the staff in the Alzheimer's unit were impressive - that is one tough job! After we left the Cartmell Home, we had a late lunch at El Toro (yay for their green sauce) before making stops at Pilgrim Cemetery near Elkhart and Crawford Cemetery near Slocum. These two cemeteries are where many of my Vickery and Seymour relatives are buried, including my Papa Vickery. From there we headed home, getting back to the hotel late in the evening.

On Sunday my Mom and Teresa decided we should go to a giant flea market in Canton, which is a little ways east of the Dallas area. This flea market was massive, I would estimate a square mile in area, with countless open-air buildings, parking areas, and even one air-conditioned building. Upon getting there we proceeded to walk around the flea market in the triple digit heat. Both Dad and myself surrendered to the heat after awhile and just sat there drinking water. Teresa, Charles, and Mom did a better job staying at it but the heat eventually got to Mom. Of particular note were the eating establishments at this flea market, highlighted by the fried food emporium. I am proud to say I ate no food at the flea market! On the way back home we ate lunch at the Ranchero (a decent buffet) and stopped at an improbably placed bead store along I-20.

On Monday we went to Frisco to meet my Mom's former co-worker Kathy and her husband Lloyd at La Hacienda Ranch in Frisco. It was Kathy and Lloyd's anniversary so we all had a nice lunch to celebrate! The restaurant was really good and I really enjoyed my enchilada with chili on it. The restaurant was founded by the inventor of the frozen margarita machine which is an interesting bit of trivia. Afterwards Kathy, Mom, and Teresa wanted to go shopping at Sam Moon's and T.J. Maxx. I decided I would rather walk around the giant mall nearby so I did that. I was blown away when I saw that the mall had an ice rink in it. Combined with the Barnes & Noble and Chick-Fil-A, this was a pretty solid place to hang out.

On Tuesday we headed home. Once again we coordinated flights with both of us departing around 10:30am. For once our flights were in the same terminal so we were able to hang out at the gate until our flights were almost ready to board. We said our goodbyes with the memories of a great trip together!

Texas Trip 2011 Pictures!
Mom's Texas Pictures!

Observation Peak Hike

2011-07-19T21:18:00.005-06:00

Last Sunday, I met Todd and Dan for a hike up Observation Peak in the Sawtooths. Also joining the party were Todd's two excellent hiking dogs Leo and Roxy. After meeting at 9am, we headed out around 9:15am. The drive was smooth and we were hiking just after 11:30am.

Observation Peak is the only Sawtooth peak with a trail to the top. Thus, the hike was unusually easy for the Sawtooths. However the typical long approach was still present. We spent most of our time hiking up the Trail Creek drainage which was scenic and enjoyable. The trail was well-graded but more overgrown than we expected. We also only saw two other people on the trail all day - pretty sparse for peak season. The creek crossings were a little bit high but the only risk was getting water in my boots. We had been in a mild burn area for much of the hike but once we got near Stanley Lake Creek it turned into total destruction with no vegetation anywhere. In this burn area we hit snow which was firm and supported us well. Soon we were on the summit, just over four hours in.

The summit was incredible with perfect temperatures, no wind, and outstanding views of the northern and western parts of the Sawtooth Range. We all enjoyed a nice leisurely break on top before heading back down. We made good time on the descent, highlighted by a nice glissade on the upper slopes of the peak. Upon arriving at the trailhead, we were deflated upon discovering Dan's vehicle has suffered a flat time. Fortunately the spare was in order and we were able to roll home on the doughnut - though we didn't get home until after 10pm!

Observation Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Business Trip #3

2011-07-12T22:58:00.004-06:00

Immediately after returning from our Vancouver trip, I had to get on a plane for a business trip to Covington, LA, where one of our offices is located. My day started with our arrival back from Vancouver just before 1am on Wednesday the 6th. After an abbreviated sleep, I woke up about 8am, went running, mowed the yard, fought fires at work, then went to the airport to fly to New Orleans. After a stop in San Francisco (a beautiful place to fly in and out of), the three of us arrived in the Crescent City at 12am Thursday morning. After arriving, we drove another 45 minutes across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway (the second longest bridge in the world!), finally getting to the hotel just after 1am. Long day!!

Thursday was our meeting day where we had engineering discussions from roughly 8-5. Lunch was from McAlister's Deli, which I didn't know still existed. They used to be around Florida in the 1990's. After an evening tour of the lab, we went to Don's for dinner and drinks. The oysters were great and I discovered a new favorite beer, Jefferson Stout. The South apparently is milk stout central which makes it awesome!

Friday was a travel day but we had some time to spend before our afternoon departure. I had a quick breakfast at the Covington Chick-Fil-A which was celebrating Cow Appreciation Day. After breakfast, we were able to squeeze in a brief walking tour of the French Quarter before heading home. After a quick cruise through Jackson Square and along Bourbon Street, we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the airport. The flight home was interesting because we ran into two other coworkers at the New Orleans airport (they were doing demos in New Iberia, LA) and one of our sales guys was on our final leg home from Denver. Clearly it was a busy week for office travel!

Business Trip Pictures!

Canada Trip 2011!!

2011-07-10T22:11:00.005-06:00

2011 has been full of lots of great trips for Zach & I - highlights have included LA/Long Beach in January, our wonderful visit to Florida, and Portland at the end of May. This past long weekend was no different! We headed up to Vancouver to spend some time with the Shepherd/Aprim side of the family. We left Boise late in the day on Wednesday June 30, and drove all night, arriving in Vancouver around 11am on Thursday morning.

Thursday was a low-key day, since we were both pretty wiped out from pulling an all-night drive-a-thon, although luckily we had our Sirius XM Radio in the car, which kept the drive more interesting! Friday was Canada Day, and I spent some time in North Vancouver visiting with my friend Jenn, and then we had a lovely dinner at White Spot with my Mom, Dave & Greg.
On Saturday, I got together with my friend Linsie, and then Zach, Mom, Dave & I spent some time (DAAAAAAYS, if you ask Dave & Zach!) at IKEA, picking up a few things including our new light fixture for the nursery, which Zach is putting up this weekend.
Sunday was a beautiful day for a party, and we had a great one! Mom made delicious burgers, spinach salad & potato salad, Dave grilled the burgers & we enjoyed 2 fantastic dessert options - Pavlova with whipped cream & berries and blackberry pie (or galette, because we're fancy!), made with berries that were hand-picked by Auntie Margaret! YUM!! What wonderful spread of food! Along with Mom, Dave & Greg, we were also able to visit with Megan, Ben, Emily & Matthew, as well as Auntie Margaret, Auntie Maggie & Uncle Barry and Uncle Tom. It was SO nice to see everyone...thank you for the birthday gifts!
Sunday night took a turn for the worse when Greg, who was playing in a co-ed recreational soccer game, got tripped by an opponent & took a very bad fall. He ended up in Emergency, with a fractured pelvis (OUCH!!). He spent the night in Emergency, and was admitted on Monday so that he could have surgery done on Tuesday morning (the morning we left). He's now sporting 3 steel pins & a steel plate in his hip, so we can all call him Bionic Man! Greg, you have seriously been a trooper through all of this!!

Greg was able to come home on Friday, and has been settling in & adjusting to life on crutches. He'll likely be on the crutches for a couple of months, but who knows - he surprised the physio-therapists by dominating the crutches on Thursday, 2 days after surgery, which they weren't expecting! I'm sure he'll be back on the soccer field in no time! ;-)

So, apart from all that craziness, we had a great trip! Tuesday was spent driving home, and we got in around 1am...it was a loooong day, to say the least. Zach left on Wednesday afternoon for his business trip to Loooo-zianna, but he'll get to that in the next post!

Below are a few pictures from our party on Sunday. Enjoy!

Canada Trip 2011 Pictures!

Patio Upgrades

2011-06-28T22:56:00.005-06:00

In March we had a patio cover installed by Affordable Patio Covers. In May there was finally enough decent weather to stain it. This month we finally got some patio furniture and a sun shade (thanks Costco!) so now the space is actually usable! We may put up one more shade (for the other side of the patio) but it is nice to now have an outdoor option for dinner and relaxation!

Buttercup Mountain Hike

2011-06-26T23:14:00.003-06:00

Matt and I climbed Buttercup Mountain in the Smoky Mountains on the 18th. Since it was Katie's birthday, I was looking for a peak that wouldn't keep us out too late in the afternoon. This dovetailed nicely with the weather forecast, which predicted worsening weather later in the day.

We left Boise about 6:15am and had a quick and uneventful drive through Fairfield and up the Willow Creek Road. After being stopped by private property in the Cherry Creek area, we went part way up the road to Buttercup Mine and started our hike there. We parked around 6100' and quickly gained a ridge which contained an ATV trail for a short ways. Eventually the trail ended and we simply followed the occasionally steep ridge all the way to the summit. By the time we reached the top clouds were starting to envelop the surrounding high peaks and a few flurries were starting to fall. After a brief time on the summit, we retraced our path back to the vehicle. Fortunately, the weather held for us!

As we were heading home, we hit the rain around Corral and it never let up - I think Katie was surprised we actually had decent weather on our hike! Plus I was home in plenty of time for Katie's birthday dinner!

Buttercup Mountain Pictures!
GPS Track

Oregon Camping 2011

2011-06-23T20:55:00.004-06:00

In the spirit of past MVP trips, once again we met Joey, Sam, Cecilia, Tracy, and Dan for a short (two night) camping trip. This year's destination was Deschutes State Park along the Columbia River just east of The Dalles, Oregon. We arrived on the afternoon of Friday the 10th and were the first to show up. We checked out the park and played some Scrabble (Katie won) before the Pilons arrived later in the afternoon. Our immediate observation was that the park was quite windy and it nearly blew away our Scrabble board! Fortunately it calmed down just after sundown and was pleasant during the rest of our stay. Another interesting feature we immediately observed was the horde of super-aggressive blackbirds that would swoop down on you, chirp incessantly, and poop in your general direction. Unfortunately, the birds never calmed down!

On Friday night we enjoyed a hot dog dinner and sat around the fire and waited for Tracy and Dan to arrive late in the evening - they made it just after dark. After hanging around the fire and chatting for a while, we retired for the night. Sadly, our sleep was interrupted by the Union Pacific trains rolling by the campground several times through the night - this wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't blow the horn roughly five times each time they passed the campground! Argh!!

Saturday was a great mix of eating, hiking, hanging out in the sun, napping (in between trains), and taking it easy. Just like camping should be! The hiking was spectacular and consisted of a nice trail paralleling the Deschutes River upstream. Sunday we spent the morning packing up and enjoying Katie's lovely bacon and french toast breakfast! After some group pictures, we were on the road just after noon for the long drive back to Boise.

I really liked the campsites and the hiking/biking options at this campground but the train noise was pretty bad. It quickly became pretty obvious why we were some of the few tenters in the whole campground! Even with that, it was a great weekend camping with friends!

Oregon Camping Pictures!

Katie's another year older!

2011-06-19T20:42:00.003-06:00

As most of our loyal followers know, yesterday was my birthday - yep, I'm 24 - you guessed correctly! ;-) Zach left eaaaarly in the morning for a hike with his buddy Matt - he'll be posting separately about that, I'm sure. Matt's moving down to Salt Lake City to go to Grad School, so it was probably their last hike together.
I enjoyed a leisurely morning, complete with sleeping in & looking outside to realize that the weather was much poopier than anticipated! It was drizzly & icky...didn't the weatherman realize it was my birthday?! Anyway, my day was quiet - I talked to a couple of friends on the phone, and then headed over to Target to wander the aisles for awhile. I headed home, did some reading (I recently finished The Help, which was excellent, and am now working on A Recipe For Bees, which is also proving very good.
After a little TV watching, Zach came home & we headed out for a fantastic dinner at a local Italian restaurant called Gino's (I can't provide a link to their website, because they don't have one!). The food was wonderful - I had amazingly light, fluffy gnocchi in a cheese sauce, and Zach loved his Chicken Parmigiana...we also had some calamari that had a very light batter & were served with excellent marinara sauce. YUM!
After that deliciousness, we went to see the new Steven Spielberg movie, Super 8, which was quite good - it reminded me a lot of ET or The Goonies, from back in the 80's - a group of kids witness a train wreck & then spend the movie trying to figure out what happened.

So, that's the story of my 24th (!) birthday :-)
Happy Birthday (June 17th) to my Mother-In-Law, Jan!!

Love,
Katie

The (long-awaited) update on the baby!

2011-06-16T23:42:00.004-06:00

Well, as Zach mentioned in his last post (was it really TWO WEEKS ago?!), we spent the Memorial Day long weekend (last weekend of May) in Portland, checking out some great restaurants & sights as well as wandering through IKEA!
The main purpose of our IKEA trip was to pick out & pick up furniture for the nursery, which was quite the experience...I had forgotten how exhausting it can be to spend 2.5 hrs in IKEA!
Here's a rundown of what we picked out (click on the link to see a picture!)

1) Crib (which converts into a toddler bed)
2) Dresser & removable Change Table top (so it can be a standard dress once the Change Table is no longer needed)
3) Wall Shelf/Hanger (to go over the change table)
4) Toy Box/Storage
5) Crazy Curtains!

Yes, the curtains are kind of bold, but we're going to paint the walls a light green (a little darker than celery, perhaps), and these curtains will add a punch of interest! We're going to paint the ceiling a sky blue color, and IKEA also has a very cute sunshine light fixture that we're thinking of getting when we're in Vancouver in a couple of weeks (or maybe Seattle, on the way home).

So, that's what we've got so far for the nursery. We also picked up a Playpen & Stroller/Carseat "Travel System" from Babies R Us, and recently registered there - Zach worked the scanner gun like a professional! I think it's funny that the stroller/car seat we picked is named Ben! :-) Aprims representing!
We also recently got a special delivery from the Vickery Grandparents - lots of awesome books, and a big box stuffed with a huuuuge assortment of fantastic clothes, blankets & other really fun stuff! Thank you very much, Jan & Ron!

In non-nursery news, we've started Childbirth Prep classes at the hospital where I'll be delivering. We've been to two classes so far, with two more to go, and it's been very interesting! The instructor seems to lean more towards natural, med-free childbirth, which is what I'm interested in (and I'm the only one in my class that wants to go natural!). A co-worker of mine (who had 2 c-sections, one of which was scheduled 4 months before she was due) told me yesterday that she'd "MUCH rather recover from a c-section than actually give birth" :-0 I was kind of shocked at that!
We'll also be taking a Hospital Tour, along with a Baby Care Basics Class, a Nursing class & a class specifically geared to Natural Childbirth...so hopefully we'll be as prepared as possible, at least in theory!

I've been feeling pretty good these days - lots of movement & kicks most days from the little one. Apart from slightly swollen ankles/feet, I haven't had many other complaints - we went camping last weekend & it was a success, which was a relief!

I think that covers everything, but I might be missing a few details - my brain is mush lately! We're going to try & relax this weekend, maybe start painting (!!) and go for an Italian dinner on Saturday night...apparently I'm going to be a year older or something - where did the time go?!

Also, big congratulations to my cousin Jason & his wife Susan, on the arrival (June 2nd) of their new little boy, Brandon Campbell Savage! He's adorable!!

We hope you're all doing well & enjoying these lovely June days!
Lots of love,
Katie & Zach

Portland Trip

2011-06-02T22:04:00.002-06:00

Katie and I used Memorial Day weekend to check out Portland and most importantly to do some shopping for still-unnamed Baby Vickery. The drive from Boise is long and unexciting but fortunately we had a XM radio receiver to increase the entertainment factor. By far our biggest shopping commitment was at Ikea looking for nursery furniture and various other household items. That store is special because after 2+ hours of looking at stuff I was totally exhausted, particularly mentally. Too much discussion of household decor I think. At any rate, we picked up a few items for the nursery which Katie will be blogging about soon!

While in Portland, we ate at a few interesting restaurants. Upon arrival, the Deschutes Public House was our first stop and along with the top quality beer I really enjoyed my elk burger with a soft pretzel that we shared as an appetizer. We were both amazed that the place, despite being very large, had huge lines the entire time we were in the area. After our great meal, we walked around downtown and then spent some time in Powell's Books, easily the biggest bookstore I've ever been in. Their technical book selection is impressive and I ended up getting a book on functional programming. We also stopped by the Whole Foods before retiring for the night.

On Saturday we visited Pine State Biscuits for breakfast and had some amazing biscuits - our order included them with sausage, chicken, and jam/butter and every combination was outstanding! This nice repast was followed by marathon shopping and a side trip to see the Capitol at Salem. Dinner was at Dove Vivi, which featured some amazing pizza on a cornmeal crust like nothing either of us had ever experienced. Finally, I insisted on a brief stop at the Bridgeport Brewpub for a beer. The beer was definitely good and the menu looked comparable to Deschutes' offerings. It is definitely somewhere to go in the future! We had also hoped to attend a Portland Timbers MLS game on Saturday, but tickets started at $60 on the secondary market and that is just way to much for a soccer game!

On Monday we did some more shopping, visiting Katie's favorite store Trader Joe's and also the Uwajimaya where Katie found lots of exciting Udon noodle varieties. Before leaving town we had a quick lunch at Burgerville which is a pretty good quality fast food place in the greater Portland area.

Despite a lot of driving, it was a very enjoyable trip. I didn't know that much about Portland but I was definitely impressed with what we saw and Portland's beer options are the best of anywhere I've seen. Also, as of this past weekend, we've finally finished getting rid of excess furniture and we can now start the process of assembling all the new furniture we bought and setting up the nursery.

Oregon Pictures! (sorry, the only pictures we took were in Salem)

Spring Hikes - Cervidae Peak, Peak 4921', Mt. Heinen, Peak 5720'+

2011-05-26T23:29:00.004-06:00

On consecutive weekends I hiked some local peaks near Boise. On the 14th I used a Saturday to complete my 5th ascent of Cervidae Peak - this time by the standard southeast ridge route. Sadly, no Cervidae were seen but I did have a brief encounter with a dusky grouse not unlike the one that harassed Dan and I on our recent hike to Hutton Peak. Afterwards, I decided to scout some alternate routes on Mt Heinen and visit Peak 4123' above Cottonwood Ranger Station. I climbed Peak 4123' from the ranger station and it was pretty much a steep hike straight to the summit. Views were pretty unremarkable as the peak is surrounded higher terrain.

On the 20th I decided to hike Mt. Heinen from the north. I last climbed this peak in 2008 via the arduous SSE ridge route and was looking for something different. Approaching from the north makes the ascent of the peak much easier, allows visiting obscure Peak 5720'+, and also lets me check out a new area. This was a really enjoyable hike, nearly all of which is on either a closed road (until June 15) or motorcycle trail. This terrain was fortuitous because once again I forgot my boots and had to hike in tennis shoes. The hike itself was pretty mellow except for the steep climb up Mt Heinen's north slopes. I didn't bring a map and as a result I only visited one of the two summits of Peak 5720', although I'm certain it was the higher one. Something to do when I return to this area!

Cervidae Peak/Peak 4123' Hike Pictures
GPS Track
Trip statistics: 5.52 miles, 2:43h, 2940' elevation gain

Mount Heinen/Peak 5720'+ Hike Pictures
GPS Track
Trip statistics: 9.86 miles, 4:09h, 2408' elevation gain

Peak 4973' Hike

2011-04-26T18:54:00.003-06:00

My employer was kind enough to grant us Good Friday as a holiday. Being the non-religious person that I am, I opted to use the day to do some Spring hiking. It had stormed the previous day so I decided to choose a lower elevation peak that would hopefully avoid most of the snow and mud. I chose Peak 4973', an obscure peak near Lucky Peak Reservoir.

This peak can be climbed from several directions but I opted to hike from the saddle on Blacks Creek Rd. This route is interesting because the starting and ending elevations are almost the same! Despite my choice, conditions were quite soft and occasionally muddy on the shadier aspects, which is definitely unusual for late April. Above 5000' on the ridge, there were a few inches of fresh snow melting fast. Despite the sogginess, the hike was quite enjoyable as the ridge over to 4973' is seldom traveled and featured numerous deer, grouse, and raptor sightings. Hiking felt a little bit like cardio interval training as the ridge provides many ups and downs along the way.

The peak itself has a flat summit but with a great view of the surrounding foothills. After taking in the views, I proceeded to "descend" which actually involved about the same amount of work as the "ascent". Still a great day to be out hiking!

Trip statistics: 10.92 miles, 3013' elevation gain, 4:34h

Peak 4973' Pictures!
GPS Track

Spring Hikes: Big Foot Butte, Hutton Peak, Fiddler BM

2011-04-13T21:41:00.002-06:00

For both of the past two weekends I've hiked in the area surrounding Boise to enjoy the milder weather that has finally arrived.

On the 3rd I went on a short hike to Big Foot Butte on the Snake River Plain. This unremarkable destination was chosen because it allowed me to become the first person to visit the nine summits of Ada County. Heady stuff I know. I could have driven closer to the top but instead I parked a little ways away to get an actual hiking experience. Despite the windy conditions, it was an enjoyable and relaxing hike with great 360° views of the mountains surrounding the plain. The "summit" of Big Foot Butte is very flat and a GPS is highly recommended to find the high ground.

An interesting thing about Big Foot Butte is that it is located adjacent to the Idaho National Guard's Orchard Training Area which makes for interesting scenery. The roads reaching the butte feature lots of range targets, lookout towers, junked cars, signs advising of unexploded ordnance, etc. While in the area I also visited the summits of Flagstaff Butte (a very short hike) and Little Joe Butte (a drive-up).

Last Sunday (the 10th), I planned on climbing Peak 4973' near Boise. After driving to the trailhead I was getting ready to hit the trail and Dan pulled up out of the blue. Coincidentally he was in the area at the same time and planning on climbing nearby Hutton Peak and Fiddler BM. After considering this alternative, I jumped in and we drove down the road to hike the two peaks together. As we were getting ready, an angry grouse confronted us and was following us around and even pecking at Dan. As we started our hike the grouse followed us for at least 5 minutes before it lost interest in us. Unsurprisingly, the same grouse was still on guard when we returned to the vehicle!

The hike up to Hutton Peak was straightforward and only took 90 minutes or so. We took a short break atop the peak and took in the very nice Spring scenery of the lower Boise Mountains. From Hutton Peak we hiked over to Fiddler BM along a well-defined motorcycle track which led us over a number of ups and downs on the ridge top. Fiddler BM is an unremarkable peak along a ridge leading to Danskin Peak but does have a good view of most of the Danskin range. We mostly retraced our steps on the way back but we did take a shortcut to descend to the car a little faster. We were both a little tired by the end as our bodies are clearly still in early season shape!

Big Foot Butte Pictures!
Big Foot Butte trip statistics: 4 miles, 400' elevation gain, 1:20h

Hutton Peak/Fiddler BM Pictures!
Hutton Peak/Fiddler BM GPS Track

Florida 2011

2011-03-30T21:28:00.004-06:00

Katie and I decided to go to Florida to spend some time with my parents and to enjoy the beautiful weather - and we were not disappointed on either count! We arrived on Saturday the 12th and were immediately impressed with the warm weather and sunny skies which continued for our entire stay!

During the first part of our trip we stayed at my parents' house in St. Augustine. One of the first things we did was stop at a running store, Jacksonville Running Company, for me to reboot my running career after the debilitating achilles debacle of last Fall. They did a video analysis of my stride and diagnosed me with overpronation and recommended the Asics GT-2160 which so far has worked wonders. I was able to run several times in Florida and roughly three times a week since. No more outlet mall running shoes for me!

Other highlights of the trip include bowling at Latitude 30, watching DVDs from my Dad's extensive collection, checking out the Sensus (my employer) water meter technology in my parents' neighborhood, walking around downtown St. Augustine, and visiting the Alligator Farm. The Alligator Farm was outstanding and is much more than just alligators, it is more like a zoo with a focus on alligators and crocodiles. It features every single alligator and crocodile species on the planet, a very impressive rookery, tortoises and other reptiles, birds, and even other animals like tapirs. They even have a zipline which I'd like to try some day. The frenzied alligator feeding was definitely the highlight of our visit!

On Thursday we drove down to Sunrise where we stayed for the south Florida part of our trip. On Friday we went to a Spring Training game in Jupiter where the Marlins played the Astros. I hadn't been to a Spring Training game since 1990 and I was reminded that it really is a great way to watch professional baseball! The game was great, albeit one-sided (the Astros totally dominated). It was an afternoon game and all of us got a little sunburn, in my case despite the fact that I used sunblock. I could definitely tell the difference between the Florida sun and the Idaho sun on this trip! After the game we drove through Palm Beach and stopped at the Flagler Museum, a converted estate. Sadly we couldn't visit because we arrived right as it was closing. However the view from outside was impressive enough!

Saturday we visited the other Miami (not the one in Manitoba). We were hoping to walk around South Beach but the area was totally packed and congested - it must have been the Spring Break crowds? After struggling to find somewhere to park, we instead we went over the main part of Miami and stopped at the Bayside for lunch and a walk along the waterfront. Bayside is right near the cruise terminal and was clearly a tourist shopping area. Once we checked everything out, we headed down to Key Biscayne to visit Cape Florida State Park. The causeway leading over there is beautiful as was the beach and historic lighthouse in the state park at the south end of Key Biscayne. The beach was super popular and for good reason! From there we headed back to Sunrise and a dinner at Scruby's was our final meal of the vacation.

Despite not wanting to leave, on Sunday the 20th we flew out of Ft. Lauderdale and returned to Boise with its 40 degree temperatures and rain. Boo!

Florida Vacation Pictures!

Baby Vickery!

2011-03-15T19:03:00.009-06:00

As most (if not all) of our "loyal readers" now know, Zach & I are expecting an addition to the family in the Fall! My official due date is Sept. 11, 2011 - yes, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Fingers crossed that the big day doesn't actually end up being that, although apparently 9/11 is also National Grandparents Day in the US, which would be fitting!

So far everything has gone fairly smoothly - no nausea/vomiting (knock on wood), and no other symptoms that have caused much discomfort...yet! I'm definitely not looking forward to July & August, as hot as it gets in Idaho, but I'm trying not to think that far ahead :-) We had an ultrasound last week & everything looked good - the heartbeat was strong & the baby was bouncing up & down doing lunges & using me as a trampoline. That better not continue, kid! I will not be amused!! We'll keep you all posted as things progress.

Here's a shot of the wee little Vickery spawn...currently looking suspiciously like a bobble-headed alien. Hopefully that changes before the big day ;-)In addition to the exciting announcement, we've also been lucky enough to be spending the week in Florida with Jan & Ron. The weather has been insanely gorgeous - in the high 60's & low 70's (15-20 Celsius) since we got here on Saturday afternoon, and should be climbing even higher later this week...not too shabby! We could definitely get used to this kind of weather, especially considering it's March...I know our Manitoba readers are likely more than a little envious of the Florida readers/visitors, what with the recent blizzard. Sounds like it's time for Spring to make an appearance!

On Sunday night we went out for a celebration dinner to an excellent Italian restaurant in Jacksonville, Enza's, along with Jan's friend Susan. The food was delicious - Zach had Grouper (a white fish that we can't get in the Northwest) and I had a grilled chicken & veggie dish with a garlic sauce. Everyone's food looked wonderful, we'll definitely need to go back next time we're in town!
Here's a shot of the group at dinner:
We've also enjoyed a lovely lunch at Ted's Montana Grill (owned by Ted Turner), which is known for serving Bison in addition to Beef & Chicken. Zach & I are big fans of Bison, but Jan & Ron had never tried it before. They really enjoyed it, too! Bison is a healthier alternative to Beef - you get the meatiness of beef without any greasiness. It's much leaner, with lower calories, fat & cholesterol than beef, and is higher in iron & protein, so it's a great alternative.
Now that my apparent endorsement for the National Bison Council is over, back to your regularly scheduled blog...
Apart from these delicious meals, we've also checked out Whole Foods (Boise is getting a Whole Foods this year, so it was great to see Jacksonville's version in anticipation of Boise's), as well as Jacksonville's Costco, which is MUCH bigger than Boise's, and I found a whole bunch of interesting stuff we don't get. It's always nice to comparison shop!
Today we went to Latitude 30, a restaurant combined with a bowling alley, pool tables & an arcade. Zach & I bowled a game (he whooped my butt, but if it had been 5-pin - which doesn't exist in the US - I'm certain I would have been victorious), and then Ron & Jan joined us in the arcade & we played skee-ball, air-hockey & did some faux-NASCAR driving. All in all, it was a fun time, and would be a great option for a birthday party!
Tomorrow, we have plans to check out the St Augustine Alligator Farm & maybe Jacksonville Beach - we'll be sure to get some pictures for all to enjoy! On Thursday, we head down to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami for a few days, which should be awesome - I can't wait to see all the Art Deco architecture, the Cuban culture & what will likely be some amazing food!

We'll post more once we're back from the trip...we have to say goodbye to Ron & Jan on Sunday morning & fly out of Ft. Lauderdale back to Boise :-( but we're SO glad to be down here soaking up the family time & sharing the big news!
--Katie

Goggles

2011-03-09T00:32:00.004-07:00

On Monday I picked up my first ever pair of glasses. I was actually quite surprised to see how much of a difference they made in my distance vision - time had eroded my concept of clear visibility (especially at night) and it was stunning to suddenly get it back.

Anyway, here is the (eagerly awaited?) picture:

Recent Happenings

2011-03-01T20:31:00.008-07:00

On the 20th of February, I left Boise in the morning for a 5 day business trip to Raleigh, the location of my employer's headquarters. It was a very productive trip as we discussed various strategic topics regarding our future product development. On Tuesday a group of us attended a Carolina Hurricanes game, which was great entertainment. The Hurricanes tragically lost to the Rangers in an overtime shootout despite holding a lead late in the 3rd period.

Before leaving town, we took a quick tour of downtown and checked out the North Carolina capitol and environs. It dates from 1840 which makes it far older than the much more impressive looking Idaho State Capitol!

North Carolina Legislative Building

After getting home late Thursday night, I worked Friday and proceeded to attend the Boise Code Camp on Saturday. That was an all-day affair and was a good learning experience despite me not winning any of the raffle prizes.

On Monday we had a patio cover installed, which turned out pretty well. Of course now I have to stain it...

Finally, I went to the eye doctor today for the first time in roughly 15 years. I've noticed my distance vision getting worse and I nearly failed the eye test for my recent driver's license renewal. Needless to say, the prescription was glasses. They will arrive next week, thus ending my glasses free existence.

Gettin' Older...

2011-02-23T17:31:00.004-07:00

Last Friday was my birthday, or more properly the anniversary of my birthday. Last year I decided working on this day was unacceptable so I took the day off from work. As I am wont to do, I slept in and planned the day in an impromptu manner. I knew the weather would be questionable but upon waking up I realized that a short hike in the foothills would be possible.

By 10:30am I left the house and headed up the Rocky Canyon Road into the eastern foothills hoping to get close enough to my goal, little known Aldape Peak. We haven't had much snow since New Years and I was astonished that I could drive the Escape all the way to Aldape Summit. I stopped a little bit short (not wanting to push my luck) but hiking the road proved it would have been no problem. Highly unusual conditions for mid-February!

I, perhaps foolishly, didn't even bring snowshoes but fortunately they weren't really needed. I hiked the main road to Aldape Summit and had intended to follow the Boise Ridge Road to the summit. However this road was gated as private property, which I didn't remember from my last hike in the area in 2003. I thus took a detour and hiked to the summit. From there I followed a jeep trail to the vicinity of the peak. Despite fairly deep snow, it held my weight pretty well in most places. It appeared this path had been snowmobiled awhile ago which is probably why it was sufficiently compacted for boot travel. With minimal struggle I made it to the summit in just over an hour, taking in partially obscured views of the surrounding area. What surprised me the most about this peak was that it had a great view of downtown Boise, something not possible in many parts of the foothills. I had a quick descent and got back to my car in just under two hours. On the way home, a passing storm dumped snow over east Boise and made for an interesting scene.

After getting home and cleaned up, around 5PM I headed to Cafe Ole to meet some coworkers for our usual "beer thirty". I stayed for about an hour and then met Katie at The Front Door in downtown Boise for a birthday dinner featuring quality beer and delicious pizza. The pizza was half pepperoni and half artichoke and impossible to stop eating! The beer list at The Front Door is extensive and unusual and provided me the rare of experience of not knowing what many of the beers were. Fortunately, I took advantage of the situation and expanded my beer vocabulary by trying the Kostritzer Black Lager, an IPA whose name escapes me, and the Bridgeport coffee porter.

In short, it was a great birthday and while I'm not excited about being older, I wouldn't mind every day being like this one!

Hike statistics: 4.17 miles, 1360' elevation gain, 2 hours

Aldape Peak Pictures!
GPS Track

Craters of the Moon Snowshoe 2011

2011-02-16T23:53:00.004-07:00

Last year, Matt and I went snowshoeing in the Craters of the Moon National Monument. That was a great trip however we only visited three of the numerous summits we initially planned to visit. Thus we put together a follow-up trip this winter to allow us to visit some of the other summits.

We headed out around 5:45am and were moving by 8:45am. We started up the highest peak on our itinerary, Sunset Cone, which sits just above the visitor center. Quickly we were atop this peak and began our slow march around the park, proceeding to climb Grassy Cone, Silent Cone, "Big Crater", Inferno Cone, Paisley Cone, and finishing on North Crater. In total, we visited 6 named summits plus another unnamed point.

The weather was much better than our last visit and we had great views of Blizzard Mountain, the Pioneer Foothills, the Lost River Range, and the Snake River Plain. Snowshoeing alongside the edge of the North Crater Aa Flow was pretty interesting as was observing the hollowed out snow caused by the warmth emanating from the volcanic vents underneath the ground. The Big Craters area was the most interesting area we visited and we spent some time checking out the impressive depressions all adjacent to each other.

We were surprised how few snowshoe tracks we found... only Paisley Cone had a trail established and North Crater had a few tracks. Despite my heavy use of sunblock (see the pictures), I still managed to get a little bit of sunburn. Oh well, it was still a great day!!

Trip statistics: 7.42 miles, 2276' elevation gain, 6:26h

Craters of the Moon 2011 Pictures!
GPS Track
Matt's Trip Report

Peak 9220' Snowshoe

2011-02-15T21:08:00.002-07:00

The weather during the week was looking great and Dan asked if I was interested in taking a day off of work to snowshoe up a peak. After a (brief) period of contemplation I agreed. The peak would be the unnamed Peak 9220' near Copper Mountain on the edge of the Sawtooths. We left Boise just after 5:30am on Thursday and began the drive to Banner Summit near Stanley. A little after 8am we were parked and getting ready. Despite few storms since New Years, there was plenty of snow in the area. Temperatures were somewhat cold (an estimated 10 degrees) but not unusual.

We got moving through the forest and after starting cold I started to warm up. The snow was softer that we expected but had a good base and wasn't too much work to move through. We were a little worried about crossing Bench Creek due to deep snow and the depth of water in the creek but we eventually encountered a good snow bridge that held our weight. From there we reached the base of the peak whose summit was surprisingly in clouds. Of course we could only continue on and hope things improved by the time we reached the top. The ridge was steep but pretty straightforward and we made good time up the over 2000' of elevation gain. We even had an old ski track for the part of the way which was a nice help.

Upon reaching the top, we were greeted with perfect weather (in the 20s), no wind, and an incredible view. From the top we took in the incredible panorama of Sawtooth, Boise, Salmon River, and White Cloud peaks. We really enjoyed our time on the peak and didn't head down until we started to get cold. Our descent down the ridge was pretty quick but crossing the flats was a slog due to fatigue. Upon reaching the vehicle we enjoyed a beer (although mine was partially frozen) and began the trip home.

This was a great winter peak and is highly recommended!

Trip statistics: 7.08 miles, 2527' elevation gain, 6:48h

Peak 9220' Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Three Peak Winter Outing

2011-02-02T22:17:00.005-07:00

Dan suggested snowshoeing to Johnson BM on a ridge overlooking the Camas Prairie. Having not hiked in this area it sounded pretty interesting so I was in. To add some elevation to the day, we also added a couple of other more minor objectives: Flat Top Butte and Don BM.

We left Boise a little after 6am and reached the trailhead for Johnson BM shortly after 8am. It was 13° which was actually considerably warmer than the nearby town of Fairfield! The snowshoe trip over the ridge was great as the sun rose and revealed the fog-shrouded Camas Prairie. Snow conditions were surprisingly good despite the snowpack being thinner than usual. After a couple of hours we reached the end of the ridge and Johnson BM. After taking some pictures (and Dan updating Facebook) we headed back to the vehicle.

After finishing the snowshoe trip of Johnson BM, we made a quick ascent of nearby Flat Top Butte just across the Gooding County line. This was a roughly 30 minute trip which was accelerated by the windy conditions that made us head back to the vehicle pretty quickly.

On the way back to Boise on US-20, we stopped to make a quick ascent of Don BM right by the highway. This was a surprisingly nice peak which a great view of the surrounding area. After quickly heading down we were able to finish the drive home - and arrive before 4pm. Not bad for visiting three peaks in winter!

Trip statistics (total): 8.26 miles, 1751' elevation gain, 5:09h

Johnson BM, Flat Top Butte, Don BM Pictures!
Johnson BM GPS Track
Flat Top Butte GPS Track
Don BM GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Long Weekend in Southern California

2011-01-30T19:36:00.005-07:00

Hi all...Katie here, reporting on a little weekend jaunt we took to LA/Long Beach last week! Get ready for an action-packed blog post! (ok, not really, but hopefully it will at least be slightly more entertaining than the Facebook status updates you may or may not have just been checking out!). Prepare yourself for a lengthy post (as usual when I'm playing the blogger!)

This trip to LA was actually a work-related one for me, as I flew down on Thursday, Jan 20 to spend a couple of days going on sales calls with my Sales Reps, and attending a Chinese New Year party that our NYK LA office hosted for some of it's Chinese clients. I left Boise at the butt-crack of dawn (6:30am), and landed a little after 9am. Keep in mind that it was 25F (-4C) when I left Boise, and it was 72F (22C) when I landed in LA!! Definitely much nicer January weather than I've ever experienced!
One of my Sales Reps (I work with 3 reps) picked me up at the airport & we headed out for our 1 (big) meeting of the day, with Dole (yes, the pineapple & banana people). Their world headquarters are located in Westlake Village, CA (north of LA), on an absolutely beautiful "campus" (their words)...I could definitely work at a place like this:
(yes, the weather was just as beautiful as that picture!)
The inside of Dole's main building was like a fancy spa, with marble floors & fountains & lots of greenery - very relaxing! We met with some of the people I work with, and then went out to lunch at The Landing Grill & Sushi (the building is on the left - we sat on the patio (IN JANUARY, PEOPLE!):
After that lovely meal & discussions about Dole's upcoming Contract Renewal (stressful times for yours truly!), my Sales Rep & I headed back down to Long Beach. She took me on a very scenic route, down part of the Pacific Coast Highway, which takes you right along the water in many sections. We stopped for a drink at a restaurant right on the water...again, it was so surreal to have to ask for seating "in the shade", since the sun was beating down pretty hard! We meandered through parts of Bel Air (no Fresh Prince sightings, unfortunately), and stopped in Hollywood, so that I could check out Graumann's Chinese Theater (with all the stars' footprints & handprints in the sidewalk), the Walk of Stars & the Kodak Theater (where the Oscars are held - I got to walk down the staircase on which they roll out the red carpet!)
Back in Long Beach, we stopped for dinner at Parker's Lighthouse where I had Chicken & Shrimp Jambalaya & we enjoyed an amazing view of the Queen Mary, and old passenger steamship that has been turned into a hotel.

On Friday I spent all day visiting clients with my 3 Sales Reps - these clients were smaller-scale than Dole, but it was still very nice to finally put faces to names for so many customers that I've been working with for the past 1.5 years. Friday evening was the main event - a traditional Chinese New Year banquet at NBC Seafood Restaurant in the Monterey Park section of LA! I got to meet even more customers, while enjoying (or at least trying!) lots of different Chinese dishes, many of which I had never tried or even heard of. It was quite an experience, but I'm happy to report that I tried everything (even the bamboo fungus, which was like tiny pieces of bubble wrap popping in my mouth), since I'm probably not going to have the chance in the near future!

Friday night signaled the end of my work duties, and also the start of a great weekend trip with Zach! He flew in Friday night & checked out the Yard House (just a few blocks from our hotel), while I was finishing up at the dinner party. He was in awe of (and in love with!) the beer selection at the Yard House!

On Saturday, we had an awesome breakfast at Egg Heaven in Long Beach, and then meandered around Long Beach - it is truly an awesome area, and we both agreed that we loved it! The beaches are gorgeous, and I would walk on the beach every single day if I lived there! We headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway...I have to mention that we stopped for a potty break at a Starbucks in Rancho Palos Verde - I'm only mentioning it because the patio of the Starbucks had a view similar to this:
Continuing up the PCH, we stopped in Venice Beach to check it out. It was an extremely busy & eclectic area, maybe not our style, but interesting nonetheless! We made it to Malibu (Beautiful beachfront houses & lots of fancy cars), and then headed back down to LA/Long Beach. We ate dinner at a great little Southern restaurant, Johnny Reb's, & called it a night.
Sunday was spent eating crepes, shopping at Trader Joe's (I brought a huge suitcase on purpose!), and checking out the Griffith Observatory, which has been in quite a few movies, including Charlie's Angels & Rebel Without a Cause - there's even a statue of James Dean at the site (although he doesn't have any eyeballs, which was creepy).
The parking lot was full, so we ended up having to walk about 20 minutes there & back...thank goodness for beautiful weather! You can see the Hollywood sign from the Observatory grounds, which was pretty cool!
Before heading to the airport, we drove around Hollywood/Beverly Hills (alas, no 90210-sightings, either.. you know I was looking for Brenda & Brandon Walsh's house!). Plenty of huge mansions were seen, though!
We flew back to Boise on Sunday night, arriving at 11:30pm, and were welcomed home by 30F (-1C) weather & frost. Ick. We definitely appreciated the weather in California, and were shocked at how many people we heard complaining about how hot it was while we were there! If only they knew what 30F felt like.
Overall, it was a great trip, both from a work perspective (for me) and a vacation perspective. We'd definitely love to go back, as there was lots more to do/see/eat, and would recommend the Long Beach area to anyone heading down that way!
Hope you enjoyed the VERY LONG blog post - this is why I don't blog more regularly - it always turns into a huge novel of a post.
If you made it this far, congratulations! We love you all, and miss you!
Love,
Katie & Zach

Here are some more pictures, taken on Zach's cell phone camera, since we forgot the real camera :-(

Peak 4460' Hike

2011-01-13T22:24:00.005-07:00

Dan suggested a hike in the foothills and we ultimately decided upon Peak 4460'. I was a little hesitant about my still ailing achilles/ankle/heel area but decided to get out anyway. Fortunately it held up pretty well for the hike but it did start barking a little bit in the evening. It seems to be getting better, albeit quite slowly...

We headed up Bogus Basin Rd a little after 7am. Dan also wanted to climb Peak 3793' (which I climbed last November) so we make a quick ascent at dawn before heading to the main objective. Since the ground was frozen and only lightly covered with snow, we didn't even need snowshoes. The hike was quite enjoyable - I personally had never been in the foothills when all of the creeks were iced like they were on this day. Once on top we got some great winter views of the Treasure Valley and the surrounding area. Of course, it is always great to catch up with Dan as well! While a small peak, this is an enjoyable winter objective close to home!

Trip statistics (total): 4 hours, 7.5 miles, 2200' elevation gain

Peak 4460' Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report

New Years Update

2011-01-06T23:25:00.003-07:00

It's been a long time since a random update was posted, so why not now?

We hope everyone had a great New Year!! On New Years Eve we opened the presents we didn't take to Vancouver, watched some TV and drank some champagne. It's kind of nice to have two rounds of gift opening!! I had a five day weekend and Katie had a four day weekend, so we did a lot of relaxing and also saw a couple of movies during that time, specifically Black Swan and True Grit. I found True Grit to be the better movie but both were good.

In other news, I'm still recovering from the Achilles tendon ruination I inflicted upon myself on Black Friday. It is mostly recovered now but I still haven't resumed consistent running again. To mitigate cardiovascular atrophy and to contravene holiday weight gain I decided to join a gym for the first time in my life. So far I've been very happy with this arrangement since it has made it much less urgent for me to run and risk aggravating the rather temperamental injury. When I get back to running I feel like I need to work on my stride to prevent a recurrence of this debilitating debacle.

Job-wise, there is no news to report for either of us. Both of our positions seem to be pretty stable and we're both happy to go to work each day!

I think that is about it from here... we wish everyone a great 2011!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T17:17:00.003-07:00

For the fourth consecutive year, we went to Vancouver for Christmas. We flew into Bellingham on the morning of the 23rd where Dave and Megan were eagerly awaiting us. After they picked us up, we proceeded to visit the various shopping spots in Bellingham - Trader Joe's, the Community Food Co-op, and Target - before grabbing lunch at the Boundary Bay Brewery. The lunch was pretty good and after that we were headed up to Vancouver. The border crossing was quick and we were at the Shepherd house around 2:30pm.

We socialized the afternoon of the 23rd and afterward Katie met a friend for dinner while I went to White Spot with Liz before watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the Aprim house. On Christmas Eve, Katie and I went with Dave to Shota Sushi where we had a very yummy meal! After eating, the three of us helped Dave complete his cleaning duties at the Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church in advance of the Christmas Eve ceremony, which we all attended that evening. After church, we ended up eating Little Caesar's pizza (it was the only thing open!) before wrapping presents.

Christmas Day consisted of the traditional brunch and present opening following by a turkey dinner. As always, we all had a great time seeing what everyone got and socializing. We love all of our gifts and thank everyone for thinking of us!!

On Boxing Day we slept in before attending another lovely dinner with family and friends. The 27th was a quiet day where Katie met up with one of her friends and I went on a long walk to attempt to burn off some of what I ate!

We departed on the 28th. Liz's cousin Rob arrived at the Shepherd house on the 27th and we went for brunch at IHOP before Megan and Greg drove us down to Bellingham. Since we got there a little early, Greg and I ended up getting dragged around the Bellis Fair Mall while Megan and Katie went shopping. We did the smart thing this year and booked an evening flight rather than an early morning one! The flight home was uneventful and we were home at 11:30pm ready to go to work the next day!

Christmas 2010 Pictures!

Black Friday Snowshoeing

2010-11-28T13:08:00.003-07:00

For the second year in a row, I used the Black Friday occasion to do some snowshoeing. Due to a week of winter weather and cold temperatures, the Boise foothills had a good covering of snow so I kept the trip local. I opted to visit two minor summits in different parts of foothills - Peak 4375 near Highland Valley Summit and Peak 3793 off of Bogus Basin Rd (aka the Kristin Armstrong Bikeway).

I first climbed Peak 4375, starting from Highland Valley Summit near the Kodiak Grill (a restaurant featured on "Triple D"). I actually didn't even use my snowshoes on this climb, although it would have helped a little bit on the steeper parts. The snow was mostly ankle depth and quite powdery - rare snow conditions for the foothills! From the highway it is a fairly short up-and-down hike across multiple drainages to the summit. The peak has pretty good views of the surrounding area and there were lots of deer seen on the trip!

Peak 3793 is a much shorter climb and I took snowshoes on this one since it promised to be a little bit steeper. This was a good decision and it was easy climbing straight up the peak. This peak also had good views of a part of the foothills I rarely visit.

In short, it was a well-spent Black Friday. The downside is that this trip aggravated a minor case of tendonitis (achilles) and I ended up limping around the house by the evening. So I had to make a weekend shopping trip to get some new shoes and insoles... now I just have to hope it goes away!

Trip statistics (total): 2.5 hours, 3.75 miles, 1350' elevation gain

Black Friday Snowshoeing Pictures!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T13:01:00.003-07:00

We hope all of our readers had a great Thanksgiving, whether it be of the American or Canadian variety! We did too and we are very thankful for all of the greatness in our lives!

We began our day by watching the live webcast of Katie's brother Dave walking across the stage and receiving his BA degree from UBC. Congratulations Dave!!!

Afterwards Katie made a couple of dishes for dinner (from-scratch rolls and roasted asparagus) and I went running on the icy/snowy roads. We headed over to Gary and Bonnie's around 4pm and nearly wrecked the Escape on the way over! On an icy spot near Gary and Bonnie's house the vehicle totally slipped, turned sideways, and ended up on a sidewalk facing a tree. Fortunately neither us nor the car sustained any damage but we were very lucky there were no oncoming nor parked cars in the way! However we did lose a little bit of asparagus and a Fiestaware dish in the accident...

After our safe but eventful arrival, we had a great time catching up with Gary and Bonnie and enjoying the lovely dinner that Bonnie and Katie prepared. Dishes served include turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, asparagus, rolls, and pecan bars for dessert. Mmmm! We headed home around 9:30pm and fortunately had no driving mishaps!

Thanksgiving Pictures!

Malheur County Highpoint Hike

2010-11-14T14:41:00.005-07:00

Dan and I decided to embark on a Saturday hike but the weather wasn't looking too good. Southeast Oregon seemed to offer the best weather and the chance to visit an obscure, remote area. We met at 6am and began the long drive to McDermitt, Nevada, and thence to the trailhead. We managed to drive a little further up than we expected, saving us approximately 45 minutes of hiking. We were moving around 9:30am and started uphill through the very open terrain. The weather was initially in the upper 30s with no wind which was actually quite comfortable. As we got higher the wind picked up which, while brisk, was tolerable.

The terrain was very gentle, consisting entirely of open sagebrush slopes and snowy jeep tracks. The area is quite remote and while out of the wind we observed the rare sound of total silence. It is also a popular rockhounding area and we found some large chunks of obsidian which I've never seen anywhere else. The expansive views and undeveloped nature of the area were definitely the highlight of the trip.

We initially had thoughts of visiting some other peaks but the shortness of the day and worsening weather caused us to abandon those plans and head directly home. Once home I was able to watch the tail end of the "SEC East Championship Game"... sadly, the Gators lost to the Gamecocks.

Trip statistics: 9.36 miles, 2599' elevation gain, 6:07h

Malheur County Highpoint Hike Pictures!
GPS track
Dan's Trip Report

Shephard Peak/Silver Mountain Hike

2010-10-18T21:22:00.003-06:00

Matt and I were interested in a hike Saturday but we only had a half-day to work with - Matt because of school and myself because of work (I was at work until 1:30am Friday night). We settled upon a plan to climb Shephard Peak (apologies to all members of the Shepherd family reading this) and Silver Mountain in the Boise Mountains. These peaks require a serious 4WD vehicle to access - fortunately Matt volunteered to drive his Ford Ranger. We met at 12:30pm and were off!

After enduring the rough road through Trapper Flat and toward the North Fork of the Boise River, we were hiking at 3:30pm. We had both never visited this area and were quite impressed with the rugged terrain! It only took us about an hour to reach the summit of Shephard Peak, which has a great views of the area and a perspective on the surrounding area we had not experienced. From there we headed toward Silver Mountain, a much lower peak but which had better views of the North Fork area. Since darkness was a concern, we couldn't spend too long on either summit - on the way back we actually dropped down to the closed road so we would have easier terrain to hike in the twilight.

It was nearly dark when we got back to the vehicle and Matt had the unenviable task of driving the rough road at night. Other than having to be extra careful, this wasn't an issue and we returned home, happy to have had a productive half-day of hiking!

Trip statistics: 5.12 miles, 2345' elevation gain, 3:43h

Shephard Peak/Silver Mountain Pictures!
GPS Track

Trinity Mountains Hike

2010-10-14T21:06:00.003-06:00

I hadn't been in the mountains since Labor Day weekend so I decided to embark on a Sunday solo trip in the Trinity Mountains near Boise. Despite being close to town, getting there requires quite a bit of driving on dirt roads. I took a different route each way and concluded the fastest (but most fatiguing) way was via Blacks Creek Road and the town of Prairie.

I left the house around 8:30am and was headed up the first peak just after 11am. My first ascent was up Peak 9037' - a very nice peak with good views of the area - including quite a few lakes! From there I headed over to Fiddler's Perch - a slightly higher peak whose most distinctive feature is the pair of cairns on the summit.

My final ascent was to be Peak 8889', however upon reaching the summit block it became apparent that the final 30' or so is a rock climbing challenge. After trying to find a suitable weakness, I gave up and took a short break before heading back to the vehicle. Some gray clouds hung around all day but the weather fortunately held. Lots of hunters were in this area too!

Trip statistics: 5.77 miles, 2369' elevation gain, 3:57 hours

Trinity Mountains Hike Pictures!
GPS Track

Lucas-Ross Wedding!

2010-09-29T21:18:00.003-06:00

Katie's cousin Jason was getting married so of course we had to be there! The wedding was to be held in Russell in western Manitoba, which is an area neither of us had visited before. For cost reasons, we chose to fly in to Minot, North Dakota, and drive from there. Katie's family chose to fly to Regina and drive from there - the driving distance from the two isn't very different.

We arrived in Minot around 5pm on Friday the 24th. After renting a car and grabbing dinner at Hardee's, we were heading north to Russell. The border crossing and drive up were uneventful except for our stop to gawk at the giant banana in Melita, Manitoba (I highly recommend reading the linked article about the banana). We arrived in Russell just after 9pm and after checking into the Russell Inn (aka "the homotel" due to it having both internal and external doors on each room) we socialized for a bit with the family before heading to bed.

On Saturday I had a nice run around town before being asked to provide some technical assistance on the slideshow that would be shown at the reception. Once the slideshow was in its proper state, I grabbed a quick Subway lunch and got ready to head to the ceremony. We all headed over to the United Church in Russell where the wedding was held. The ceremony was great and featured Jason's four year old nephew Logan as the shy ringbearer. After celebrating the marriage and taking a few pictures, we went back to the homotel to socialize (and enjoy a few beverages) before the reception. The reception started at 5pm and featured a very nice dinner (mmm, perogies) along with an open bar, slideshow, speeches, first dance, cake cutting, and dancing. We all had a good time (though I had too many beers) and some of us chose to walk back to the hotel around 1:30am!

On Sunday we enjoyed a very nice brunch at the reception hall before all parting ways and heading back to our respective homes or airports. Our drive back to Minot was very unexciting and I was forced to listen to the Vikings game on the radio. At the border our car was searched, which hasn't happened in quite some time. In Minot we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which was disappointing in that it was very noisy due to the nearby pool and thin walls - thankfully Katie brought earplugs! Our dinner in Minot was at the Pizza Ranch which made me feel like I'm too old for pizza buffets.

On Monday we woke up at 5am to catch our flight back to Boise. By 10:30am Katie was at work and I was by 10:45!

Lucas-Ross Wedding Pictures! - due to a camera malfunction, I lost all of the pictures of the ceremony, the town of Russell, and the giant banana :(

Waggoner 60th Wedding Anniversary!

2010-09-24T09:19:00.005-06:00

My grand-aunt and grand-uncle celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on September 10, 2010! Congratulations Pode and Elma Jean! Incidentally my Mom was part of the original wedding party as the flower girl!

To celebrate the occasion, my cousins Julie and Dave arranged a dinner on the 10th and a celebration on the 12th and invited everyone in the family. Many people I hadn't seen in 20 years (or ever, in the case of the many new additions to the family), and it would be Katie's first chance to meet almost everyone. Thus we had to go! Due to a miscommunication, we booked our flight before we realized there was a dinner on the 10th so we sadly missed that part of the festivities.

We headed to the airport after work on Friday the 9th. We flew to Denver and arrived around 9pm. We were able to grab some dinner at the Ted's Montana Grill before retiring for the night at a Sleep Inn. The most memorable part of dinner was getting a dish of pickles to munch on before our meals arrived. Saturday we embarked on the highly boring drive from Denver to Alma along US-36, arriving in town around 3pm. We checked out Alma a little bit before meeting up with family at the Alma Super 8. From there we visited the recently built park and pathway along the Alma waterfront before having a nice family dinner at The Station.

On Sunday we all attended the reception celebrating Pode and Elma Jean's anniversary. The event filled the reception venue and was highlighted by Pode and Elma Jean renewing their vows and a great family slideshow put together by Dave and Randy. Pode and Elma Jean looked great and it really was a beautiful scene! After the reception, the family had a nice dinner at Little Mexico in Republican City.

Before departing on mid-day Tuesday we had some good quality family time, visited the final resting places of various ancestors, visited cousin Paul at his insurance agency in Alma, looked at the former homes of Grandma and other relatives, visited second cousin Emily at the Alma City Hall, and did some family research in the Alma Library and the Franklin Library.

On Tuesday we drove home through Norton, Kansas, and Benkelman, Nebraska, doing a little bit of quick genealogical research at each site. We got to Denver around 6pm and proceeded to eat dinner at the Tilted Kilt in downtown Denver. The place had incredible waitresses and some good British beers that aren't usually found in Idaho. On Wednesday morning we had a quick jaunt around town and lunch at Chick-Fil-A before heading to the airport and ultimately home.

It was awesome seeing everyone and once again, congratulations to Pode and Elma Jean for 60 years of marriage!

Waggoner Anniversary Pictures!
Mom's Pictures!

Galena Peak Climb

2010-09-09T20:50:00.005-06:00

Matt and I settled on a climb of Galena Peak in the Boulder Mountains on the Saturday before Labor Day. It would be Matt's first visit to the Boulder Mountains and possibly our last time above 11000' for the year.

We left Boise just after 6am and were climbing just after 9am. We were pleasantly surprised at finding a nice trail up the peak and a very straightforward path to the summit. The route, though direct, was a pleasant mix of forest and alpine terrain and passed some interesting mining debris. We also saw two mountain goats on the ascent!

Summit views were outstanding, however it was a little windy and brisk on the summit. We had considered a traverse to nearby Peak 10835' however the terrain, changing weather, and our late start caused us to skip the side trip. After chatting with another hiker on the summit, we started our trip back down to the vehicle. We had a pleasant descent and the trip made for an excellent conclusion to the summer hiking season!

Trip statistics: 4.58 miles, 3474' elevation gain, 5:43h

Galena Peak Pictures!
GPS Track

Robbery Peak Climb

2010-08-31T19:43:00.006-06:00

After some debate, Dan and I agreed to climb Peak 10255' in the Smoky Mountains on Sunday the 22nd. This peak is located near the headwaters of the Salmon River and believed to be unclimbed, so we were both looking forward to the trip. The headwaters area was very beautiful and quite green for August, providing great scenery as we approached the trailhead. As the road (marked "jeep trail" on the map) got narrower we parked, however in hindsight we could have driven a little bit further.

The hiking was great, starting on a road which eventually becomes a motorcycle trail and then a single-track trail. Part of the route actually follows the Idaho Centennial Trail. After passing through a gorgeous meadow, we headed uphill on steep terrain to the summit. Once atop the peak, we saw no sign of prior summit visitation so we believe it is indeed the first ascent of the peak - the first first ascent for me. The weather was quite pleasant, although somewhat cool for mid-August. Could it be Fall in the air? After building a cairn and Dan naming the peak "Robbery Peak" (Robbins + Vickery, get it??), we started to head down. Before descending too far we decided to add some distance to the day and climb the adjacent Camas County Highpoint, a peak which both of us had already climbed from a different route and on which Dan registered a first ascent back in 2001. Unsurprisingly, the peak looked the same but it did have a few more names in the summit register. Clearly, these peaks aren't climbed very often!

From there, we descended directly down to the road and back to the vehicle. On our way home we stopped and ate at the Burger Grill in Ketchum - a favorite stop from years before.

Trip statistics: 7.4 miles, 6:31 hours, 3255' elevation gain

Robbery Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

MVP Camping Trip #3

2010-08-21T18:10:00.003-06:00

The follow-up to last year's MVP Camping Trip was going to be Ohanapecosh Campground within Mt. Rainer National Park. This would be a long drive for us but an opportunity to see the park for the first time. In addition, there would be be two new participants, Tracy and Dan, both of Olympia. Sadly, Karen and Shaun couldn't make it so in combination with Sam, Joey, and Cecilia the trip would consist of the seven of us. The name "MVP" doesn't really work as well for this trip but I'm using it anyway!

The site reservation was chosen on the weekend following our anniversary. We thus decided to leave a day early and spend our anniversary night at the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City - a 111 year old hotel that was restored in the 1990s. After work on the 12th, we left Boise around 7pm, making to Baker City just after 8pm local time. After checking in, we ate a nice dinner at the restaurant - Katie had the crab cakes and I had the Idaho trout. Both dishes were great and the restaurant had a great vintage feel to it. We stayed in the cupola suite which was great - lots of room, windows, and nicely appointed. When checking out we were told this room is supposed to be haunted - other than a slightly moving chandelier, we noticed nothing.

On Friday we ate a late breakfast/early lunch at Subway before undertaking the drive to the campground. Driving was mostly highlighted by the eclectic iPod shuffle I put together. We ended up arriving at the campground at about 4pm - at almost the exact time as everyone else!

We were very impressed with the heavily wooded campground along the glacier-sourced Ohanapecosh River. The campground features a near-complete tree canopy of tall second-growth trees, a swimming hole complete with diving opportunities, a visitor center, and trails leading to nearby waterfalls and old-growth forest. We very much enjoyed our time in the beautiful surroundings relaxing with friends! We had a great time meeting Tracy and Dan, catching up with Sam and Joey, seeing how much Cecilia had grown since last time, hanging out around the fire, checking out the area, and eating lots of food!

On Sunday we all departed around noon, beginning the long drive home. We got home a little bit after 8pm, forced to prepare for a week at work.

MVP Camping Pictures (I apologize for the poor quality - we forgot our "real" camera and had to use the cell phone)

Summer Vacation 2010!

2010-08-10T20:43:00.006-06:00

Katie and I departed Boise around 11pm on Friday night, July 30th, for an all-night drive to Vancouver. We took turns driving and sleeping (though Katie got more sleep than I) and made it to Bellingham by the early morning. In Bellingham we visited the site of our wedding before stopping at Trader Joes to buy a few items. We soon crossed the border and were at the Shepherd house around 10am.

We were starving upon arrival so we ordered some Panago pizza. After this nice meal, we crashed for a few hours before meeting Kelly (who was at our wedding) at the Elephant Walk Pub. We had a good time catching up over Kokanee and then proceeded to head home to hang out with Dave and sleep.

On Sunday Katie met a couple of her friends. I chose to use the day to instead hike Dam Mountain in North Vancouver. This also gave me the opportunity to do the Grouse Grind, a famous and incredibly steep Vancouver trail that leads to Grouse Mountain Resort area. The Grind was much more prolonged and tougher than I expected... basically it is a staircase that is the approximate height of the Burj Khalifa. The trail was packed with people, which made the trail feel like some kind of outdoor gym and also meant getting stuck behind people and occasionally being tailed by someone faster. I even encountered one guy having a seizure (he was being attended to) and was just above another guy who kicked a small log down the trail which nearly wiped out one or more people. Basically the trail was nuts and struck me as a little bit unsafe given many of the people on it. After a lot of work I made it to the top in just under 65 minutes - pretty good in my opinion!

Once at the top I checked out some of the exhibits, including the zip lines and the grizzly bears. After some questions about the location of the trail (it was not signed) and the "bear in the area" sign, I was eventually headed toward the peak. Once I got going it became evident that the peak would be shrouded in fog - so much for having a summit view! I continued upward on a much narrower and more rugged trail than I expected - pretty much the total opposite from the Grind and much different from the somewhat busy Mt Seymour which I climbed last year. The trail was kind of surreal because it felt like wilderness but was actually paralleled by a noisy irrigation pipe, was overflown by zip lines, and was in earshot of the crowds cheering as they watched the lumberjack show. After scarfing some M&Ms and checking out the foggy summit, I headed back down to the resort where I managed to catch part of the raptor show. Every time I see that sort of thing it reminds me that falconry is cool. From there it was back to the aerial tramway and parking lot.

Sunday night I was left alone (Katie and Dave were both out and about) so I watched some TV and hit the Flying Wedge for dinner. On Monday we mostly ran errands in preparation for the camping trip, however the three of us did meet Greg and Carmina for dinner at White Spot.

Tuesday started bright and early with a 4am departure for the Syringa Provincial Park campground. After performing the final packing of our two vehicles, the five of us hit the 7-11 then headed east. We had some two-way radios to communicate which also made for good entertainment. We made good time and had breakfast at a Subway in Osoyoos which was memorable mainly for the bad service and the depleted pop fountain. Around 1pm we made it to the campground, being the first of our group to show up. Liz and the Aprims followed shortly thereafter and we all proceeded to setup camp.

Camping was great and was highlighted by the usual activities - eating, swimming, reading, relaxing, walking the dogs, sitting around the campfire, etc. In my case, hiking around the park and kayaking across the lake were also included. We also managed to power through a lot of beers - maybe as many as 100?

On Saturday we packed up our stuff and headed home, leaving the campground around 11:45am. The Aprims headed back to Vancouver, Liz and Dave continued camping at McDonald Creek, and we headed back to Boise. Katie and I did eat at the Subway in Castlegar before heading south. We had a minor navigational faux pas in Trail but otherwise headed right on down. We decided to have a nicer dinner in Lewiston and stopped at Matt's Grill where I had the bratwurst and Katie had the lemon chicken. Both were good and I had my first exposure to sauerkraut - a food I truly don't understand. We arrived in Boise just after 2am and 550 miles of driving. After unpacking a few things and a quick shower, we crashed and used Sunday to recover.

Summer Vacation Pictures!
Dam Mountain Pictures!
Dam Mountain GPS Track

Braxon Peak Climb

2010-07-27T23:09:00.006-06:00

Dan and I decided to climb a peak in the Sawtooths. We decided on Braxon Peak, which noted author Tom Lopez states has the "best 360 degree view in Idaho". Plus it is accessed from Redfish Lake Creek, an area neither of us had visited before.

We were scheduled to meet at 6am, however Dan missed his alarm and we didn't get going until 6:45am. We drove up in Dan's new Chevy Equinox, a nice ride which included the XM Radio for our entertainment. On the way to Redfish Lake, Dan informed me that he recently suffered a broken rib playing basketball and was on painkillers. I was surprised to hear this and my concern about this news would later be validated!

We caught the Redfish Lake shuttle just after 9:30am. The boat ride across the lake was enjoyable with incredible scenery, however we were both surprised by the casual nature of the operation - no life jackets nor any other bureaucracy required! We paid our money and were immediately taken on the boat. After taking a few pictures on the shuttle, we were on the trail just before 10am. After a brisk hike up the trail, we followed John's instructions and started hiking uphill just before a small footbridge. From here the going got much steeper and eventually required navigating around various cliffs and other obstacles. As we got higher, Dan was feeling worse, getting dizzy from the exertion. We decided we would evaluate whether to continue at the lake just above 8900' elevation.

After some work we reached the lake at 8900'. We ended up deciding that Dan would stay at the lake while I finished the climb up Braxon Peak. My goal was to climb and descend the final 1400' in 2 hours. I headed uphill at a pretty brisk pace but ultimately was slowed by the terrain beneath the summit ridge. After two failed attempts over class 4 terrain, I finally found a class 3 route up to the summit ridge. From there it was a steep but straightforward climb to the summit. The views from the summit matched Tom Lopez's description - a complete panorama of Sawtooth peaks that was actually somewhat overwhelming to take in! Because of my compressed time line, I didn't spend too long on the summit - I caught my breath, rehydrated, took a few pictures, signed the register, and was soon heading down. The terrain, while a little loose on the ascent, provided the perfect terrain for descent and I was able to make pretty good time back to the lake basin where Dan was waiting. In the end I was 30 minutes late which made up for Dan missing his alarm in the morning!

Dan had a leisurely time at the lake, relaxing and even taking a brief swim. Once we met up again, we descended the boulder-strewn and cliffy terrain back to the trail. There was actually a good deal of route-finding required to get back down! Once on the trail, we moved briskly to attempt to catch the earliest possible shuttle back to our car. Arriving at the dock at 6:10pm, we ended up having to wait until 7pm for a shuttle to arrive. The return shuttle was totally full (12 people on the boat and 3 others left at the dock) and the driver had concerns that we were going to run out of gas. However we did make it back to the vehicle, where we enjoyed Alaskan Ambers (courtesy of Dan) before beginning the drive back to Boise.

The drive to Boise was highlighted by XM Radio surfing, including various comedy shows, grunge, hair metal, and freestyle rap. Before we knew it we were back in town and sadly forced to get ready to go to work on Monday...

Trip statistics: 8.55 miles, 4129' elevation gain, 8:16h

Braxon Peak Pictures!
GPS Track

Mount Idaho Climb

2010-07-24T19:28:00.003-06:00

On September 2, 2001, I climbed Hyndman Peak. Of Idaho's nine 12000'+ peaks, this was the first whose summit I reached. Last week, I climbed Lost River Mountain, which was number 8. I had a plan to climb my final "twelver" - Mount Idaho - with some people from Rupert this past Friday but it turned out that they couldn't make it. Ultimately I decided that instead of rescheduling I'd rather take Friday off and finish the quest by making a solo ascent of the peak.

After leaving Boise around 3:30am, I arrived at the trailhead around 7am. Surprisingly, three other vehicles were there too - a rarity for a somewhat obscure peak. From the trailhead I had a brisk hike up the forested creek bottom of Elkhorn Creek. After reaching treeline I was greeted with my first views of the peak and a steep climb of mostly good rock to the summit ridge. The summit ridge also yielded the day's first incredible views of the surrounding county - including Borah Peak, the highest peak in Idaho.

The summit ridge is blocked by three towers which add some climbing and route-finding to the ascent. For the most part, a trail identifies the easiest way around these obstacles but finding the trail sometimes took effort. Once to the base of the face, the route climbs a mixture of solid rock and usually good talus to the summit. It was quite a bit of effort to finish the climb, but ultimately I reached the summit in just over 5 hours! The view was incredible and the conditions were perfect! I spent about 45 minutes atop the peak relaxing, taking in the views, and sending a few text messages.

During the entire climb I was expecting to run into others due to having seen the vehicles at the trailhead. However upon leaving the summit I still had seen no one. I descended a loose talus line from the summit, a route that got pretty steep and forced me to cross a few patches of steep, rotten snow. Upon getting back to the base of the face, I ran into the group of seven that were just beginning the ascent of the face. Apparently I passed them somewhere... maybe in the forest? We chatted a bit and then headed our separate ways. Later I saw them atop the peak and eventually I found out five of them made the summit. From the base of the face the descent involved a mixture of solid rock, loose rock, and kind-of-loose rock on increasingly tired legs and aching feet. Once my dogs are barking my hiking pace slows dramatically and it took me quite a while to descend from the basin to the vehicle. Needless to say, ten hours later I was very happy to be back to the car!

Trip statistics: 7.52 miles, 10:05h, 5369' elevation gain

Mount Idaho Pictures!
GPS Track

Lost River Mountain Climb

2010-07-19T20:04:00.005-06:00

I joined Matt Durrant and Mike Fox for a climb of Lost River Mountain, Idaho's 6th highest peak. Matt and I left Boise a little after 6pm on Friday and after stopping for dinner at Wendy's in Mountain Home, we headed over to the Joe T. Fallini campground to meet Mike. We got there just before 10pm and shot the breeze for a bit before going to bed. After a fitful sleep in the Escape, I (along with Matt & Mike who slept outside) was up early and ready to go a little bit after 6am. We had a quick drive over to the peak which was highlighted by an abnormally high amount of water in the irrigation canal on Upper Cedar Creek Rd. After questioning the sanity of the endeavor, I drove the Escape through the approximately 2' of water without incident. It was easily the deepest water crossing I've attempted in a vehicle!

We got going just before 7am and made great time up the open slopes to the lower treeline, through the trees, and to the upper treeline. From there we caught a surprisingly good trail into the famed Super Gully which only had about 500' of snow left. We had a surprisingly easy time reaching the base of the snow on pretty good talus. The snow was soft but we kicked steps and made good time up the steep terrain. Once above the snow, we ascended approximately 200' of some of the worst talus in Idaho. Gradually the rock improved and soon we were on the ridge leading to the false summit. From the false summit, it is a fun ridge walk over the summit.

We enjoyed perfect weather and incredible views atop the peak, spending approximately 45 minutes relaxing and naming neighboring peaks. On the descent, we enjoyed some great talus skiing and made it down the softer snow without any problems. From the bottom of the snow, it was mostly a hike down to the vehicle.

After dropping Mike off at the campground, Matt and I embarked on the long drive back to Boise, getting back home that evening.

Trip statistics: 4.46 miles, 4854' elevation gain, 8:33h

Lost River Mountain Pictures!
GPS Track

Mt. Rose Hike

2010-07-13T19:47:00.004-06:00

As part of our Reno trip, I managed to squeeze in a hike of Mt. Rose, a county highpoint and a peak that dominates the Reno skyline. I left the hotel just after 6am on Independence Day and was on the trail before 7am. Reno was having daytime highs in the 90s so I was surprised to find the morning temperature at the trailhead to be in the 30s - I wasn't dressed for that level of chill!

Once moving and into the sun, the temperature was no longer an issue. I moved quickly up the trail which still had quite a bit of snow on it. I didn't see a single person until halfway to the peak, where I found myself behind at least a dozen hikers, most of whom appeared to be Russian. After getting around that group, I sped up to the summit and was able to peaceably enjoy the incredible views of Reno and Lake Tahoe from the top! After enjoying the summit for a little while I headed over to nearby Church Peak, which featured very similar views to its bigger neighbor.

On the way back to the trailhead I passed what could only be described as a horde of people either climbing the peak or just hiking the trail. There must have been several dozen at least, and quite a few families. I made it back to the hotel around noon, in perfect time for lunch and the rest of our day of sightseeing and bowling!

Trip statistics: 13 miles, 2700' elevation gain, 4:40h

Mt. Rose Pictures!

PS: I forgot to bring my watch on the hike (despite packing it) so no detailed trip data this time!

Reno Vacation!

2010-07-11T15:12:00.005-06:00

In the spirit of last year's Las Vegas Trip, we decided to use the Independence Day holiday for a short vacation. I had Friday off so I used the day to clean up around the house and try out the new pizza place near our house. The pizza place passed muster and I also managed to get most of the cleaning done. I picked Katie up from work just after 5pm and we were in Reno for dinner. While renting a car I again got upsold to a Mustang... maybe Katie should take care of those duties in the future?

We had a nice patio dinner at the Silver Peak and both enjoyed our meals and brews! That part of downtown Reno had live music going on by the river - it was a great place to spend an evening. After dinner, we checked out downtown Reno a little bit then headed over to the Grand Sierra, our chosen hotel/resort. For whatever reason we got a room upgrade (the "summit") which was on the 20th floor and quite nice. We were also pretty impressed with the resort - lots of restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a driving range, a go-kart track, a bungee jump, and stores in addition to the usual gaming accoutrements. Katie was happy that the hotel was dog-friendly, so we got to see lots of pups, including a little dachshund puppy & an Old English Sheepdog! We also happened to be there the same weekend as the West Coast Scrabble Championship which enabled us to see ballrooms of people playing Scrabble for the first time.

Saturday we had a nice day checking out the cities of Reno and Carson City. Mostly we just did touristy stuff, like checking out the various historic sites and what-not. We had a couple of nice meals at the Island Cheeseburger place in Reno and Briscola at our hotel. Island Cheeseburger actually had an incredible beer selection which I wasn't expecting. We really enjoyed our driving tour of both places!

On Sunday I got up early to hike Mt. Rose just outside of Reno, while Katie took a walk around the casino & checked out the pool. After I returned from this nice hike, we had lunch at the Lodge Buffet (Katie's first casino buffet) then headed down to Lake Tahoe to see that area. We were both blown away by the scenery of the lake and also how crowded it was! Lake Tahoe has a huge fireworks show on the 4th and we were right in the middle of it - think Spring Break atmosphere! We drove most of the loop road, stopping at various points to check things out. On the way home we drove by Squaw Valley and up to Truckee, CA - which was yet another scenic drive.

On Monday I picked up my sports bet winnings (I won both bets on Rafael Nadal and the BC Lions), which was the only bright spot amongst our gambling adventures. We had a nice lunch at Deli Towne USA, which may be the best gas station cuisine we've had yet. From there we took in a Reno Aces game at their stadium near downtown. The game started well for Reno but eventually the Sacramento Rivercats took control and won the game. It was a day game and we managed to get some of the few (and popular!) seats that were shaded the whole time. Despite being in the shade, we still managed to get a little bit pink! After the game, we hit the Trader Joe's (so Katie could bring back a few items) and had dinner at BJ's. From there, it was back to the airport, ultimately Boise, and work the next day.

Reno Pictures!

Boulder Mountain Hike

2010-06-30T23:06:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday I hiked Boulder Mountain near McCall. Having never been in the Lick Creek Mountains, it was a great opportunity to see a new corner of Idaho. As is typical for me, I slept in and got a late start. After checking out the reservoir near the trailhead I was immediately stunned by the number of people on this trail... dozens of teenagers were backpacking out and I saw quite a few other hikers on the trail moving in both directions. Pretty high volume for Idaho where most outings result in seeing no one!

In less than an hour I reached Boulder Lake where a brief conversation with a kid resulted in him telling me I should hike slower and enjoy nature more. Perhaps he was right but that means getting up earlier - a total no-go! From there I hiked the trail around the lake under increasingly snowy and muddy conditions. Despite the conditions, there were people camped along the lake including some that brought llamas with them. Upon reaching the upstream side of Boulder Lake I ditched the trail and hiked the mostly bare south slopes of Boulder Mountain to the summit. The mostly dry terrain was a welcome respite, however near the summit I was forced on to some rotten snow that made me glad I went the way I did!

On top, I mostly had the summit and incredible views to myself. Not having hiked this area before, I was greeted with a summit panorama populated by many unfamiliar summits. More terrain to learn! Before I left four other hikers reached the summit... the one guy I talked to was from Caldwell. I thought about continuing on to nearby Jughandle Mountain but the low snow levels and late hour eliminated that option. Thus I headed directly down to Boulder Lake and to the trail, bypassing the snowy and muddy terrain that vexed me on the ascent. I should have ascended that way - the terrain was a little bit rocky and much more enjoyable!

After getting back to the car, I headed back home. However I decided to check out the bankrupt Tamarack Resort near Donnelly since I hadn't been there before. It's not every day you get to see a bankrupt ski resort! I found lots of partially built structures along with a general post-apocalyptic vibe. Quite unusual, but the scenery along Lake Cascade was incredible!

Trip statistics: 7.17 miles, 2418' elevation gain, 4:28h

Boulder Mountain Photos!
GPS Track

Jumbo Mountain Hike

2010-06-21T21:38:00.004-06:00

After a quick back and forth of text messages, Dan and I chose to climb Jumbo Mountain near the South Fork of the Boise River. Dan had to be back in Boise by the evening so Jumbo's proximity to Boise and modest stats made it a good choice. We were on the road just after 7am and on the trail around 9:30am. On the way to the trailhead I had to take a few pictures at Anderson Ranch Reservoir since it was actually full and the views were incredible.

The trail started as an ATV track but shortly turned to decent singletrack. It climbed very steeply up the Jumbo Creek drainage and we were quickly to a nice meadow at 6000'. Instead of climbing to the ridge above Little Water Gulch we attempted to follow the abandoned trail along the upper reaches of Jumbo Creek. This trail proved to be non-existent so we gave up and just climbed the steep slopes to the ridge top west of the summit. From the ridge it was a very enjoyable hike to the summit through open terrain.

Despite not being very high, Jumbo Mountain has great views of the Soldier, Boise, and Smoky Mountains. The weather atop the peak was perfect - warm with a light breeze. After taking in the views we embarked on a direct but steep return to the car. On the way home we drove by the Castle Rocks since I'd never seen them before.

Trip statistics: 5.63 miles, 3335' elevation gain, 4:51h

Jumbo Mountain Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

Sheep Mountain Hike

2010-06-17T21:56:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday I decided to take advantage of the summer-like weather and bag a peak. Because I love to sleep so much I missed my alarm and didn't wake up until 9:30am or so. Despite this really late start I decided to attempt my initial planned objective, Sheep Mountain. After driving the agonizing washboardy and potholed road up the Middle Fork of the Boise, I arrived at the trailhead at about a quarter to noon. I chose to hike the peak via the north ridge, which looked like a much more enjoyable hike than the switchbacked route up the south face. My route was the longer of the two and with such a late start I knew I had to move fast in order to be off the peak at a reasonable hour.

I started hiking briskly and ended up gaining the first 1000' of elevation in 30 minutes... impressive for me. Shortly thereafter I reached the ridge and was able to take in the stunning views offered by this hike. It was easy cruising on the generally great trail (though it was motorcycle damaged in places) and I made great time. The GPS watch actually made for a great motivator for a solo hike like this - I'm sure I would've hiked slower without it giving me goals to achieve. Thankfully snow was a minor factor, only being present for the last few hundred vertical feet.

I reached the summit just after 2:30pm and was able to take in some of the best views of Boise Mountains I've experienced. Being my first summit in this general area, I enjoyed seeing the various peaks from a different vantage point. After spending some time enjoying the twin summits, being mindful of time I reluctantly headed back down. My descent was pretty brisk and I ended up getting back to the car just after 5pm. I really enjoyed this hike along the Middle Fork and hope to visit another peak in this area soon!

Trip statistics: 14.57 miles, 4167' elevation gain, 5:18h

Sheep Mountain Pictures!
GPS Track

Vinegar Hill Hike

2010-06-12T18:29:00.006-06:00

Dan and I were both available on the 5th for a hike. Because the weather in Idaho wasn't great, we opted for Vinegar Hill, a prominent peak in eastern Oregon where the weather was better.

We weren't sure how far up the road we could get but we made it roughly 7.5 miles in from the highway. There was more snow that we expected which wasn't a great match for the trail running shoes I brought. However the snow wasn't a major obstacle... a little bit soft but no major post-holing occurred. The trip was actually shorter than we expected... a rarity for a hiking trip! The weather was perfect and we both enjoyed the great summit views in all directions! Another fine hike in eastern Oregon!

This was also my first hike with my new GPS watch - so now I can provide super-accurate trip data. The things I do for my audience!

Trip statistics: 6.74 miles, 2076' elevation gain, 4:35h

Vinegar Hill Trip Pictures!
GPS Log
Dan's Trip Report

Memorial Day Weekend...ROADTRIP!

2010-06-07T22:16:00.004-06:00

It's officially Katie's next Blog Post! Mark your calendars, everyone! And try to control your bladders & your excitement, I know that was hard for me to do while I was typing this.
Word of warning: this will be a LONG post...as Zach said "to make up for all the blog posts I haven't made". Haha. He's a funny guy.

Ok, so last weekend was the Memorial Day long weekend here in the United States of 'Merica, and Zach & I decided to go on a wee roadtrip to Long Beach, WA, because we're a couple of wild & crazy guys! We left the Treasure Valley on Friday evening after work, driving to the lovely (um, boring) town of Kennewick, WA (about a 4 hr drive) to pass out for the night.
The next morning, we drove on to our old 'hood, Olympia, WA, to check out what had changed since we'd last been there 3 years ago.
We got into the Olympia/Tumwater area in the early afternoon, and drove around town for a little while, stopping by Zach's old workplace (Department of Revenue), as well as our old apartment complex and my old workplace (Cascade Billing Company, which was right next to our old apartment complex). The most shocking change we found was across the street from our old apartment complex, which (when we lived there) was all forested - the trees have all been cleared, and a HEINOUS-looking housing development has been built there. The "houses" (I use that term very loosely) have a great view of the area, which is probably the only thing going for them. As Dad always said, if you live in it, you don't have to look at it! To each their own, I guess!

After we got over that monstrosity, we headed to our hotel & checked in, before going over to our friends Joey & Sam's house, to visit with them & their 17-month-old adorable little girl, Cecelia. Once Cecelia was out for the night (uh, and the babysitter showed up!), we all went down to the Fish Brew Pub - Fish Tale Ales is an organic Olympia brewery with awesome beer as well as apple & pear ciders. We had a great meal (I had the fish tacos which had grilled cod with an awesome non-mayonnaise-y coleslaw on top; Zach had the beer-battered cod & chips, which he also loved), and we drank an excellent pitcher (or two! between the 4 of us) of their Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale.
We then went to an old hang-out - a Karaoke bar, of all places! Sam is an awesome singer, and we used to go there a few Saturday nights a month to drink some beer & be entertained by all the talented (and not-so-talented!) singers...Sam sang a few songs, including Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecelia" - it was shockingly the first time he'd ever sang that song in the 17 months his daughter's been alive! We also got to experience what I think was by far the worst rendition of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" I have ever heard...if I hadn't seen the words on the Karaoke screen, I never in a million years would have guessed what song was being butchered! The poor woman only knew 1 note, but she stuck with it for the whole song...good for her, I guess!
After that debacle, we called it a night & headed back to our hotel.
Sunday morning, we spent some time wandering the Olympia Famer's Market. We picked up a huge bag of amazing Washington State cherries (strangely, cherries are not the best roadtrip food...who would have thought?! heehee), as well as some apples & bison pepperoni (Helmut's German Deli in Vernon, BC has absolutely nothing to worry about - their bison pepperoni still has first place in our hearts!). We got a few (rainy-weather) pictures of the Port of Olympia (NYK shockingly doesn't have service to this port!), checked out Capitol Lake and then headed out of town, on our way to Long Beach.

We made a stop in the tiny fishing town of Westport, WA, and checked out the (busy!) marina there...the real highlight of this stop was seeing a (gigantic!) sea lion swimming through the marina...Zach tried to get a picture when it's head was above the water, but it was too quick! Mom, I seriously thought it was a silkie! We really only got to see it's head a few times, and one of it's flippers, but it was really long & very cool!

After I got my fill of Irish folklore & marine life, we continued on to our final destination for the day - Long Beach! We checked into our little bungalow. Please notice in the picture of the interior of the bungalow, that the short, white, open door is the door into the ITSY BITSY bathroom. The door frame was literally as tall as Zach's chin, and the shower head in the (tiny) shower was about the same height! We didn't include a picture of the bathroom but it was covered in totally retro mint/avocado green tile, and was so tiny we both had to be careful not to smash elbows/butts/miscellaneous body parts while getting dried off! It was an adventure!

We walked along the boardwalk on Long Beach for awhile, but it was pretty rainy, so we decided to go on a car ride to a little town called Oysterville, that our friends Karen & Shaun (from Olympia) had recommended to us. (sidenote: we would have visited with them while we were in Olympia, but they chose that weekend to visit Vancouver, of all places!)
Oysterville was adorable - a little "town" stuck in the 1800's, with beautiful beach-front houses, an old schoolhouse & an adorable little church with a steeple that looked like a lighthouse! Also, we definitely picked the right time to travel through the Pacific Northwest, because apparently the end of May is RHODO BLOOMING SEASON! It was absolutely insane & beautiful - rhodos were EVERYWHERE, and in amazing colours...some were so big they reached the 2nd storey of the houses they were in front of!
We ate some dinner (We tried some PNW oysters that were pretty darn awesome), and went to bed early, to prepare for a long day of driving on Monday!

Monday morning, we checked out Cape Disappointment & a cool old lighthouse...the terrain at both was really rocky & impressive! We drove over the (4 mile long) bridge into Astoria, OR, and stopped at the Rogue Public House as they make some of Zach's favourite beers. We had a tasty lunch - I had a grilled salmon filet burger, Zach had a $10 haute dog - no really, that's what it's called - with caramelized onions & bleu cheese served with a mustard made with ale. We also tried a few of their beers, my favorite being their honey orange wheat beer (it was too citrusy for Zach, but then again...he crazy!)
After driving around Astoria for a bit (and passing the school that Kindergarten Cop was filmed at! Alas, no sightings of the house that Goonies was filmed at), we headed over to Portland.
I made Zach stop at the Dave's Killer Bread store so we could pick up some stuff we can't get in Boise, and from there, we drove allllll the way back to Boise. this portion of the trip was complete with a HORRENDOUS driving experience in Eastern Oregon where (due to highway construction for what felt like 300 miles) the oncoming lane of highway traffic was separated from us by flimsy bendable orange marker posts - thank you, Oregon Department of Transportation, you supreme jerks! With the combination of rain, wet pavement, the glare of oncoming traffic lights, it made for some white-knuckle driving! We made it, though, and arrived home around 12:30pm.

Tuesday morning came waaaaaay too early, but it was well worth the great trip! Unfortunately it rained almost the entire time, but it was still a trip filled with great friends, great food and great scenery & views!

Phew...ok, I'm FINALLY done. Before I go, I'd like to thank Zach for downloading a bunch of great music onto the Ipod for the trip...and would also like to take this opportunity to point out to everyone that one of the songs he downloaded was MARIAH FREAKING CAREY. Yes, my husband who used to be addicted to hardcore heavy metal also likes to rock out to "I'll Be There". Don't get me wrong, I belted that song out at the top of my lungs (to his chagrin, I'm sure!), but...um...I'm a GIRL!
I'm sure Dave will defend Zach's choice!

Ok, that's it! See you all in another 6 months or so, when it's time for me to blog again! Juuuust kidding...I know I need to do this more regularly, so you don't get a massive monsoon post from me every 6 months!

Oh, here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Washington Coast Trip Pictures

Barenaked Ladies Concert

2010-05-22T21:08:00.009-06:00

Katie has been a fan of Canadian band Barenaked Ladies for some time and attended their concerts when she lived in Canada. I was never as much of a fan because I didn't know much about their music and I consider their name to be egregious false advertising. However they were coming to Boise so we jointly decided we would attend. It would be my first "big name" concert visit in nine years! However I was saddened to learn they probably wouldn't be playing the only song of theirs I knew - Be My Yoko Ono.

The concert venue was an open grassy area at the Idaho Botanical Garden which meant that weather would be a concern. The weather forecast for Friday was uncertain and despite it not being very warm (temperatures were in the low 50s) it did stay dry! After a quick dinner at Pie Hole, we arrived just after 7pm as opening act Serena Ryder was beginning her performance. After being amazed by how busy the place was (the show was sold out) we found a decent spot on the grass. We ended up right near an old coworker of mine from Micron so the two of us caught up for a few minutes.

I wasn't a big fan of Serena Ryder's set but The Barenaked Ladies put on a great show. They started playing at about 8pm and played nearly two hours - more than most headline acts I've seen. I recognized a few of the songs but I think my favorite part was their improvised song honoring Boise which mixed vocal saxophone impressions with lyrics related to geological facts the band gleaned from the interpretive signs on nearby Table Rock.

On the way home the rain finally came... perfect timing!!

Serena Ryder performing with Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies

Concert venue

Barenaked Ladies early in their set

Barenaked Ladies onstage

Encore performance

Office Move

2010-05-15T12:13:00.007-06:00

My company has been doing some hiring lately and we outgrew our old office and phone system. We were literally hiring people with no place for them to sit nor a phone extension available! With the commercial real estate market being bad the company was able to get a good deal on a much bigger building. On April 30 we moved over there and we're finally starting to settle in!

Old building

Old desk. Note the snazzy Haworth Zody ergonomic chair.

New building. If you look really hard you can see the logo of Cypress Semiconductor, the former occupant of the building.

New desk

Bonus at the new building: A fridge full of free pop! Yes, that is champagne on the door!

Company Picnic

2010-05-09T20:11:00.007-06:00

Katie's company had their annual office picnic on Saturday at Eagle Island State Park. Despite all of the crummy weather lately it actually turned out to be a nice day! I got to meet more of Katie's co-workers and many of their children while enjoying the hot dogs and other fare. Katie submitted two dessert items (brownies and oatmeal creme pies) for judging... hopefully she will be declared victorious!

Entrance to the day-use area

Shelter with Richard manning the grill

Lake at Eagle Island State Park

Grape Mountain Kayak/Hike

2010-04-28T23:53:00.004-06:00

Last Spring, I intended to kayak across Arrowrock Reservoir and hike Grape Mountain. However, shortly after leaving shore I discovered my kayak was leaking and aborted the trip (I ended up hiking Shaw Mountain). Within a week I had repaired the kayak but I never returned to the peak - until this past Saturday!

I got a late start (shocking for me, I know) but I was on the water around noon. The water was a little choppy due to wind but it was nothing my fine craft couldn't handle. The constant splashing did provide extra motivation to paddle faster! Within a short time I had reached the far shore, but in a rocky, steep area which was kind of annoying to "de-kayak" in. After some scouting, I moved the kayak into a sandier spot downriver and cached the kayak in some conveniently placed deadfall.

From the cache spot, I embarked on a brisk hike up the steep lower aspects of the peak's southwest ridge. Immediately I noticed the arrowleaf balsamroot was flowering on the lower slopes - another sign of Spring! Below the ridge top, I spotted a half dozen elk grazing - however upon hitting the ridge their numbers were actually at least two dozen. Certainly the most elk I've spooked at once! Besides the elk, I later managed to spot blue grouse, chukar, and even a blue heron on the day.

Once on the ridge top, the hike became much gentler and a very pleasant ridgewalk up to the summit. Views were great and aside from the roads near the summit, this area seems to get very little use. The summit itself I had visited in 2007 (via a different route from the east) and I got to sign the summit register again. Due to wind and my late arrival, I didn't stay too long on top.

I descended via a different ridge (west ridge) which was much more shorter but also much steeper. The last few hundred feet above the reservoir were actually kind of obnoxious... steep, sandy, and loose. From the reservoir I worked my way over to the kayak so I could complete the round trip. Thankfully the kayak was in top shape and makes me want to find more peaks which I can hike in this manner!

Trip statistics: 1 mile kayaked, 8 miles hiked, 3150' elevation gain, 5.25 hours

Grape Mountain Pictures!

Idahosummits Spring 2010 Climb

2010-04-21T21:56:00.007-06:00

The Idahosummits Message Board regularly arranges group climbs of various peaks in Idaho's central mountains. For various reasons (weather and living out of state) I've never attended one of these climbs. However everything finally came together for the Spring 2010 climb.

After some dithering, the group decided to climb Little Sister in the Lemhi Range on April 17. Dan and I made the drive over in my trusty Escape. There were some concerns about snow but once we got to eastern Idaho it was obvious that snow levels would be high enough to give us a good camping experience. Upon reaching the campsite (and finding John, Dave, and Steve already there) we were blown away by how great it was... fairly flat and with lots of room! Others gradually rolled in (Margo, Margie, Dave, and Alex from Pocatello, Jeff from Boise, Rob from Rupert) in the late afternoon. Steve made us an excellent salmon dinner which was followed up by good times around the campfire. Many of us were meeting each other for the first time so it was a good time to get acquainted and to tell various stories accrued over years of hiking. At about 11pm, everyone went to bed... however I don't think anyone slept too well due to the various noises (including my car alarm at one point) that persisted all night. Overnight, Matt and Michael (from Boise) and Russ (from Preston) also arrived. By morning we had 14 people at the trailhead!

We started getting ready about 6:30am and at this point it was sprinkling rain and snowing up high. Not the best climbing weather! We took our group photo then headed up the peak, first across sagebrush slopes and eventually into forest. It was nice brisk climb and we did a good job staying together as a group. We were getting snowed upon for awhile, but as we got higher it abated and the weather started to look more promising. About halfway up we put on snowshoes and followed the trail set by the early group (mostly John!) all the way to the top. As we got near the summit, the clouds totally broke and we were welcomed to the summit under blue skies!

The summit views were outstanding with all of the Spring snow still in place. Shortly after arriving, the early group returned to the summit (after their climb of Big Sister) which resulted in a total of 11 people on top - possibly a record for that peak! Eventually the wind started to pick up which motivated us to head down. The descent through the snow was a little bit slick as the snow had softened up quite a bit in the sun. After fighting fatigue for a bit, I found a rhythm and made a steady descent to the truck and beer!

We had a great time relaxing at camp in the sun before we finally headed out. Seven of us (most of the Boise crew) ate at Pickle's Place in Arco before finishing the drive home. In short, this was a great trip - thank you everyone!

Trip statistics: 3800' elevation gain, 5.75 miles, 7.75 hours

Idahosummits Spring 2010 Climb Pictures!

Dan's Trip Report
John's Trip Report
Margo's Trip Report
Matt's Trip Report
Dave's Trip Report
Jeff's Pictures
GPS Track

Cervidae Peak Hike

2010-04-15T20:59:00.003-06:00

For a quick Spring hike I opted to climb nearby Cervidae Peak (which I also climbed last Fall). It would be my fourth time up the peak and the fourth time using a different route. This time I climbed from the Mores Creek Bridge which is actually a very enjoyable route. I saw lots of deer and chukars on the ascent - wildlife always makes a hike more exciting!

The trip was uneventful although the day was cloudier than I had hoped. After reaching the summit and reading through the register, I noticed that the previous entry was from BSU star football player Richie Brockel!

Trip statistics: 5 miles, 2350' elevation gain, 3 hours

Cervidae Peak Pictures!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:11:00.005-06:00

We hope everyone had a great Easter! Being the non-religious people that we are are, we didn't attend church or anything like that. However we did hard-boil some eggs and color them as part of the secular holiday tradition. Since we're nerds, we also had a little Easter egg hunt with the colored eggs :-)

Once that was over, I made a rare appearance in the kitchen and deviled the eggs. For dinner, Katie made a nice meal consisting of ham, roasted potatoes, green beans, and dinner rolls. Yum!

The day also involved the first yard mowing of the year and preparing our taxes (argh!). My only complaint is that it wasn't about 20 degrees warmer!

Freshly colored eggs!

Deviled eggs!

Recent Happenings

2010-03-30T20:37:00.002-06:00

Lately our respective jobs have been really busy so there's been a lot of working going on. We have managed to see a couple of movies, Crazy Heart and Green Zone. We found them both to be very good movies but very different - Crazy Heart was certainly my favorite of the two.

Last week I had some kind of stomach virus and had to stay home on Wednesday. Sadly most of my sick day was spent either in the bathroom or asleep somewhere. Fortunately it had mostly blown over by Thursday and I could resume my normal routine. However it's been a week and I still don't feel quite the same...

Last weekend I spent both days attending the Boise Code Camp as part of my never-ending professional development agenda. While it cost me a weekend, it was definitely worth it. While I was off being an uber-nerd, Katie spent Saturday with some friends watching various Corey Haim movies in memory of the recently departed teen icon. Katie reported that the movies they watched weren't very good which validated my decision to not go!

That's about all from here. Despite some snow today, we're excited about Spring (well, except for the yardwork part...)!

Danskin Mountains Hike

2010-03-23T21:42:00.004-06:00

Since the weather has started warming up and the snow line has been receding, Dan and I decided to arrange a weekend trip. Since Dan wasn't available until late morning we opted for a quick hike near Boise, specifically Peak 5160+ in the Danskin Mountains. This is actually a fun area for Spring hiking... very open with wildlife and actually quiescent since ATV season doesn't start until April 10.

Our hike was uneventful and we got to spend lots of time leisurely hiking and catching up on things. We did see our share of wildlife... birds of prey, chukars, deer, and elk. The promised sunny weather didn't materialize but it was still a great first hike of Spring!

Trip statistics: 5.5 miles, 2150' elevation gain, 3.5 hours

Danskin Mountains Hike Pictures!
GPS Track

Happy Pi Day!

2010-03-14T18:28:00.005-06:00

Ian used to make us aware of Pi Day, so in his honor we decided to actually celebrate this overlooked occasion. Katie said she would be making a pie and I got to choose what kind - so I chose key lime! As expected, it was amazing and the highlight of an otherwise subdued Pi Day. We hope all of our readers also had a great Pi Day!

Tennessee Visit

2010-03-11T20:36:00.003-07:00

After my business trip in Raleigh, I flew to Nashville Friday night. Not surprisingly, the flight was filled with spring breakers departing the various universities in the Raleigh area. After arriving in Nashville, renting a Yaris, and driving to Winchester, I arrived at my Grandma's house at about 12:45am. My Mom was there too as she is helping my Grandma in her recovery from a recent knee replacement (her recovery is progressing nicely). After talking with my Mom for a bit, we both went to bed.

While at my Grandma's I got to spend time with my Grandma, Mom, Aunt Joy, and cousin Logan. I also took care of a few things around the house and also checked out some vintage slides from the 60s and 70s that I hadn't seen before. Also, my Mom had just gotten a new laptop and after setting that up I accompanied her on wi-fi expeditions to area hotspots Krystal and McDonalds. Other highlights included playing tennis (for the first time in at least five years) with Logan and driving my Grandma's new Prius. The Prius was a novel driving experience, mostly because it has that newfangled push-button ignition.

On Monday afternoon I had to drive back to Nashville to catch a flight back to Boise. The flight was uneventful but I was disappointed to find the temperature about 20 degrees cooler in Boise! After arriving at 11:30pm, it was off to bed and work on Tuesday.

Tennessee Visit Pictures!

Business Trip

2010-03-05T12:49:00.009-07:00

My boss arranged a trip for several of the software developers at the Boise office to meet our counterparts at corporate headquarters in Raleigh. As part of the group chosen to travel, I was able to go on my first ever business trip! We left Boise around mid-day Wednesday and got to Raleigh just after 8pm. On the flight out of Boise we were on the same flight as Olympic biathlete Sara Studebaker who was returning to Lake Placid for more training. I'm particularly glad I didn't check a bag - not only did I save $25 in fees but the two people who checked their bags both had them miss our connection in Chicago!

Thursday we spent most of the day at the Morrisville office in a meeting with the software developers and managers from Raleigh. It was actually a very interesting and beneficial meeting as we gained a much better understanding of what really goes on from a technical perspective and how us Boiseonians could benefit from all of the software investment being made at the corporate level. I was very impressed to find a fridge stocked with free pop, great people to work with, and a generally nice office environment. After being in a conference room all day, we adjourned around 4pm to get ready for dinner. We had a nice meal at Firebirds - I had the coconut shrimp which were very good and discovered my new favorite beer: Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. It's like a light stout but with extra creaminess that I've never experienced in a beer. That stuff was so good - I wish I could somehow take some home!

Friday morning we had more meetings which included some other Raleigh staff where they explained some of their technology at the hardware/firmware level and their testing strategies. Once again, all good stuff for us to better understand the company we now work for. We also got a tour of their facility which included some interesting equipment, such as electric meter calibration gear, electro-static discharge (ESD) test equipment, an x-ray machine for identifying component failures, and even an anechoic chamber (used for RF testing). Pretty darn cool stuff! Afterwards, we picked up lunch at a Chick-Fil-A which was actually the first time several of the group had eaten there. After lunch we took a brief tour of the headquarters in Raleigh where most of the my division's management is located. We then drove around town a little before heading toward the airport to catch our various flights.

However I did not go to the airport - I scheduled a late (7:45pm) flight to Nashville so I could spend some time with my family in Tennessee. I was dropped off at the hotel and John, a friend from college and resident of Cary, NC, picked me up from the hotel just after 4pm. I got to meet his girlfriend Crystal and catch up on everything. We had a small dinner at a nearby O'Charleys before I was dropped off at the airport. From there, it was on to Tennessee for a brief family visit!

Morrisville Office

Fridge full of free pop (refilled every day)

Sensus Office in Raleigh

Craters of the Moon Snowshoe

2010-03-01T21:30:00.006-07:00

Matt and I decided to go snowshoeing on the 27th. Weather around the state wasn't looking good so we decided upon Craters of the Moon National Monument which seemed to have the most promising forecast. Craters of the Moon is a volcanic area in eastern Idaho with lots of interesting volcanic formations, open terrain, and groomed winter trails. The lava fields, normally black in summer, was instead bright white with snow!

I met Matt just after 6am and then suddenly realized I left my snowshoes at home. D'oh! After driving back to my house to get them we ended up leaving Boise 45 minutes later than we had planned. The drive across the state was a little bit snowy at first but once we got to the Camas Prairie the weather turned into high broken clouds - about the best we could hope for! We parked at the visitor's center and began snowshoeing the groomed road just before 10am. We made good progress and were quickly at the end of the groomed road and had to start breaking our own trail toward the formations we were planning on climbing.

Overall the snow conditions were decent... usually there was a supporting layer underneath a few inches of soft stuff. Some areas were total sugar which was frustrating... but in roughly two hours we attained the summit of Broken Top. After taking in the view, we headed down and over to Big Cinder Butte, the highest volcanic feature in the park. Big Cinder Butte is a neat spot with a commanding view of the surrounding area. The weather appeared to be deteriorating so we quickly descended through the beautiful limber pine forest and headed up Half Cone, a minor summit near Big Cinder Butte. After relaxing on Half Cone for a few minutes it was almost 3pm and with still worsening weather we had to start heading home. The snowshoe back to the car was long and somewhat tiring and we got back to the vehicle under a light snowfall at about 6pm.

When we were roughly a quarter mile from returning to the groomed road, Matt had one of his snowshoes totally fall apart. We were both lucky this happened where it did - if it had happened far from the road we would have had a serious problem likely requiring some Bear Grylls-style improvisation!

A final footnote is that I was stupid and neglected to apply sunscreen because it wasn't sunny... needless to say my red face was the source of comedy at work on Monday. Once again I'm reminded that the red man reaction is not satisfaction!

Trip statistics: 13 miles, 1600' elevation gain, 8 hours

Craters of the Moon Snowshoe Pictures!
Matt's Trip Report

In Memory of Grandpa Dow

2010-02-25T21:55:00.005-07:00

Last week I learned that my grandfather had passed away at his home in Tennessee at the age of 86. Always of sound mind, his body gradually failed him as he battled Parkinson's Disease. I'm sad that I will no longer see my Grandpa but his passing does remind me of all of the great memories he left me with.

I have a bounty of fond memories from summer vacations spent at my grandparents' house in Tennessee. Grandpa taught me how to fish which became a highlight of summer. Of course, he would proceed to gut whatever I caught (usually bream or catfish) as I recoiled in horror! I used to love to watch my Grandpa operate his ham radio station (call sign: K4VR) and to play with his radios, learning how they worked and listening to all kinds of interesting transmissions on the HF bands. Those experiences motivated me to eventually become a licensed ham at age 17 (call sign: KF4LAJ). Grandpa was also a famous backseat driver and I fondly remember learning to drive around Winchester while getting rather aggressive suggestions about what I could or should be doing! I would be remiss to not mention his love of seafood (OK, food in general) and his passion for cleaning his plate at every single meal. Every time I clean my plate (which actually seems like most of the time these days!) I can't help but think that he would be proud!

Besides my personal memories, I would also like to share some of many great pictures of Grandpa from my collection. Grandpa, we love you and miss you!

Pictures of Grandpa Dow!

Chimney Peak Snowshoe

2010-02-22T21:44:00.006-07:00

Dan invited me on a snowshoeing trip to Chimney Peak in the Soldier Mountains. John also joined in and we left from Boise just after 6:30am. After driving through snow flurries outside of Mountain Home, we popped out into daylight on the Camas Prairie just before 8am. By 8:20am we were on our way.

Dan knew the route since he had been on the peak before. John is in great shape and was willing to lead most of the way and did a great job - I nominate him for an award for excellence in trail breaking! We made good progress and were on the summit just after noon. It was a tad bit windy and cold on the summit so we didn't stay on top too long.

The area is a mecca for snowmobilers but surprisingly we only saw two the whole day - both right near the summit. When we returned to the trailhead there were probably a dozen trailers in the parking lot. On the way back we encountered the Kite Soldiers Snow Kite event (hosted by Snowkite Soliders) which was pretty neat to check out.

Trip statistics: 9 miles, 2100' elevation gain, 5.75 hours

Chimney Peak Pictures!

John's Trip Report
Dan's Trip Report

Happy Birthday

2010-02-20T21:55:00.008-07:00

Thursday was my 31st birthday. For various reasons, I opted to take the day off from work. I couldn't come up with an appealing snowshoe trip idea, so I opted to sleep in. Upon waking up, I chose to go up to Bogus Basin Ski Area for some cross-country skiing. It was my first time cross-country skiing and I was able to get a 1-on-1 hour-long lesson for the amazing price of $5. Actually the entire package of ticket, rental, and lesson was only $25 which seemed really cheap to me. The lesson went well and I was pretty quickly able to navigate the beginner and intermediate courses. I had a great time and would like to go back soon!

After spending roughly 3 hours on the snow, I returned home for dinner. Katie and I went to The Front Door for pizza and beer. The pizza was actually really good... we got a pizza that was half double-cut pepperoni (extra thick, in other words) and half pesto & veggie. I'm not sure which half was better - they were both amazing! They also had great beer - I had the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Rogue Chocolate Stout, and the Sockeye? ESB. My main peeve was they had the "beer snob" thing going on where they serve you beer in snifters. Totally unnecessary!

In summary, I had a great birthday - I'm sure I will remember my first day cross-country skiing as well as I remember my first day downhill skiing on Super Bowl Sunday in 2001!

To top it all off, on Friday I had a nice birthday dinner with Gary & Bonnie at Red Robin. Upon getting home, I had some tiramisu from the Boise Co-op that Katie picked up. All amazing food but I think I'll have to burn some calories this weekend!

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!

View from the Nordic lodge at Bogus Basin

Gorgeous sunset on Bogus Basin Rd in the foothills above Boise

Mountain View Peak Snowshoe

2010-01-21T22:21:00.004-07:00

On Sunday, Dan and I met in Boise to go snowshoeing. Because Dan had a Monday meeting in Hailey, we drove separately. In Twin Falls we drove together to Magic Mountain Ski Area, the start of the snowshoe. The goal: Mountain View Peak, a rather lame destination in the Goose Creek Mountains. If we felt interested, we would go over to Grand View Peak (adding 3 miles to the trip).

The snowshoe started off on a groomed road. After we reached some cabins, we followed a trail for a little ways before heading directly up the ridge. Once on the ridge, we followed snowmobile trails to the summit. The views were decent but we declined to go over to Grand View Peak so as to get home at a more reasonable hour.

Since I was driving home in actual daylight, I was able to stop at Malad Gorge just off of I-84. I'd always wanted to check it out and I didn't even realize there were so many waterfalls in the canyon.

Despite being an unexciting peak, it was great to get out for the first time since November and to bag my first peak of 2010!

Mountain View Peak Snowshoe Pictures!

Trip statistics: 5 hours, 10 miles, 1000' elevation gain

New Years and Other Excitement

2010-01-16T19:52:00.005-07:00

We never posted a New Years post so.... Happy 2010 to all 5 (10?) readers! Your devotion to my subpar prose and endless boring trip reports is remarkable and appreciated!

Nothing very exciting has been going on here. My job granted me a five day weekend for New Years and Katie got a "measly" four days. We spent New Years Eve at home and shared a bottle of wine that Katie got from one of her customers at work. That weekend was pretty snowy so we mostly stayed inside and I watched a bunch of college football bowl games. The Humanitarian Bowl was the most memorable as the Idaho Vandals achieved a last-second victory over the Bowling Green Falcons. Somewhere in there we watched the movie Up In The Air, which we both enjoyed. It has lots of corporate black humor which is a bountiful comedy gold mine these days. We also had a nice breakfast with Gary and Bonnie at Addie's on Sunday.

Last weekend we saw Avatar 3D. The visuals definitely lived up to the hype and it was easy to believe the computer-generated planet was real. However the story was pretty formulaic. Overall it was a good movie but I don't consider it the landmark of cinema that some perceive it to be.

Yesterday (Friday) we both attended my company's holiday party... it was held at a faux castle called Castle Gardens. The food (mystery fish, salad, potatoes, veggies, bread) was great and so was the open bar. The facility was modern and open and had a decor heavy on medieval themes - suits of armor, tapestries featuring knights, chalices used as water glasses, etc. Overall it was a great venue for a party with 50-100 people.

Today we ran some errands and had a nice lunch at the Boise Fry Company. I had Red Lady Fries for the first time... they were yummy and comparable in quality to the Yukon Golds which are my reigning favorite. My bison burger and Katie's vegan burger were both great too.

Right now I'm watching the NFL playoffs and the game is super boring. I can also see the Christmas tree staring at me wondering why it has been able to stay up so long. Perhaps that is the next project to undertake?

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T21:01:00.006-07:00

For the third consecutive year, Katie and I traveled to Vancouver for Christmas. After getting up at 5am MST on Christmas Eve, we arrived in Bellingham about 9am and met Megan and Dave at the airport. We proceeded to do some shopping before grabbing lunch at Jack in the Box. Sadly our quest for See's Chocolates was aborted... they had run out of chocolates! By the time we got to Vancouver it was mid-afternoon...which meant it was time for my nap! After Panago pizza for dinner, we attended the Christmas Eve service at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church. After the service, we socialized at the Trant household for a couple of hours. It was good to meet more of the Trant family, puzzle over whatsits, and drink some nice scotch. Upon returning to the Shepherd house, we wrapped presents and performed other preparations for Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day we had the traditional brunch and present opening followed by the evening dinner. It was great getting to catch up with everyone and of course the food was amazing! Also, I opened several nice gifts and a well-stuffed stocking. Thank you everyone for your generosity!

Boxing Day (12/26) was pretty uneventful... about all we did was meet Greg and Carmina for lunch at Dave's restaurant, Cravings. My omelet was awesome - thanks Dave!

On Sunday we all attended a service at the church where the last of Ian's ashes were placed in the memorial garden which he established and maintained. It was the strongest of many reminders that it was the first Christmas since his passing. We all miss you Ian!

Monday we awoke at 4am to return to Boise. The idea was to get to Boise at 9am and then go to work that day. Sadly, we got to the airport less than 30 minutes before departure and the evil airline (Horizon) had given away our tickets to standby passengers. Katie was able to board standby but I had to wait in the Bellingham terminal for another flight five hours later. I spent a little bit of time with Dave and Greg (who had driven us to Bellingham) but sadly there is little to do in "The City of Subdued Excitement" at 5am. After stops in Seattle and Portland (and some beer), I arrived in Boise at 5:30pm. Katie worked all day and picked me up at the airport. Fortunately I only had to work one day that week - I got the 30th, 31st, and 1st off!

Christmas 2009 Pictures!

Christmas Tree

2009-12-14T21:24:00.004-07:00

For the second time in three years, we set up our (fake) Christmas tree complete with my shockingly large ornament collection. I also set up the Lionel Pennsylvania train that my parents gave us a few years ago. Note the beautiful stockings made by Grandma Savage!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Goose Creek Mountains Snowshoe Trip

2009-12-03T21:57:00.007-07:00

It was Black Friday and I had no desire to do any shopping. The weather looked OK for hiking and after waking up at 6:30am I decided to head for the Goose Creek Mountains south of Twin Falls. Unsure about the snow conditions in the area (Magic Mountain Ski Area reported 6" of snow) I was hoping I could get close enough to my destination. The road into the mountains was snow covered but fortunately with decent tread from other vehicles having packed down the snow somewhat. The Escape made it up until the road started to get steep roughly 2.5 miles from Monument Peak - close enough!

My trip consisted of snowshoeing from the vehicle up to Monument Peak (both summits), then over to Trapper Peak, thence to Flatiron Mountain. Conditions were decent - temperatures in the 40s, overcast, with a light wind. Other than worrying about a lack of daylight, it was a pleasant day for snowshoeing on roads, ATV trails, and a little bit of cross-country terrain. Of course, most of the ridge tops were free of snow so I had to take the snowshoes off on several occasions. The area, normally known for being overrun with ATVs and snowmobiles, was actually pretty quiet. The only people I saw were woodcutters looking for Christmas trees!

Summiting all three peaks enabled me to reach my goal of climbing 25 peaks in 2009. Now I can be lazy for all of December :-)

Goose Creek Snowshoeing Pictures !

Trip statistics: 14 miles, 2600' elevation gain, 5.5 hours

(American) Thanksgiving in Boise

2009-11-29T13:46:00.004-07:00

For the fifth year in a row, our Thanksgiving dinner was at Gary and Bonnie's house. As always, Bonnie and her mother Frona did a great job with the dinner - turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, cranberries, and corn were all made and they were all quite delicious. Katie made dinner rolls which were also great for sating my craving for carbs. After dinner, we relaxed around the TV and watched Casino Royale which was airing on the Syfy Channel.

Thanksgiving is always a great time to reflect and focus on what we have. We're thankful for having each other in our lives, our awesome family, our good health, and our stable jobs in these rocky times. We are truly blessed!!

Dinner!

Squaw Butte Hike

2009-11-22T15:48:00.003-07:00

I passed up the opportunity to climb The Box in the Pioneers due to weather concerns and lack of interest in a big climb. Since the weather looked good in the Owyhees, I chose Squaw Butte (not to be confused with another Squaw Butte), a reasonably short hike just an hour from home.

After one wrong turn, I made it to the trailhead at about 10:15am. Soon I was on my way up the peak... however I didn't check the map closely enough and started climbing the wrong ridge. Fortunately in this area it is very open and mistakes are easily corrected! The weather down low was very nice...sunny and with just enough breeze to keep me from feeling warm in my winter gear. Up on the summit it was quite windy and colder... I should've brought the balaclava! Needless to say, I didn't spend much time up there despite the great views of the surrounding area. I took a more direct route on the descent, making for a nice loop hike featuring both ridge walks and canyon terrain.

In summary, this was a perfect short Fall hike... I was home by 3:30pm and in time to watch prime time college football!

Squaw Butte Pictures!

Trip statistics: 9 miles, 2700' elevation gain, 3.75 hours

Sinker Butte Hike

2009-11-17T20:03:00.005-07:00

For some needed exercise, I opted for a quick Sunday hike to Sinker Butte just south of Boise. It is a pleasant desert hike that starts at the Swan Falls Dam, and climbs out of the Snake River Canyon onto a small prominence on the expansive Snake River Plain. The hike is located within the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (what a mouthful!) and as expected, raptors are plentiful in the area. This is a very short but enjoyable hike for the late Fall!

Sinker Butte Hike Pictures!

Trip statistics: 5 miles, 1250' elevation gain, 2 hours

Texas Vacation

2009-11-15T17:01:00.005-07:00

My parents planned a trip to Texas to visit the family there. Katie and I decided to join the trip since we don't get over there very often. We coordinated our flights so that we both arrived in Dallas at the same time on Saturday the 7th. This worked better than expected as we arrived at our designated meeting spot within a minute of each other!

While in town, we visited with all of our Texas family, some of whom I had not seen in 15+ years (and of course Katie had never met). Everyone was present for the family dinner at Spring Creek Barbeque to both catch up and enjoy the wonderful food! We also made time to tour the new $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium which is certainly an impressive facility. We also enjoyed several fine meals at area restaurants such as Beto's, Chuy's, and BJ's.

While in Texas, we also visited my Mom's friend Kathy, who was formerly a teacher in the Clay County School District alongside Mom. Kathy had made the decision to retire in Texas to be close to her daughter so our trip provided an opportunity for them to catch up and for us to see her new house.

Sadly, the trip was not as long as it could have been due to limited vacation days. But it was great to see everyone and spend some time in the beautiful Fall weather in Texas!

Texas Pictures!
Mom's Texas Pictures!

Cervidae Peak Hike

2009-11-01T20:03:00.003-07:00

Since I hadn't climbed a peak since August, it was high time to get back into the mountains. Being out of shape, I opted for Cervidae Peak, a short hike just outside of Boise which is popular with locals when the bigger peaks are snowbound. I had climbed the peak two previous times, in 2001 and 2008, each time by a different route. This time I chose yet another route since this peak offers countless variations with its open terrain. Also, this was the first time I climbed the peak when it was not under snow.

The hike was uneventful but the route I chose was quite steep, perhaps a little too steep given that I chose to wear trail running shoes. After some morning clouds, the day turned gorgeous with reasonably warm temperatures for November.

Cervidae Peak Pictures!

Trip statistics: 2.5 miles, 1.75 hours, 1800' elevation gain

Boise Sightseeing & Other Happenings..

2009-10-31T18:29:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Last weekend the weather was nice so Katie and I took a little drive a did some sightseeing. Pictures below:

Boise Sightseeing Pictures!

Otherwise, things have been cruising along. My job has been busy with numerous projects, far more than our staff can reasonably tackle right now. The $3.4 billion smart grid stimulus package is expected to make things even more busy. At this point I'm a little worried whether we'll be able to keep up! Also, I've been having some ergonomic issues at work and decided to splurge on a fancy super adjustable office chair. Based on positive experience with the chair at Micron, I chose the Haworth Zody from a local purveyor of office furniture. It cost $600 but I'm confident it will be worth it! When you pay that much for a chair you get to choose the fabric pattern, color, and have a designer vet your choices. Sadly it won't be under my bum for another three weeks or so.

Katie's job has also been keeping her busy, but thankfully there haven't been any working Saturdays with her new position.

As I type we just got our first trick-or-treaters. Last year we only got 20 or so. Next weekend we're off to Texas for a mini-vacation to visit the Vickery family out there!

Turkey Day, eh?!

2009-10-12T20:53:00.005-06:00

So, today is the official Canadian Thanksgiving, and we did it up right at the Vickery household! For all of our American readers, you may have always wondered why those crazy Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving at a different time than in the US...well, wonder no more! I've answered this question roughly 40 times in the past 5 days, so I'm basically a professional at this.
Canada doesn't have Plymouth Rock or the Mayflower to celebrate; our Thanksgiving is more of a celebration of the harvest, and since it gets colder earlier in Canada, the harvest is obviously earlier than it is south of the border. We eat the same food, and many of us watch football (both the American & Canadian versions!). It was really strange to me, when I first moved to the US, that Thanksgiving was only a month before Christmas...that's a lot of turkey in a month! So, there you have it...everything you've wanted to know about Canadian Thanksgiving.
Here in Boise, I cooked up a couple of turkey breast tenderloins with rosemary, and made some cranberry sauce from fresh berries (thanks for the recipe, Mom!). We also had Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. Of course I made sure to wish everyone at work a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Overall, it was a pretty low-key Thanksgiving - we didn't even get a day off, which is ridiculous in my opinion...I should be able to celebrate all Canadian AND American holidays!! (how great would that be?! I can dream)
This time last year, Mom, Dad, Dave & Greg were all here visiting for the long weekend, and we had a fabulous dinner with Bonnie & Gary. What a fun weekend that was - it was so great to have you all here - and what wonderful memories we have. Wish we could have been in Vancouver for this year's dinner, I'm sure it was excellent!

Other than the celebration of a Canadian holiday, it's been pretty laid-back around here. We got a Wii system last weekend, and have been busy learning all about that - we just got Wii Fit Plus this past weekend, which is really cool - each person has their own character (called a Mii...haha), and you play a whole bunch of different games & do workouts along with a trainer, it's like an interactive video game. Wii Fit has aerobics, strength training, and yoga, along with lots of other things, and it tracks your weight loss & BMI changes. So far we're both really enjoying it, and getting some exercise to boot!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday/Thanksgiving Holiday!
Love,
Katie & Zach

Manitoba!

2009-09-30T21:46:00.004-06:00

Katie and I traveled to Manitoba on the 25th to attend her cousin Neil's wedding. For cost reasons we ended up flying into Fargo, ND, instead of Winnipeg, MB. Our flight was uneventful and Auntie Cathy was very gracious in driving down to pick us up at the airport - thank you Auntie Cathy! Dave rode down with Auntie Cathy and we all enjoyed lunch at BW3, did some shopping, then drove up to Miami, MB, where we would spend the night at Grandma's house.

On Saturday we had a nice leisurely morning in Miami and then headed up to Winnipeg for the wedding. The wedding itself was very well done and went off without a hitch. After the wedding, we headed to the hotel (the Winnipeg Radisson) for some pre-reception drinks and general partying. Since the hotel struggled to get our rooms ready, all of us had to crowd into one room - which made it all the more fun! The reception was great and included the standard activites: introduction of the married couple, good food, a few good stories, cake cutting, dancing, an open bar, and a midnight buffet. It also included a few non-standard features: injured breakdancing, a certain someone with ripped pants, chases around the ballroom, and lots of 90s music. In summary, it was a great time, right up there with any wedding I've attended!

Sunday we struggled to recover in the morning but made it to Uncle Gord and Auntie Cheryl's house for a nice brunch. After spending a few hours there, we said our goodbyes and headed to Stony Mountain to visit the Lucas family. We had a great dinner there and also got a chance to catch up with the family and play on the Wii. After dinner we returned to Miami where we spent our final night in the 204.

On Monday, we left Miami around 1pm and Auntie Cathy once again drove to Fargo to safely deliver us to the airport. The trip and flight were uneventful and put us in Boise just before 11pm. Of course we both had to work the next day... but the weekend was well worth it!

Congratulations Neil and Tara!!

Manitoba Pictures!

MVP Camping Trip #2

2009-09-11T16:38:00.004-06:00

In 2007, we met our friends Sam & Joey Pilon, Karen and Shaun Mouton (all of Olympia) at the Crow Butte Park in south-central Washington. This trip, appropriately dubbed the MVP camping trip, was a great way to reconnect with old friends and made for an excellent weekend. Sadly, there was no such trip in 2008 but thanks to Facebook a 2009 edition was planned for Labor Day weekend. This trip also featured a new participant, Sam and Joey's 8 month old daughter Cecilia!

Due to last-minute planning of the trip, our camping choices were limited but we were able to secure two adjacent campsites at Memaloose State Park in Oregon, just outside of The Dalles. We had concerns that this would be a lackluster place due to it being one of the few unreserved sites left on Labor Day weekend (as of July). Upon arrival, we were quite impressed that our two sites were together, somewhat spaced from other sites, and wooded. The sites also had water and pretty good restroom ("washroom" for any Canadians reading this) access. The park does have some noise issues with a nearby rail line and freeway, however neither was disturbing enough to consider a major negative.

We had a great time meeting Cecilia, catching up, eating lots of food, drinking beer, taking it easy by the fire... all the usual camping traditions. Joey, Sam, and I took a brief hike down through some of the other areas of the park to check out the scenery. The Columbia Gorge is a fascinating place and is a great locale in which to spend a few nights outdoors! Before leaving we resolved to put together a 2010 edition of the trip.. possibly at Ohanapekosh Campground?

MVP Camping Trip #2 Pictures!