Becoming an Old Man

This year I had a "major birthday".  I pondered arranging some kind of humdinger of a celebration.  But with a winter birthday and kids in school it's hard to get motivated to do anything too ambitious.  I instead opted for a relaxing day with some snowshoeing and family time!

After a late morning start I snowshoed two small peaks (Peak 5443, Little Camas Peak) off of US-20 east of Mountain Home.  This is all part of a grand scheme to summit 40 peaks this year (I'm already at 9!).  Snow conditions were good with a few inches of powder over a supportive base.  However conditions were brisk with temperatures around 20℉ and a steady wind.  Views were pretty good however some low clouds were swirling around and the higher peaks were mostly shrouded.  After about two hours of snowshoeing, I was ready to warm up and get home!

After doing just that I opened my awesome birthday gifts.  Thank you everyone for thinking of me!  Dinner was at the Homestead Bar and Grill and consisted of a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and some Old Rasputin on Nitro (which was part of my last "major birthday" as well!).  At home, we all enjoyed the lovely vanilla and chocolate cake that Katie made.  Unsurprisingly, it was delicious!!

A final detail is that my birthday is also National Drink Wine Day.  To honor this occasion Katie and I shared a tasty White Burgundy I happened to have.  While getting old is no fun, I had a great time doing it!

Zach Turns 40 Photos!
Peak 5443 GPS Track
Peak 5740 GPS Track

Nora Turns 5!

It's hard to believe, but on Thursday February 7th, Nora turned 5 years old! We have no idea where the past 5 years have gone, but suddenly our little baby is a big kid who will be starting kindergarten in a few months!

The day of Nora's birthday was a busy one - Zach & I got to attend a birthday celebration at her preschool and share birthday brownies with Nora and her teachers and classmates. When Nora got home from preschool, we were surprised by my aunt, Cathy, arriving completely unexpectedly! She drove 2.5 days from Miami, Manitoba to Boise to celebrate Nora's birthday with us! She got to pick Claire up from school that day, and Claire very nearly walked right past her because she wasn't expecting her Great Aunt from Canada to be at school!! That night, Bonnie came over & we all had a great  birthday dinner of Nora's favourite - spaghetti, garlic bread and salad, and then cake and ice cream! After dinner, Claire & Bonnie hung out at the house & made pick-up-sticks, and Zach, Cathy, Nora & I all went over to Nora's school for Parent Open House, and Nora showed us some of what she's been working on at school - she started learning piano that day, so she showed us what she'd learned so far. She's very excited to get piano lessons at school!

Sunday afternoon was Nora's kids birthday party at a gymnastics club with a bunch of her friends, and everyone enjoyed running, jumping, tumbling and rope-swinging all over the place...and then eating cupcakes. Nora had a great birthday long weekend, and loved every minute of the celebrations! We're looking forward to the next year with this funny, goofy, super smart and sweet kid!

Here are a few pictures from all the celebrations, and a bonus picture of the girls with AC. Thank you again for the visit, AC!

Nora's 5th Birthday Weekend Photos!! 

Cervidae Peak Hike

I just climbed Cervidae Peak for the 27th time.  In late 2017 I decided to climb this peak once per month as part of a goal to get outside and hike more.  I've managed to accomplish that and it's been enjoyable getting to know a single peak so well.  Since climbing this peak regularly I've made a number of observations:

• Cervidae sightings are very rare now.  I believe I've only seen animals on 3 out of 17 recent trips.  10+ years ago such sightings were almost guaranteed.
• Some days the trail is very busy.  In April I saw 43 people on the trail during a 90 minute hike.
• Only once (a Fall evening) have I been the only person on the peak.
• The Mormon crickets show up in July and make a hot hike even more unpleasant.  Later in the summer they get more lethargic and are less bothersome.
• A brush fire from ID-21 burned the west slopes of the peak in July.  Red fire retardant was dropped all over the upper slopes of the peak and is still visible.
• Certain people like to write messages all over the rocks at the summit.  They are apparently not fans of the Leave No Trace Principles.
• People hiking "up and over" the peak (climbing it twice on one trip) is pretty common.
• My favorite time to climb the peak is just before sunset during the warmer months.
• Snowshoeing the peak under a full moon is pretty great too!

This time around I was able to enjoy Spring conditions in early February with mild temperatures and minimal snow.  Green shoots of grass were popping up everywhere.  I saw three other people on the trail, two dogs, one boat on the lake, and no cervidae.

In summary, this is a great local hike that can be done in under four hours from the time I leave the house.  I'll try to keep up the habit of climbing it as long as I can!

Cervidae Peak #27 Photos
GPS Track

Cervidae Peak #6 Trip Report
Cervidae Peak #5 Photos
Cervidae Peak #4 Trip Report
Cervidae Peak #3 Trip Report