West Mountains Hike

I've been trying to burn up some time off at work. Since the weather was looking good I took Wednesday off and went hiking in the West Mountains above Cascade. The objectives of the day were four peaks: Granite Mountain, Snowbank Mountain, Collier Peak, and the Gem County highpoint. The first two peaks only required getting out of the car, however the latter two required some hiking. Fortunately this area is relatively flat and open, allowing for some fast-paced hiking. This is a good thing because I got a much later start than I was intending. After quickly touching the first two summits, I hit the trail around 11:30am headed toward Collier Peak.

Soon I was atop Collier Peak, which has a great view of the Round Valley and Cascade. After taking in the vistas, I began the long but quick hike over to the Gem County highpoint. There were numerous photo opportunities along the way, of which I had to take advantage. Despite my dawdling, I made it to the Gem County highpoint at about 2:15pm. From there, I took in the scenery and began the trek back to the car, which took about 2 hours.

This was my first hike in this part of Idaho and I left very impressed! The terrain is very gentle and the views are spectacular. Unfortunately on this day some controlled burns limited the visibility to the west; about the only negative thing I can say!

Trip statistics: 5 hours, 11.5 miles, 2900' elevation
West Mountains Hike Pictures!

Star Hope Canyon Hike

Once again Dan and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous Fall weather and use his company's condo as a base camp for a trip to the Pioneer Mountains. This week we met up with brothers John and Tom Platt who joined us for the adventure. In the evening on Saturday, we ate a quick take-out dinner from the Snow Bunny in Hailey and watched Penn State beat Ohio State.

On Sunday, we got moving about 6am and made the long drive from Hailey to Star Hope Canyon in Copper Basin. It was about 8:15am before we hit the trail. We hiked above the remains of the Star Hope Mine and up to the ridge where we would proceed to visit four summits. The weather was gorgeous for the entire day and aside from one section of class 3 climbing, the entire ridge was easy hiking.

After a tiring but enjoyable hike, we happily reached the truck and broke out the beers. After some celebration, we began the long drive back to Hailey where we refueled at the Sun Valley Brewing Company before finishing the trip back to Boise.

Trip stats: approximately 7.25 hours, 7.5 miles, and about 4100' of elevation gain.

Star Hope Canyon Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report
John's Trip Report

Pioneer Mountains Hike

The Fall weather once again turned pleasant, so it was time for another trip to the mountains. Dan was able to rent his company's condo in Hailey so we setup a hike where we'd drive up Saturday night and hike early Sunday morning. We drove over there on Saturday evening and met fellow hikers Art and John. The four of us stayed in the condo and watched some football and SNL before retiring.

We got moving about 7am and after some breakfast, hit the trail a little bit after 8am. It was a gorgeous morning hiking up Paymaster Gulch toward our objective, Paymaster Peak. Along the way we met John's daughter Mariel who was staying at her boyfriend Eric's rustic cabin high in the mountains. The six of us (plus Eric's dog Sweetie) hiked from there to the summit to take in the beautiful views under ideal conditions. On the way down, the weather started to move in but we were down well ahead of any precipitation.

Another great Fall hike! Trip stats: Just over 6 hours, 7.4 miles, and about 3300' of elevation gain.

Pioneer Mountains Hike Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report
John's Trip Report

Diploma!

As many of you know, I finished my Master's Degree back in August, right before our camping trip. However, that graduation was only electronic because the actual diplomas aren't mailed out until nearly three months later. Today, mine finally arrived in the mail, thus making it official!


Next task: frame it and hang it along with our other diplomas. Go Gators!

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Liz and Ian drove from Vancouver on Wednesday for a Canadian Thanksgiving Day* visit. On Saturday evening, Greg and Dave arrived via airplane. Despite the unseasonably cold weather (see previous post), everyone had a great time.

On Sunday, Liz and Katie prepared and excellent Thanksgiving dinner. During this time, the guys (myself included) were relegated to watching football games. In addition to the Shepherd family, my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Gary were in attendance. The dinner included all of the traditional courses: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, green beans, stuffing, and dinner rolls (courtesy of Bonnie). Liz made excellent apple pie for dessert as well. As you can see, everyone is having a great time! For reference, the picture includes (in clockwise order) Bonnie, Gary, Katie, Ian, Greg, Dave, and Liz.


On Monday, we took a few family photos in our backyard. Here is the Shepherd family, including the Shepherd family dog Cassie!


From the Vickery and Shepherd families, we wish everyone a happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

[*]: For those readers unfamiliar with the difference, Canadian Thanksgiving is an entirely different holiday from American Thanksgiving and occurs on the second Monday in October. The Shepherd family custom is for the dinner to occur on the prior Sunday.

Snow!

Katie's parents, Liz and Ian, arrived from Vancouver on Wednesday evening. It would appear they brought some Canadian weather with them because Boise received its first snow of the season today! This is actually the earliest Fall snow on record in Boise; in a normal year we don't get any snow until mid-to-late November. Officially the area received 1.7" of snow, but I think it was closer to an inch at the Vickery estate:

Smoky Mountains Hike

Last weekend I went on a solo hike in the Smoky Mountains of Idaho, just above the ski resort of Sun Valley. It was a gorgeous, warm fall day with lots of peace and quiet. The only downside was the lack of wildlife. Total trip time was about 6 hours covering 7 miles and 3500' of gain.

Smoky Mountains Hike Pictures!

New Dining Room Table

Some of you have been clamoring for pictures of our dining room table. They are finally available!

Some background: Back in April, Katie and I decided to take a weekend trip to Salt Lake City (about a 4.5 hour drive from Boise). The purpose of this trip was threefold: get out of the house, do some sightseeing and shop at the Ikea for furniture. Specifically, we were interested in finding a dining room table since our current one is a "hand-me-down" that can seat no more than 4 people. We found a nice table and purchased it (assembly required of course - this is Ikea we're talking about!). However the assembly project progressed slowly due to my time commitments with school, general procrastination, and some demoralizing mishaps encountered during the assembly of one of the chairs.

Alas, we finally finished the "dining room table assembly project" this past Tuesday. Below are pictures of the table (yes, we went for bold colors!):


Also, here are some other pictures from our trip:

Salt Lake City Trip Pictures!

Weekend Summary

It seems Fall has officially arrived here in Boise. The weather has cooled significantly and we got some rain for the first time in two months. Alas, no hiking this weekend!

On Saturday, Katie and I indulged and got the 'all you can eat' chicken fingers at Applebee's. That was pretty much our only food of the day! We also saw the movie 'Burn After Reading'. It is a dark comedy and Katie and I both enjoyed it.

Today we met Gary for lunch at Cracker Barrel. Bonnie was out of town visiting her Mom in Colorado so it was just the three of us. After that we did our weekly grocery shopping and I watched some football and mowed the lawn.

One final note: we made more progress assembling our mythical dining room table, so we will probably be ready to announce its completion soon!

Blue Mountains Hike

Last weekend I set out on a solo hike to the Blue Mountains of Oregon. It was a long hike, approximately 8.5 hours, 4500', and 14 miles. However the scenery was tremendous and I saw nine mountain goats on the trip!

Blue Mountains Pictures!

Strawberry Mountain Hike

A couple of weeks ago, Dan (ex co-worker and friend) and I went hiking in the mountains of eastern Oregon. It was a good day hike and a good chance to catch up on things. Below are the pictures:

Strawberry Mountain Pictures!
Dan's Trip Report

Summer Vacation Pictures

It's been over a month but we've finally gotten the pictures from our summer vacation online. To recap, our itinerary was:

• Camping one night at Heyburn State Park near Plummer, ID (no pictures from here)
• Camping three nights at McDonald Creek Provincial Park near Nakusp, BC (all pictures are from this time)
• Spending the remaining time at the Shepherd household in Vancouver (no pictures)

The majority of the pictures are from when I took a hike up Saddle Back Mountain. This peak is very near to the campground and has a nice trail to the top. The peak features an abandoned fire lookout and postcard views. Enjoy!

Summer Vacation 2008 Pictures!

Hi everyone!

Since Katie and I are known to be poor at keeping everyone up-to-date, we are starting this blog to more regularly share our many exciting life experiences with our families and friends. Vacations, trips, daily happenings will all be presented in their glorious detail. Watch for lots of pictures too!

Welcome to our blog, and rest assured, there will be much more content in the immediate future!