We talked about going to Panama then decided on the closest alternative we could think of: the Rockies? Our accomodations search went from VRBO sites featuring cabanas on stilts with glass coffee tables that looked directly into the ocean below to DIY truck camper sleeping platform ideas. We went from palm trees to stunted pines of the alpine wonderworld.
It was KT's dad, Rick's, 60th b-day and so we needed to go back to McCall to celebrate. We did up a nice road tour from there. It went like this:
Day 1 - Drive from Salem to McCall. Stopping in Weiser on the way to visit Gramps at the "Concentration Camp". Our late start meant that we missed Manhattans at Happy Hour, a tradition he has celebrated daily at 5 or 6 for 50+ years. He's 96 and he learned how to make them from a neighbor that was in her 90s way back when. He figured she must be on to something with the daily ritual being so old and healthy. So far I'd say it's served him well.
Day 2-3 - In McCall. I got a nice run in at Jug Mtn Ranch. I really don't know where I ended up but it was a little further north than I was hoping to be. So it turned into a nice out and back with a few little variations/shortcuts as I was running late for a tee time with Rick, Nate and KT. That night we binged on Mexican food and beer for the b-day party that featured a mellow crowd of old construction dudes.
The next day I mulled about until late morning and drove north of town to Chinook C.G. I was to sweep a 10 mile loop of the 100 mile IMTUF course. The way I choose to sweep it it would be a 14ish mile loop as I wanted to get a little distance and get to an important intersection where I could verify that everyone was done with this portion. It was my first time as a sweeper and it was pretty fun: nice to be out on a run that was in a new place, super clearly marked, stopping a lot to remove markings and gaze around. The not so fun part was falling 3 times. I am not a faller typically so this was surely to be blamed on the looking around or lack of focus that came with removing hundreds of markings... I guess. Anyway on the 2nd fall I stubbed my toe and it was bad. On the 3rd I smashed it again. I could feel blood in my sock and throbbing pain but I tried my best to cruise along a clip that would get me out of the last 7-8 miles. The scenery was nice but I couldn't enjoy it as much as I should of. Day 2 of what was to be an epic running spree in epic mountains and I had a problem with my big toe.
The following day I was supposed to run a 5 mile race at Ponderosa. I tried on different running shoes trying to find one that wouldn't hurt my toe which was split wide open on the end and the nail full of blood and whatever ooze. No avail. The race was not happening. We chilled around town and went to the beach with the dog.
Day 4 - Left McCall heading through Riggins and onto to Grangeville where we followed Clear Creek up Lolo Pass into Missoula. We stopped there for a walk and some groceries. I got a campsite rec from a friendly dude at the local outdoor store. We left town on the freeway and turned on Rock Creek Rd where we meandered down Rock Creek on a gravel road for miles before setting up camp at Dalles C.G. We were now in bear country so we had to deal with all the precautions that became a nightly routine on this trip. Our site was beautiful and relaxing. We passed a million trailheads but I was just here to chill with the toe not showing much in the way of improvement.
Day 5 - Drove the entire length of this gravel road along Rock Creek. We came out in Phillipsburg which seemed to be an important town historically and for fly-fishers. From there we highway-ed through Anaconda (where that song actually came on the radio!) and Butte, over Homestead Pass to Bozeman. In Bozeman we stopped for a late lunch and walked around a bit. In a similar, and admittedly short, amount of time spent in both places I like Boz better than Miz. I always pictured it the other way around for some reason. From Boz we headed south towards Big Sky where we drove around a bit before picking Red Cliffs C.G. as our sleeping grounds. We did a little hiking up a trail that left the campground and looked like a promising place to run. My toe hurt and KT said I wasn't going off alone early in the AM with any bear spray.
Day 6 - Running wasn't in the cards again. We hit the road for Yellowstone's West Entrance and drove down to Old Faithful. We had to hang way back as dog's aren't allowed anywhere in National Parks much to our dismay. I get it people and dogs both do stupid shit and the park probably had to put the kabash on the dogs because they don't speak up for themselves or pay taxes. We saw the old bugga blow and made a dash for the car. We had a lot of driving to do as the road was closed and we had to do a huge tour of the park to get out of it on the South end. We made a few stops to see geothermal wonders, wildlife including lots of buffalo and an elk. We pinicked on the Yellowstone River and Pete the dog got in a nice bandit swim. From there we headed South and entered Teton National Park. It was a magical site as we drove by those incredible mtns. I was in heaven just looking at them. We needed to keep the pace up so we could get to our rented cabin outside Jackson and enjoy it a bit. We arrived, showered and went to town to get a good dinner and celebrate 3 years together!
Day 7 - Up from the comfortable bed and back into Teton N. P. I was determined to run (I even got bear spray at KT's wishes). The toe hurt as I set off from Jenny Lake towards Lupine Meadows TH where I went up a few thousand feet to Surprise/Ampitheater Lakes area. It was midday and kind of hot but the toe felt good going up. Then I decided it was time to turn things around. The descent killed my toe but I made it back to the boat launch where KT bandited Pete in for a couple hours of swimming and relaxing on the shore. We pinicked there and packed up for another few nights of car living. We aimed South again on a hwy that eventually swung East. We passed a lot of seasonally closed campsites and began to get concerned as we came up on Alpine, WY. From there followed the 20 along Palisades Res. until we got to an apparently open site called Blowout C.G. We had a nice sunset from the bluff we perched the truck on high above the lake. That night KT got out of the truck for a midnight bathroom break and quickly jumped all the way back in. She was scared by something in the brush but we never caught glimpse of it.
Day 8 - We went East again through some sagebrush country and the lovely town of Idaho Falls, past the Craters of the Moon National Mon. to the 75 where we headed North for the last wing of out of the way (slow road) exploration. We stopped in Ketchum/Sun Valley for lunch and then continued into the Sawtooth Wilderness (a national Recreation Area). A quick store stop in Stanley before heading back towards Redfish Lake. The scenery was awesome there. The lake is surrounded by Alps/Dolomite-ish peaks and it begs to be explored, climbed, canoed, whatever... We hiked along the side of the lake with the dog and came back in time for dinner and smores. We hunkered into our truck bed camper one last night and it began to pour. There was thunder and lightening too. Pretty awesome timing as we had so much good luck with the weather the rest of the trip.
Day 9 - We got a hotel room in Boise. I was ready to push the toe a bit and see where things were at so I went for a jog. I grabbed the Greenbelt path along the river and noticed the pace felt relatively easy eve though it was faster than planned. Ended up doing exactly a half marathon and the toe was only slightly painful. We then walked around town and ate before going to a birthday party with some HS friends of KT.
Day 10 - Back from Boise. Very blaw drive all the way home.
So there was little running but we both felt like we were sampling places to go back to later. We saw some amazing country and relaxed a lot. It was a great time and I can't wait to go back for more exploring.
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