Sawtooth and Alpine lake

Alpine lake

We went for a day hike to Sawtooth lake for my birthday (June 2015).  You can get to Sawtooth lake from the Grandjean trail head which is about 9 miles one way, or you can use the Iron creek trail which is about 9 miles round trip. Since we already went to Sawtooth lake via the Grandjean trail a few years ago we decided to use the Iron creek trail this time. This trail is rated as moderate in difficulty according to Alltrails.com. 

해마다 내생일쯤에 우리는 등산을간다. 우리는 2015년에 Sawtooth 호수 에다녀왔다. (sawtooth:톱니, 산이 톱니처럼험하다하여 얻은 이름) Sawtooth 호수로 향하는 등산로 는 두개가있다.  첫번째 그랜진 등산로를 사용하면 왕복 30km 정도이며 두번째 아이런 계곡 등산로는 왕복 15km 정도이다. 우리는 벌써 몇년전 그랜진 등산로를 통해 Sawtooth 호수에 다녀왔기때문에 이번에는 아이런 계곡 등산로를 이용하기로했다.

Mike is catching up on his summer reading

We drove to the Iron creek camp ground after Mike got off work on Friday.  This is a very popular area and we got the very last campsite.  There is parking for backpackers and day users next to the camp ground and it was pretty full too.  

금요일 퇴근후에 아이런 계곡 캠프장 으로 떠났다. 우리집에서 차로 3시간 가량 걸리는 곳이다.  이캠프장은 등산객사이에 인기가있어 바쁘지만 우린 운좋게 마지막 캠프장 을잡았다.

A deer at the camp ground. Wild animals are never good models

Early the next morning we left the camp site.  The first few miles were very easy walking by Iron creek. We passed the trails to Goat lake and Stanley lake before we noticed the trail ascending.  

다음날 아침일찍 등산을 시작했다. 처음 3km 가량은 산책 하는것같이 계곡을 따라 무리없이 걸었다.  다른 등산로를 표시하는 표지판 을 몇개 지난후에 경사가 오르는게 눈에 띄였다.

This cute guy came by hoping for a hand out

Iron creek.  Gotta refill the water bottles

After crossing Iron creek you walk through a meadow full of wild flowers.  We took a long break here, refilled our water bottles, and had some snacks.  I love wild flowers and we took quite a few pictures of them.

아이런 계곡을 건넌후에 야생화가 만발한 초원이 우리를 반겼다.  우리는 여기서 물병도 채우고, 간식도 먹고, 사진도 찍으며 긴휴식을 취했다.

The view from the top was great.  I could sit there for hours and take in the view.  I always appreciate the beauty and the grandeur of the wild whenever I go out.

정상에서 바라보는 풍경은 거대했다.  나는 거기에앉아서 몇시간 동안이라도 경치를 즐길수있을겄같았다.  언제든지 광야로 나갈때마다 나는 자연의 아름다움과 웅장함을 감사한마음으로 받아드린다.

looking down to Alpine lake from the trail

There was still snow around Sawtooth lake and it was considerably cooler.  It was refreshing after a few miles of hard hiking.  One unusual thing was that there was  phone signal.  I don't know what is more crazy, having  phone signal, or that we were using it to post things on social media and keep in touch with our girls.

Sawtooth 호수에는 아직도 눈이 녹지않고 있었다.  조금춥기는했지만 땀을 흘리며 올라온터라 오히려 시원하게 느껴졌다.  정상에 phone 서비스가 있었다.  어떤게 더이상한것일까. Phone 서비스 아니면 phone 서비스를 사용하는 우리?

Mike by Sawtooth lake

It was definitely a doable day hike.  We got back to our campground, washed off our sweaty faces in the cold creek water, and then drove to Stanley for cold drinks, and still made it home before bedtime.

캠프장 에 돌아와서 시원한 계곡물에 얼굴을 씻고 옆마을 에가서 시원한 음료수를 사 마셨다.  그런후에도 우린 잠시간이 되기전에 집에 돌아왔다.

Me and my simple life

Spring makes me happy.
봄은 나를 행복하게 한다.

We got some chicks five days ago.  They are already getting so big and I can see some of them are getting their true feathers.  They stretch out their wings and their tiny legs.  They looks like they are doing yoga when they do that.  We will keep them inside for a month or so then they will be ready to move 
out.

5일전에 병아리를 사왔다. 벌써 제법 커서 날개 와 작은 다리를 펼치는게 꼭 병아리 요가 하는것처럼보인다. 실내에서 한 3-4 주만 키우면 밖으로 보내도 될듯하다.

This is a chestnut tree in my backyard.  I love watching the buds open and leaves come out.  
우리집 뒷마당에 있는 밤나무 종류의 나무이다.  이른봄에 봉우리에서 잎이 나오는걸 보며 봄을 즐긴다.

I planted some Kale, spinach and lettuce a few weeks ago.  They are coming up nicely.  I had to put a net over it to protect them from the birds, wild and domestic. 

벌써 몇주전에 상추, 시금치, 케일 을 심었다.  잘자라고 있는게 보는 내마음을 즐겁게 만든다.  닭들과 새들이 뜯어먹을까 염려되어 보호망을 쳐놓았다.

I was little late getting my tomatoes started this year, but my friend was so kind to share some of her seedlings with me. 


올해는 무엇을 하느라 토마토 모종을 제때 못심었다.다행히 친구가 모종 몇게를 나눠주었다.

It was spring break for my daughter last week.  We did a lot of yard work and planted some peas.  It was nice to work in the sun and I love smell of spring earth.  The grass is turning green, flowers are blooming, days are getting longer.  Happy spring to you all!

지난주가 딸아이 봄방학이였다. 뒷마당 봄청소를하고 함께 완두콩을심었다. 날씨좋은봄날에는 밖에서 일하는게 좋다.  해도 길어지고, 꽃향기도 좋고 잔디도 녹색을 내고있다.  봄은 나를 행복하게 한다.

Baron lake

Baron lake is the most beautiful lake I have hiked to up to this date.  This was my second backpacking trip(Aug 2014). I have been dreaming about going out into the wild again and while waiting for summer to get here I decided to write about our past backpacking trips.  

  

We started from the Grandjean trail head off of highway 21.  From there it is about 11 miles to the lake.  The trail was very well used and easy to follow.  There were a few fallen trees that blocked the trail, but it was easy to go around them. There were a few creek crossings on the way.  I love these creeks because they provided cold water to drink and I love the soothing sounds of running water. However, I don't like creek crossings unless there is a bridge, but I managed to crawl over the log without too much trouble. 

  

There were wild blue berries on the trail. What a treat! They were sweet and juicy and there were plenty of them.  We also saw elder berries.  I know some people makes elder berry jam, but I wasn't sure if we could eat them raw so we left them alone.

When we got to the base of Baron falls we had to climb a rocky hill.  It was very steep with many switch backs.  There were some unstable rocks on the trail and we had to be careful where we put our foot down.  I hate to think what might happen to my toes if one of the rocks landed on my foot. I was grateful for my hiking boots. It was hard going and I was feeling like Frodo and Sam heading toward Mordor.

When we reached the top and just around the corner a whole meadow opened up and there were wildflowers that made me forget the trouble I was facing only moments ago.  It was getting late by this time, but we had to take our packs off and take a break to take in the beauty that was placed before us.  This is the reason I go out into the wilderness. 

We ended up camping by a small creek about a mile short of Baron lake.  It was late and raining by the time when we found suitable camping spot.  We pitched our tent, had dinner, and went to bed.  The next morning we hiked the mile to Baron lake and also to lower Baron lake.  Mike fished a little bit but by the afternoon we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  We each had a book to read, but still it feels like we were just there.  That is when we decided we would rather hike than stay in one place.  We find the joy in the journey itself.  Maybe that is why it takes us a whole day to get to the lake.  We enjoy sitting by the creek after lunch.  We enjoy watching the butterflies. We enjoy standing still and listening to the waterfalls.

At the end of the journey when you are faced with such an awesome view, you can't help yourself but proclaim, "How Great Thou Art." 

Backpacking trip to Loon lake

Loon lake is famous for a 1943 crash of a B-23 Dragon bomber.  The wreckage is still there with signs sharing the story of the crash and rescue.  It is about a 3 hour drive to the trail head from Boise.  There are two trails you can take to get to the lake. The 5 mile trail from Chinook camp ground, and the 15 mile trail from Ponderosa camp ground.  After careful consideration Mike choose to take the 15 mile hike to the lake.  I leave how to get there and which trail to take totally up to Mike to decide since I am really bad with reading a map.

We drove to the trail head after Mike got off work and spent the night there. After a quick breakfast we were off.  It was still pretty cold in the morning so I wished I had brought my gloves.   

It was an easy hike, mostly hiking by the
Secesh river, but some areas were very steep and narrow;one wrong step would surely send you down the cliff to sudden death.  The water was so clear we could see some fish swimming in the river from the trail.

Even though it wasn't a really hard steep trail, 15 miles was a long hike carrying our backpacks on a hot summer day.  We stopped often to take breaks and drink water.  Mike told me that when we cross the bridge we would be almost there.  That is where the trail from Chinook campground would join with the trail we were hiking on.  We walked and walked and walked some more all afternoon and hoped that the bridge would be just around the corner. 

It was almost 6:00 when we finally got to the bridge and we were hungry, tired, and sweaty.  We had some snacks and I was thinking that it would be really nice to jump in the river to cool off.  Of course we didn't bring swim suits, but since we hadn't met a single person the whole day... but even before I finished my thought I heard some people coming up the trail.  Boy scouts. I think there were about 40 kids and their leaders.  I was so glad that we still had our clothes on.

It was about a 2 mile hike from the bridge to the lake, and I was really struggling to climb the steep hill.  When we finally got to the lake we couldn't find a place to pitch our tent because of all the boy scouts.  I think there were 3 different groups with maybe 70 boys and their leaders.  I don't mind having other people around.  It is better to have others there just in case of an emergency, like a bear attack.      

We decided to go check out the crash site in the morning.  But early in the morning I woke up with extreme dizziness. How can you be dizzy while you are still in bed?  I was feeling pretty bad, and we had 15 miles to hike out to where our car was parked.  So instead of hiking to the crash site, we decided it would be better for us to hike out.  Later I learned from my doctor that the dizziness was caused by high altitude and the best thing to do was to descend to a lower altitude.  

   

Our hike to Loon lake was the longest hike I did up to that time. 30 miles in two days and we didn't even see the bomber.  Maybe we can go there again and take the shorter trail next time.

Walk 1000 miles: January

One of my friends said that she wants to walk 1000 miles this year and I decided to do the same.  I haven't walked much since my ankle injury last summer.  I went and saw my doctor hoping that he will fix me up with his magic wand but no such luck.  He said I need to exercise more to strengthen my ankle. 

My plan to accomplish this goal was to walk 3 miles per day.  It has happened to be the worst winter we have had in a very long time and I have to walk through snow and ice. 

Here are some pictures from my walk.  

January total: 82.7 miles
I am a little behind schedule but I hope to catch up as the weather improves. 

Goldfork hot springs

We are having an unusually harsh winter this year.  It is reported that we've had the most snow in the last 40 years.  I know for sure that I shoveled more snow than any other year.  Our patio cover was damaged by heavy snow. With snow, ice and inversions hanging over our city it is indeed not a very pleasant winter.

We live in Idaho where around 200 hot springs are available for our enjoyment.  We have been to few of them and it is wonderful to sit in the hot water to relax and let your stress melt away.  What a great way to spend winter days, soaking in a hot spring. But this year with all the snow we are not sure about the road conditions so we were not able to make trip out to a hot spring.

While I was looking at some old pictures I came across this picture from 2006.  Oh my goodness, look at our adorable girls.  That was 11 years ago.  This was our first visit to Goldfork hot spring.  This hot spring is located in Donnelly, ID.  It is about a 2 hour drive from Boise, but it is worth the drive. My favorite part of this place other than the hot water is that they allow people to bring their own food and drinks.  My least favorite part is the lack of changing rooms. We had to share one small room with five or six other people with no privacy.

We visited this hot spring just about once every year since then, but I think we had the most fun on our first trip.  Maybe because our kids were little, or maybe because it was new to us.  Whatever the reason we really had a good time playing that day.
It is definitely worth it to make a day trip or stop by on your way to and from MaCall.    

Backyard bird watching

What do you do when Christmas is over and there are no more twinkling lights to take your mind off of the gray winter and spring is still a few months away?

I love to watch the birds that visit our backyard.  I have high hopes of catching a glimpse of mountain blue birds, blue jays or red cardinals, but sadly they don't visit my back yard.  I think I live in the wrong place or have the wrong kinds of foods for some of those birds.  But I still see few different kinds of birds just looking out my living room window.  Just a while ago I saw a really pretty black bird with red on its wings and breast who came to eat berries from my Virginia creeper.  It flew off before I could get a good picture of him.  How rude! He eats off my plants and didn't even let me take a picture of him.  We also have hundreds of house finches that hang around our back yard, but they blend in too well with the trees to get good pictures of them.

Here are some birds that visit our back yard.  

This is a Northern Flicker.  One of the more rare birds that I saw in my back yard

The Red Robin.  They usually come late December and stay until early February.

These are European Starlings.  They have a pretty green tint to their feathers.  Just the other day one of them flew right into our window and I thought he was dead, but after sitting there for a few minutes he flew off.  

I don't know the name of these birds.  I don't see them very often and I looked through the Idaho bird identification web page but could not positively identify them. 

We have about seven Doves that live in our backyard.  We used to have only two but I think that word got out that we have chickens and they can eat our chicken feed.