June 11 Continued

We put on the river in the afternoon and had a lovely time floating. The section of the Salmon was Yankee Fork to Torreys and was fast and fun the whole time. Nothing too terrifying, but Eric and I both ended up in the bottom of the boat at some point during the trip. At least we managed to stay in the boat! We are just getting warmed up for bigger waves later.

June 12-14 – Elk Mountain-Boise

Early the next morning, we arose to ride at Elk Mountain (Meadow?). We were planning on driving to Boise to see the McCanns and the Meyer family, so we hit the trail as soon as we could climb out of the warm bed. It was a good thing we did! We ended up seeing a lot of wildlife. First, we came across a grouse that was behaving a bit unusual. Instead of flying miles away from us and our quick (not quick enough cameras), it flew into the closest tree and cooed at us. We were able to get some sweet pics, but then we saw who she was actually cooing at . . . a little baby grouse. It was sooooo cute! Then when I was riding out of a meadow and back into thicker forests, I spooked a herd of elk (Elk Mountain, yeah baby). I thought Eric could catch them, but I ended up sending him on a wild goose chase (but we didn’t see any geese). Then we came across a giant owl! It was pretty photogenic, so we stayed with him until the misquitos just about sucked all the blood out of me. Then, we rallied home and on the road. We drove the scenic 3 hour trek to Boise along Highway 21. I learned how to knit (again) in the company of Eric’s grandma, mom, and sister. It is easier with 3 generations of knitters to guide you. We celebrated Joyce’s (grandma) 79th birthday on Monday. Lisa (sister) and I made 2 angel food cakes. They turned out great (if I must say myself)! All in all, we did a lot of relaxing in Boise and were pretty much refreshed by the time we headed back to the motorhome, which we had abandoned in the woods up in Stanley. We figured she could handle some alone time too. We arrived back at the trailer late on Tuesday.

June 15 – Potato Mountain

Eric and I like to make things hard on ourselves. Instead of riding the trail the direction everyone else does, we ride it in the opposite direction. It was alright. Our climb was gentle and followed a creek, which we crossed half a dozen times. I got new bike shoes in Boise and broke them in with a water ride. These new shoes dry out a heck of a lot faster than my old ones. We passed several other surprised cyclists who asked why we were riding up the trail? We love to go against the grain of course! Our reward for riding up the whole way was a steep loose and rocky downhill. It wouldn’t have been fun to ride up it either, but the rest of the ride would have been sweet. Next time, next time. Along the way, we crossed through an amazing meadow and the creek was clear and cool. I would say it was a great ride. At the end, we saw the same folks sitting around enjoying a beer. It turns out they were newlyweds with a few straggler wedding guests enjoying their honeymoon. Then the other people we ran into on the trail came by. They worked at the Redfish lodge, which was where the couple had gotten hitched. Everyone seemed to know everyone already. There was a rope swing rumored to be awesome about a 2 minute hike up a trail from where everyone met. Apparently, it swings out about 50 feet over the canyon. Sounds cool, but Eric and I passed. We ended our ride and headed back to base camp. We made a small fire in our fire pit and enjoyed s’more after s’more. It was pretty much perfect.

June 16 – Beaver Creek

So this might have been a bad decision. We got to the trail, which was not easy for the Explorer and would have not happened in the motorhome only to realize that what might have been single track at some point was actually a well-used ATV trail. Given the time of day and our lack of creativity, we rode it anyway. Again, we crossed numerous creeks and some muddy bogs. The trail was not epic by any means, more entertainment on an otherwise uneventful day.

June 17 – Drive to Missoula

I know, I know. We were supposed to be driving to Colorado, not Montana. Unfortunately, Eric and I can’t control every aspect of our trip with grace and beauty. Instead of making a mad dash for Breckenridge, we are putting on the Selway tomorrow with a commercial outfitter that is allowing us to tag along with their trip. The only permit we could get on left on Saturday, which means we had to make a tough decision. Eric was furious that the timing was so perfectly bad, but couldn’t resist turning down the Selway trip to spend 2 fifteen hour days in the car. I am sad, but I realize I have to spend the next 2 months in the motorhome with Eric, not Dan and Stacey, so I guess we’re floating a river. We will try to take lots of pictures, but it will depend on how long our camera batteries last. We will be on the river 18th-22nd. Check back in then!