Yelp – it is time to head to the hills.
Will return Wednesday.
Blessings
2007 picture at the top of MT Borah – the highest peak in Idaho
Category Archives: Outdoors
Mt. Borah – A Year Late
No, I didn't climb Mr. Borah again. However, I finally got my hands on the pictures we took last year when we climbed it. (click here for original post)
As a reminder, Mt. Borah is the tallest peak in Idaho (12,662 feet) with a trail that climbs 5000 feet in 3 miles.. lets say I won't be doing this again. 
[@more@]Take a close look at the rock in front of me..
2 Men + 2 Nights + Idaho Wilderness = An Adventure
You have to have danger in order to have an adventure. If you don't…then it's just a walk in the park (granted, not Central Park as that can be dangerous).
Of course, some would say that going backpacking in the Sawtooth wilderness is not dangerous. Well… we didn't have a map? ok… we did get one before we entered the wilderness due to the enticing aroma of a pizza place near a hiking outfitter.
This is Idaho. We like our pizza joints near the great outdoors…about seven miles
Moving on to the "adventure" – we climbed a mountain and saw some pretties; took some pictures (below) and went home. All and all, I think I can live one more day in this crazy world for at least there's one place on earth that is calm.
Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ"Adventure with all its requisite danger and wildness…"
Goat Lake, Sawtooth Wilderness: deep, blue and bone chilling cold
[@more@]
Who needs a tent when you have a plastic bag?
Blue Grass & Green Skies
When I peaked the top of Horseshoe Pass this morning, I couldn’t help but be amazed at view before me: Glorious green mountains rolling downward towards the earth with dark blue/gray clouds providing a perfect covering for the peaking sun.
As I drove along the winding road through the mountains, I started to get a little home sick for the Ozarks and their wooded hills. Adding to the scene was the folky music of Nor’Wester singing Sixteen Tons and Fishn’ Blues.
Then, as I entered a small valley at near the base of the mountains, my thoughts turned to Ireland. All of a sudden, the grass on the hills turned blue and skies when green.[@more@]
For the last few months (hmm… half a year now?), I have been going to a small Irish themed coffee shop to relax and read during my lunch breaks. I’ve also found a great online Irish music station (LiveIreland.com) that has been helping me through my work day.
In some ways, it’s been odd to have this focus on Celtic music… yeah, I’ve always liked Celtic music, but recently it’s been a bigger focus. You see, in the past, I’ve usually turned to bluegrass music (or old school country) when I wanted to relax.
Why the change?
I’m not sure. But what I do know is that while I was driving this morning along the blue grasses and under the green skies, I remembered that the Bluegrass music of the hills originated from the Celtic music of Irish, Welsh, & Scottish immigrants.
So in a way I was going home – home back to the moors of England & Wales from where’s my blood runs.
Osprey Aether 70 Pack
After years of fighting cheap or used backpacks, I finally bit the bullet and brought a "real" backpack. It help that REI was having a huge anniversary sale. 
I original went into REI to get a travel backpack as I thought that it would fit all my needs. A travel backpack is a backpack that as a special compartment that allows you to hide the waist belt and shoulder straps. This makes it perfect for traveling on air planes where the straps of a typical backpack would be caught in the conveyor belt and destroyed.
However, when I tried on the travel backpacks with thirty or so pounds, I quickly discovered that they weren't that good… In fact, they almost hurt worse then my cheap $50 backpack. Needless to say, I was disappointed. 
[@more@]With this news, I started trying on all the backpacks designed for 4 to 7 days. The best one: Osprey Aether 70 Pack. It is awesome!!! I put 40 lbs in it and walked about the store for half a hour without feeling a thing!
And the waist belt was custom fitted to my hips!! (ie. they heated it up in an oven, put it on me and let it cool. The result is a sweet fit!!)
Osprey also has a great reputation for taking care of the environment and promoting "Leave No Trace" camping (shoot – their owners manual was printed on post-consumer recycled paper!!). Since I take both of these issues seriously, it was nice to send my money to a place that is doing things right.
It was a win-win deal.
Oh – did I mention I saved a tad over 30%? That's right baby – never pay full price!