Last week my son Peter Cary and I joined my nephew, Blake Everson,and his family at their home in Hailey, Idaho for what was to be a return backpacking trip into the Sawtooth Mountains.
In 2017, we had backpacked into these mountains to watch the total eclipse of the sun. I wrote about our adventure for NYSD.
In 2017 my niece-in-law Kate was three months pregnant with her daughter Charlie. Charlie is now five years old. Her brother Bennett is going into the 3rd grade. And my blond hair seems to have turned gray.
View from the Everson home in Hailey, Idaho.
We had every intention of backpacking into the Sawtooth Mountains for several days and nights, but Mother Nature thought otherwise.
Severe thunderstorms rumbled throughout our week. As quickly as the storms came in… they left. There is an expression in the Wood River Valley: “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”
Charlie, Bennett, and Peter Cary on the front porch.Picking currants in the garden.Runner beans grace the teepee, the setting of many a tea party.Family lounging on the front lawn.Charlie decided to paint everyone’s nails.The Everson garden gifted us with tomatoes, basil, potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, chili peppers, kale, chard, strawberries, and corn.If you could wear your mermaid dress to pick cucumbers, wouldn’t you?Finley is very gentle with Bennett.Baby…not so much. Rescued as a kitten Baby is now a full-grown savage.
The vegetables and flowers grow plentiful without threat of rodents.
Surveying her territory around the clock. She brought gifts to us every day. Several times a day. Those critters did not have a chance.
Our backpacking plans were changed by the often-inconsistent weather, so we decided to stay home and do day adventures.
Summer treat.Hiking on the ridge above the Everson home.
Floating down the rapids in the Big Wood River was exhilarating and THRILLING!
Safely out of the rapids. Saved by my two favorite men. My son and my nephew.
Because of the daily thunderstorms, the river was swifter and more powerful than usual. What is typically a relaxing float downstream nearly became a swiftwater rescue situation.
Blake and Peter Cary were a bit more careful with 8-year-old Bennett after watching me bob, out of control, through the rapids.A storm brewing behind us.Driving up Wildhorse Canyon.
A 45-minute trip over Trail Creek Pass brought us to Wildhorse Canyon in the Salmon-Challis Forest, where we began our 9-mile round trip hike up the Pioneer Mountains to Boulder Lake.
Trailside view of the Devil’s Bedstead Mountains in the Pioneers.The cycle of life continues uninfluenced by man in these parts. Here are the remains of an elk, likely consumed by wolves, judging by the scat nearby.
Enjoying the view.Back in time to see a glimpse of the rising of the Super Blue Moon.A morning run …… followed by a cold plunge.Hiking up Bald Mountain Trail on the slopes of Sun Valley Ski Resort.Reading Black Beauty. To preview our soon-to-be-published book: blackbeautyabridged.com
