November 3, 2011 Hike at Wagon Mound, N.M.

Anali and I hiked up to the base of the actual name sake basaltic monolith at Wagon Mound which was an important landmark on the Sante Fe trail. We were unable to make the final ascent because it was too steep without climbing gear. However, upon closer inspection the north side appeared to have a notch heading west that looked promising but difficult. We really couldn't tell without getting closer and even that would have taken some doing on some dicey scree slopes.

Fall Trip to New Mexico -2011

Anali, Jan and I flew into Albuquerque and spent the night in a hotel near the airport. We had a nice dinner at a resturant called Artichoke on Central Avenue near downtown. Anali and I got up and hiked early the next morning in the foothills of the Sandias. Then on to Springer and Jan's home to visit family.

Moose Lake, Moose Mountain & Blacktail Lake in Idaho

I joined the Inland Northwest Hiking group on meetup.com at the suggestion of my childhood friend and neighbor Duane Royer who now lives and hikes in Phoenix. Today was my first adventure with this friendly group. After an easy hike to the lake we climbed to a saddle and followed the ledge to the peak. After a break for lunch we hiked down and took a side trip to Blacktail Lake. We saw very little wildlife (a raven and some tadpoles) but ate a lot of late season huckleberries! We completed an eight mile hike in good weather until the end when it got breezy and sprinkled a bit. A great introduction to this group. Thanks to Jim for organizing the get together!

Route of the Hiawatha

My friend Steve and I left home around noon on a Friday and headed just the border of Idaho and Montana to ride the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail. He hadn't done it before and I had only once about 10 or 12 years ago with my youngest daughter Mallory. This time many more people were using the popular trail that features a 1.66 mile long tunnel, several tall trestles and about 5 shorter tunnels. We made it to the bottom and were the last ones on the second-to-last bus. The driver was informative and very friendly. No flat tires, enough light to see in the tunnels and loads of fun.