Idaho

High into the Pioneer Mountains

It seems to happen every year. We wait for the wildfire smoke to clear, and the hot weather to give way to something more tolerable, so we can get a few more hikes in before the high country starts to get too cold and stormy. Then, the weather not only relents, but snow starts to show up in the forecast.

After we were stormed out of this trip in early September I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope we’d get it in this year. And then a weather window appeared. We loaded up the packs and drove south. The next day we were on the trail into Broad Canyon, climbing up into the Pioneer Mountains.

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Back to the Gospel Hump

Wow did the weather change in central Idaho when the calendar flipped from August to September. From hot and dry to cool and wet in what seemed like a blink of an eye. First, we were waiting for smoke to clear, then rescheduling trips due to incoming snow. With all that shuffling we found a short clear weather window and we headed to the Gospel Hump Wilderness for a backpack trip. We enjoyed our first trip to the Gospel Hump last year, and it was time to get back to this local wilderness for some more trail time.

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Summit, Rapid and Hard Creek Lakes

In mid-July the heat came, and the air turned a smoky gray-brown, blotting out the blue sky. By mid-August it was hot and smoky so long I was starting to forget what a blue sky looked like. Then, finally, a short break in the weather came. The sky cleared and turned back to blue, and we got a short break from the relentless heat. It was time to pack the backpacks and get out on the trail. With loaded backpacks we headed south and hit the trail to Summit and Rapid Lakes.

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