Where did the summer go? I’m not sure, but I think it is now in the history books. As we moved into fall the forecast for the higher elevations indicated a chance of snow. Luckily following that mid-September snow forecast was a window of ideal fall weather. It was time to load the backpacks and get a few miles on the boots before more snow made backpacking out of the question for the rest of 2025.
The Gospel Hump Wilderness is fairly local to us, and it actually wasn’t on fire this year when we were able to go, so we packed up for an overnight, laced on the hiking boots and headed that way.
We’ve actually been in the neighborhood of the Gospel Hump several times, including last fall, but this was are first time to make it a primary destination for a trip. There is a ‘cherry stem’ road that takes you up high and right into the middle of the wilderness area, and that seemed like a good jumping off point for a couple of day hikes and exploring the access into the area.
After we left the St. Joe we continued north to the Priest River area in the northern reaches of Idaho’s panhandle. Huckleberries continued to be prolific, as did the mosquitoes, and we spent our first night in the area inside the camper listening to thunder and avoiding the pesky bloodsuckers. The next morning we picked a few cups of huckleberries before we departed camp. They made a great second round of sourdough pancakes, and went into some homemade huckleberry maple breakfast sausage once we arrived home. Yum!
