Spring is definitely springing in north central Idaho. Wildflowers are blooming and things are coming alive out in the woods. I’m thinking spring is the new summer when it comes to backpacking. No hundred degree days, no wildfire smoke, less crowds. Of course the high country is still under snow, so we kept it close to home for this one and headed to the Selway River for a low elevation spring backpack.
Now that spring has sprung, we have our eye out for any weather windows to get out on the trails with a backpack (or hook the boat up and go fishing, or …well you get the idea). One such window opened at the end of March and we jumped right on it and packed for a couple nights in Hells Canyon. Besides being the deepest gorge in North America it is also intolerably hot in the summer, so it made for a good first overnight hike of 2026 before things get too hot there. We headed to Pittsburg Landing and headed up the Snake River from there.
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.
