Idaho Rocks. But so does Colorado

Idaho has some amazing snowboarding, but when there is no snow, the next logical place to head to is Colorado! The state I was born and raised in! Of course, the best place in Colorado is Summit County. Home to four great Ski Resorts, including Keystone, Coppermountain, Breckenridge, and Arapahoe Basin. This little go-round, we chose to hang out in Keystone. 5 days of fun and snow awaited us. This is a great mountain with tons of terrain. If anyone out there is looking for a place to get some killer snowboarding or skiing in, Summit county is your choice. All 4 ski resorts are killer. Plus you aren't far from many, many more. Amie and I highly suggest it. Here is a picture from our little trip.

Craters of the moon 

Craters of the Moon

For some of the most unreal and mind boggling scenery, one must check out Craters of the Moon National Monument. Amie, the Law, and I decided to make a day out of it with a nice stop at some great hotsprings on the way home.

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve contains three major lava fields covering almost half a million acres. These remarkably well preserved volcanic features resulted from geologic events that appear to have happened yesterday and will likely continue tomorrow...
Established by Presidential proclamation in 1924, Craters of the Moon National Monument has been enlarged by additional proclamations. The expanded Monument and Preserve are co-managed by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

The pictures we took of the area are even cooler since we visited at such a opportune time. The weather surrounding the mountains made our visit feel like we actually were on another planet. The caves and small hikes were fabulous.

As the Seasons Change

As the seasons change here in Idaho, I am reminded how much nature reflects my own life. Leaves falling and the beginning of winter is just like the shedding of old ways of life and ideas, and making room for new ones to come in. After a brief hybernation period of course. The beauty of the fall here in Fairfield and Boise is indescribable. The oranges, yellows, pinks, reds, and everything else makes me really think of the world as a painters canvas. The beauty all around us really inspires. I'm looking forward to a great winter of Snowboarding, snowshoeing, kiteboarding, snowmobiling and more! While I'm sad to see the warm weather leave, I'm excited to embrace the snow and do some playing!

Getting Lost

I get lost. Alot. Usually not on purpose, just a random turn out hiking, running or what have you. It has always turned out ok, but this was one of the craziest ones. The other day I went running up in the Stanley Basin around our cabin. It was snowing out with rather poor visibility. So I decided to go running. You know something short, maybe 3-4 miles, 6 at the max. So I started running and see a path that I have never ventured down before. It is a small jeep road covered in a couple inches of snow. Everything is fogged over, eliminating all points of reference. So I started running down the road at a good pace. After numerous twists and turns through the woods I came out in a large meadow. Having been running for around a hour to a hour and a half I was getting tired. Coming out of the trees I saw a large meadow. How overjoyed I was to see this meadow thinking that I was almost back to the cabin, it was so beautiful. Seeing a road at the edge of the fog bank I was positive that I was there. Another half a mile and I was at the road.....it was a paved road.....not the road that I was looking for. Later I came to find out that it was the road to Alturas Lake, many, many miles away. Well I was in a kind of conumdrum. Tired, cold, far away from anyone or anything, and lost. I Ran about a mile up the paved road, figured that I was going the wrong way, so I ran back to where I found the paved road. My mind and body where beginning to get numb, but I had enough sense to follow my own tracks back to where I started. Sounded like a good idea to me. As I was getting back to the main road after the long back track through the woods, the fog started to lift and blue sky started to peek through the clouds. For some odd reason I decided to take another short cut. This proved to be the most disastrous course of action. Leaving the trail I bushwhacked through the woods to get back to the main road. Well I forgot there was a creek in the way. After looking for a good fording point, I found a bad one and slipped on a rock. Crawling out of the creek soaking wet and back onto the bank I saw my salvation!!! The road!! And it was the right one too!!! I started running again with a new found vigor. The cold, wetness and exhaustion seemed to just melt away. The next couple miles and the last hill breezed by and don't stick out to clearly in my memory. After sprinting up the driveway I collapsed on the deck with a big smile inside and a great sense of achievement. (Big comfort to my aching body yeah...)