Nature in the City

Even in the city there are plenty of ways to be close to nature. As with most everything else in life, you just need to get up off your lazy butt and just do it! Yesterday Amie and I went on our normal walk. We left the house here on 28th & Jefferson Street and headed towards The Boise Greenbelt. On this short, probably 2-3 mile walk, we pass a multitude of natural goodies. 2 lakes, 2 Rivers, 2 Enormous Bald Eagles, a Blue Heron, hundreds of Crows and black birds, finches, woodpeckers, ducks, loons, seagulls, and other water fowel. It really is a solice for me living in the city to be able to have something like this so close to where I am. Even though nature may seem far away, all I need to do is start walking and I'm in the middle of Nature, right here in the city.

The tools of the trade 

S.E.R.E in Idaho

Lying on the cold desert floor I could hear the sound of the ATV getting louder and closer. I pressed my body closer into the dirt and pulled my ruck closer to my head. Myself and my team had been traveling over flat open ground with little cover aside from a few sparse sagebrushes and some yellow grass, when all of a sudden the throaty roar of one of the ATVs that had pursuing us the entire night roared to life a little ways away. The darkness revealed nothing in any direction and neither did my NVGs, only the sound, that was steadily getting louder.....and nearer. Hiding until it was gone was our only option. I pressed flat onto the ground and crawled next to a tiny sage brush, the biggest one with in any reasonable distance. Not daring to move a muscle in the darkness to attract any attention I barely breathed, knowing our chances of evading detection where slim already. Tdup, tdup, tdup, TDup, TdUp, TDuP, TDUP, the ATV was very close now. Then it shut off. Heart pounding, breathing faster I wondered if it might be giving away my position. Silence for several minutes that felt like hours then the ATV started back up and drove away. After the sound of its passing faded away I whispered "Lets go" and started moving away in a hunched of position to below the ridgeline and better cover. As the team started to move a bright light shined on us and a voice yelled out "FREEZE!!".
"You are all now Prisoners of War"
Sounds like a story you would hear from a Vietnam vet, downed aircrew member behind enemy lines or a Special Forces operator, but here it was happening to me here in good ol' Idaho. No it was not some wierd milita group or something, it was simply S.E.R.E training or Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. What is S.E.R.E you might ask well it is training that aircrew members and selected other people go through to teach them to survive out in the wild, evade capture by the enemy, resist interrogation, and escape if possible. Even though I was going through the training for less than pleasant reasons it was still a great learning experience and best of all it took place in beautiful Idaho. When I was creeping through a sage valley, skirting a ridgeline or hiding underneath a bush I could look up into the clear night sky and see thousands of stars and through the NVGs see shooting stars light up the night sky. Like one of my instructors said "Well my job requires a lot of work, many hours and discipline, but look at my office" as he gestured to the terrain with the sun setting in the distance. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

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...)

Why do I like the outdoors?

I recently found myself wondering why I like the outdoors so much. Is it the fresh air? The peacefullness? It made me think back on my past outdoor experiences and try to decide why I did. I remember seeing a picture from when I was still a toddler of me being carried by my father on the back of what looked to be a extremely uncomfortable backpack, I guess that is where it all started. From then on I was hiking and backpacking in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter before I even knew how to ride a bike. Like any small child I despised these long forced marches up and down mountians, these grueling hikes that felt like the eco-challenge, but really lasted only a couple miles. Then it all changed in the vastness of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Hiking up and down those dunes was the coolest thing I had ever seen; but what really made me fall in love with the outdoors is running. I started running cross country at age 13 and haven't stopped running yet (or ever will). I will run all day long (and have) as long as I'm outside. Maybe I'm a endorphin addict or something, only a few things have come close to the sense of calmness or rightness that I have felt on mile 20 of a marathon. Getting back to the outdoors thing. When I joined the Air Force and got stationed up in the wasteland known as Minot, North Dakota, I realized how much the mountains and the outdoors in general meant to me. Sometimes you have to lose what you love for you to really appreciate it. Everytime I went home was so awesome to me, I was like MOUNTAINS!!! YEAH!!!, truely I did. Now living in Idaho I can find some of the most beautiful scenery and best outdoor activities that this worldly adventurer has found anywhere. Idaho is definately the best place I have ever lived. Thank you Mother Nature for making some cool stuff.

SilverCreek of Idaho

As of yesterday, Amie and I have known each other for over a year now. I love having her in my life, and am extremely happy to have been with her for so long. It really is quite amazing to be in a happy relationship for such a long time period. I've not known it to exist until this point. I guess everybody has theirs.

We spent the day hiking around one of the most beautiful and unique areas of Idaho (I say that about every place in Idaho). The Silver Creek is one of the best remaining examples of a high desert, cold spring ecosystem in the western United States. There are Dozens of springs that percolate up from an aquifer and merge to form Silver Creek. The waters of the Silver Creek are very alkaline and nutrient-rich. There are tons of insects and a very high density of brown and rainbow trout (about 5,000 trout per mile!). Not to mention it is absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. When I go to this place, I want to do nothing more than just be with nature. The Nature Conservancy has done some amazing things with the Silver Creek, and you should definitely check them out if you are interested in learning more about the area.

Travee on Idaho

Hi! My name is travee. I was born in Moritz hospital, Sun Valley, Idaho on August 4, 1979. I grew up 15 miles south of that hospital in the towns of Bellevue and Hailey. I always had fun as a child going down to the river from my house. I used to think that was so cool that I could just walk right out my back door, walk 200 yards down a path, and boom!!! be right there at the river, where adventure was and still is endless.

Of course, there was that point of adolecence where I caught myself saying, "I hate this place. Its so boring. There aren't enough people. Theres nothing to do." I realized about 3 years later what my problem was. I just wasn't looking for anything to do!! So I decided to do something about that. One day, my friend Ben asked me, "hey you want to go on a hike?" And I said "yeah!! How long of a hike??" He said "oh, about three days!!" WOAH!! I never thought I would want to do something like this, but I did and I loved it!! These places I saw were so timeless. The greatest feeling to me in this backcountry in Idaho, is that not many people know about it. Or would even want to explore it. Well, to those people I say, you are seriously missing out. There aren't many places left like this where you can just walk up any trail and see some amazing views. I can drive five minutes from my house and be in the woods!! I can fish anywhere I find water, and probably catch a few trout.

These days my favorite sport in Idaho in the summer is mountian biking. The trails here in the Sun Valley area are endless. There is not enough time in one season to enjoy all the trails I love riding In the winter I enjoy snowmobiling. Endless fields of powder await me this winter in Fairfield. I can't wait!! I may even take up snowboarding once I stop being such a wuss!! And thats what I love about Idaho!!

So for anyone thinking about traveling here for an escape from routine and other insanity, let me tell you Idaho is a perfect escaping destination. From great folks to fun places, sure am glad to be a native of this great state!!

The Good Life

Idaho does indeed rock! I also live in Fairfield, and enjoy the tranquility of rural, clean, mountainous America. Every morning I wake up and enjoy the smell, and taste of pure mountain air. I work at a desk all day, so being so close to endless "out-door" recreation is very important for me. I have two children, Alaylia, and Quinton, who are both loved, and well mentored by my lovely wife Amanda. We have two yellow labs, Aspen, and Willow, who both enjoy Idaho as much as the rest of the family. (maybe more ;) ) I am an avid snow-sport enthusiast, and enjoy hiking, backpacking, and fishing during the pleasant summer months. I know that I truly live "The Good Life", and am grateful to enjoy the luxury of Central Idaho!

Where I live - A Picture and a Thought

I'm starting to direct family members to this blog of mine, and thought it might be interesting to give everyone an idea of where I'm coming from (in the physical sense). I live in beautiful Camas County, Idaho in a town called Fairfield. We have over 400 people here, and our backyard is the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (the second largest national forest in america). There are an unlimited amount of things to do here if you like the outdoors, including biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, etc... I like to do them all! Especially Backpacking in the summer time. I've included a little "panorama" of the valley where I live. I'll post some more down the line.

Out of the ordinary - at 10mph

A few days ago, we had an interesting thing happen to us here in Fairfield. In a town of only 400 or so people, not much happens here aside from the day to day events of our town. However, this day was different. I woke up and on my walk to work I noticed a trailer with www.10mph.com written on the side of it. I walked up to the trailer and spoke with Hunter, the head of the expedition. Him and his friends are going on a cross country trip from Seattle, WA, and ending up in Boston, MA. Not only are they making the cross country trip, but they are doing it on a Segway Human Transporter! We had the opportunity to hang out with them for a day and do a little riding on the Segway ourselves (sorry no pictures). Once their journey is over, they will compile a documentary on the USA. Check them out online and follow their progress.

Heaven in the Sawtooth Mountains

I've always belived the Sawtooth Mountains to be on of the most amazing places on earth. Endless hiking, rivers and pristine, crystal clear lakes to go to. My beliefe was yet again confirmed last weekend when myself and a few close friends were able to conquer almost 20 miles of day hiking trails. We hiked to Hell Roaring & Imogene Lake on Saturday, and then the amazing Goat Lake on Sunday. I'll be posting pictures of the hikes shortly, but definitely wanted to get my thoughts out on here before I forgot. More than ever now, I think the Sawtooth Valley is a place I could live for the rest of my life.

Idaho Rocks. But so does BC

Well, I know that I really haven't written much here. Honestly, I have no idea how much I will in the weeks and months to come. I guess I'm inspired today. Amie (my girlfriend) and I went to Vancouver, BC last weekend and had a GREAT time. She works for a Chiropractic office (the best in Boise), and they helped foot the bill for the vacation. In short, Vancouver is a great town right on the ocean. Absolutely beautiful with endless things to do. I'm a small town guy, so I couldn't picture myself living there any time soon. It is a place I'd love to go back and visit!

New to Blogging

I'm exploring this whole Blogging thing in an effort to stay more connected with friends and family throughout the world. I realize it might be more of a lazy way to go about it, but at the same time seems more fun and interactive. Here we go! Lets see what happens!