Deadwood Weekend

After a 7 hour drive and one flat tire, we made it to Pine Flats Campground, in Idaho around 1:10am. We slept in the next morning, then went on an all day dirt bike ride, from 11:00 – 9:30. We did make some stops along the way, including stopping at Deadwood Reservoir to swim.

The next morning we woke up and walked over to the Pine Flats Hot Springs which are right next to the river, and are fed by a hot waterfall. However, you do have to wade through the river to get to these hot springs, but the location of the springs is worth it.

After dinner we made dutch oven peach cobbler.  I always have to look up the specifics of the cooking on this, so here it is for future reference…

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

Ingredients
2 cans peaches
1 box cake mix (yellow or white, I’ve used both before)
1 can 7up or Sprite
a few shavings of butter

1. Line dutch oven with tin foil, then add a few shavings of butter to the bottom.
2. Drain 1 can of peaches, then dump the drained can and the full can into the dutch oven.
3. Add your cake mix on top.
4. Pour your can of 7up in a spiral on top of the cake mix.
5. Lightly mix everything together, not fully, just a little.
6. 15 briquettes on top, 10 briquettes on the bottom, cook for 50 minutes, turn every 10-15 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

The next day we rode Warm Springs with our dirt bikes (18.5 miles). This trail was great for 95%, but had a rough, rocky and sandy climb out near the end that was exposed to the sun, and very difficult to ride. On the 95% that was awesome, we were riding among big tall pine trees with tons of wild flowers, and of course, following along and crossing Warm Springs.  The trail ends at Bull Trout Lake, and passes No Name Lake and a small pond with bright yellow blooming lily pads.

All the Idaho trails we rode on this trip were very well manicured, with many bridges, cleared out rocks, and were often comfortably wide single track.

Big Trout Fishing

Bade and I were invited to go fishing on some private property in Crandall Canyon. Bade was so excited about fishing up there because he heard how big the fish are, and his expectations were met as he caught many 4-5 lb rainbow trout.
I’ve got to admit, it is pretty fun seeing Bade so giddy about big fish :).

Snake River Rafting

Our Snake River rafting trip started with our car breaking down on I-15 about 15 miles into the trip.  Luckily, my dad and brother were able to come to our rescue and tow our car to my parents house, where we quickly moved our gear into my mom’s car, and took that up to Alpine, Wyoming.

We rafted the Snake River twice on Saturday.  The water is so high this time of year that Big Kahuna is small, practically nothing, and Lunch Counter is huge. On our second run we flipped at Lunch Counter, straight up the rapid, then turned and flipped sideways. Both Bade and I came up under the raft, so it took us a bit to get out in the open to get some air.  I took a little longer than Bade, because I was able to get my bearings in a pocket of air under the raft.  However, I knew that everyone would be worried about me since they couldn’t see me, so I tried to get out. It is surprisingly hard to get out from under a raft when the raft is surrounded by people holding onto the sides.

On Sunday we stopped in Kemmerer on our way home to do some fishing.  We fished up Ham’s Fork on the stretch of river between the 2 reservoirs. Bade used a yellow sally on his fly rod and it worked great.

4th of July Weekend

My 4th of July’s are typically the same.  I go to the Provo Hot Air Balloon launching in the morning, Provo’s Freedom Fest for lunch, float the Provo in a kayak in the afternoon, BBQ with family for dinner, and fireworks at the neighbors at night.  This year was VERY different, but still enjoyable.

It all started with a red, white and blue breakfast in bed.

Then, Bade and I spent the entire afternoon at his brother’s house helping him with his house addition.  There was lots of time-sensitive work that Bade and I offered to help with. Then in the evening, saw Peter Breinholt perform, then enjoyed a 25 minute firework show that was so close, we had some cardboard debris falling on us!

Saturday was an extension of the fourth for us.  We took my dad and uncle on a dirt bike ride up our canyon.  My uncle is only in town for a week, and dirt bike riding was one of his must-do activities.

After only 2.5 hours of riding, we came upon a truck, blocking the entire trail, that had high-centered itself AND jammed a fallen tree up under it, on our dirt-bikes-only trail.  This threw a major wrench into our day.  The two guys (and their dog) in the truck were really unprepared for getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere.  They didn’t have any food or water, there is no cell reception, and they are miles from the nearest road. We tried to help them move the truck, but it was hopeless.  So instead, we left them with some water bottles, Bade got our bikes under a fallen tree in a ravine so that we could bypass the truck, and I cut my ride short, and rode for an hour out of the canyon to call for help, while the boys continued on riding for another 3.5 hours until well after dark. By the end of their 6 hour ride, my dad and uncle were exhausted, to say the least :).

Quickie

Bade and I like to take little quickie (get your mind out of the gutter :) ) dirt bike rides up our canyon after work.  Today we went up to the place where Bade proposed to me nearly a year ago.