For the past several years a friend and I have backpacked together up the Rapid River Trail in Idaho’s Payette National Forest. This was traditionally a trip she did with her kids, but kids—like baby chicks—tend to fly the coup, so now she’s stuck with me.
This was my first extended exposure to another human since the mid-March Coronavirus isolation order was announced. We shamefully wasted gas by driving separately to the trailhead, just above the Rapid River Fish Hatchery.
During the spring, this trail is a green wonderland. The river gushes with runoff from the deep snows draining out of the Seven Devils Mountain Range, cooling the trail that follows it.
It drizzled during our first night out. Me, without my rainfly engaged, was blissfully unaware of the rain thanks to the protection of the giant pine tree I pitched my tent beneath.

Damp wood of the Pacific Yew

Idaho mountain golf green
The second day we headed further up the river to Wyant Camp. It was a hot day. By afternoon, we realized how hot, because the clear river water turned chocolate milk brown with a sudden uptick in runoff from above.

Bridge over Rapid River leading to the Rattlesnake Trail

From the bridge

A big ol granddaddy Ponderosa flanked by mountain lupine

Thank you, whoever cleared trail earlier this spring!

Indian Paintbrush – my favorite and also the Wyoming State Flower

Bedsprings?

Skyrocket

Looking back towards Riggins and the Fish Hatchery

I have no idea, but I love them. Perhaps Lobelia?

Guardians of the river. (I have no idea what they are. Purple Clematis?)
Bonuses of this year’s trip:
- We encountered NO rattlesnakes
- We saw no mosquitoes, nor did we feel any
- We saw no ticks
That must have been a very good hike. No ticks? That is wonderful. Our Jack Russell at one stage while visiting my brother became infested with over 70 ticks including baby ones. He came close to dying.
I am not sure about the names for the flowers except that they are beautiful.
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70 ticks? OMG, poor pooch. Did you have to physically remove each one of those or was there some sort of icky soap you could use to wash them off his body? I do not like tics. They say every creature has it’s use. But ticks and mosquitoes…they stretch my imagination.
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Oh! – thanks for your beautiful images – so refreshing and happy. Our lives are that much more enriched when we can get out to places like this. And it’s fun to see what you perceive around you via your comments on your photos. Once my husband and I tried to hike this trail a long time ago but there was too much snow!
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Yes, I suspect this trail has a short window of pleasantness. Too early and it’s too snowy. Too late and it’s too hot and dry. End of May-early June are probably best. And yes, being outside and away from the fray is very good for the soul.
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Splendid!
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Thank you Robert, I hope you are doing okay during these stressful times. I haven’t been as good as I should be about checking in with my more distant friends.
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I will admit that I have terrible days. I believe that trump is taking a terrible toll on our mental health and if one already has a mental health condition it makes everything worse. I just want him to go away.
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OMG. Even for someone who presumes to be quite mentally/emotionally stable, I can attest that this creature makes me lividly insane! It is all I can do to maintain a semblance of composure when I read about his responses to life. I have learned to be too selective (in other words, living within the choir) and to scroll abundantly. Whatever the f comes out of his mouth one moment will be contradicted an hour later so really what he says/tweets is meaningless. But what I fear is the manipulation that he has enabled that strips away recourse for all of us. I’m heartbroken. I can’t imagine another 4 years….(which we understand will morph into another 24 years….)
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Some days it’s like waking up in 1956 in the most racist neighborhood in the Southeast with an unpredictable and violently abusive mother enabled by idiots who treat children as property.
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Oh. Yeah. Now that pretty much sums it up. And I’m not even one of the vulnerable populations. But I’m horrified by the depravity that has been unleashed.
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Depravity is the right word, and horrified is the right reaction to it.
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What a gorgeous trail! Your pictures make me want to join in your next hike. Getting out and about – safely – is so important. I’m glad you are your girlfriend were able to enjoy nature in its springtime beauty.
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Indeed, I’m fortunate to have a sympatico friend who hauls me out there even when I think I can’t do it.
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Stunning pictures!
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed them. I enjoyed being there and taking the pictures helps me see the beauty and remember where I’ve been.
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Linda, I love the trails, bridges and beauty. We are hiking today, but it will not be as majestic as this. Yet, we will have fun picnicking and hiking. Take care, Keith
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May your trails provide the same lovely soul cleansing that my trails provide. Majestic isn’t everything. Sometimes it’s just the fresh air and the sounds of birds and water and wind in the branches.
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Absolutely beautiful. If this can’t clear your head of the effects of the coronavirus, nothing will. I find that even little bits of exposure to nature can clear the head. Just sitting on my back deck, looking at the tree line on the other side of the creek in the back of my house does wonders for my attitude. You live in beautiful part of the country, give us more of this. Thanks.
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I’m glad you enjoyed my little adventure. You are right about any time spent out of doors being a good thing. Even when I’m not galivanting in Idaho’s beautiful back country, I enjoy spending time on my porch or in my back yard. It nourishes the soul.
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You live the life! Happy for you!!
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Thanks, Karen. I am a very fortunate person.
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I am going out with friends to enjoy a trail tomorrow, and bird-watched in a park yesterday. I have twice the appreciation for nature since the virus first forced us into lock-down. Your photos are lovely.
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Thanks, Jane. I think many of us experience heightened pleasure at getting out after the lock down. It’s sad to think this, but perhaps this global event was something humanity needed.
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Some will change, and some won’t.
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Yes. The burning question is which things will and which won’t….
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So much to see! Thank you for all the lovely photos!
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My pleasure Alli!
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Thank you, Linda, for taking us with you – glad there were no nasties to fend off! That’s a beautiful part of this earth.
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My pleasure, Catherine. I think there are beautiful places all over this magnificent planet. It’s just knowing where they are, how to get to them, and having/making the time to get to them. Sometimes, they’re right under our noses.
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Such beautiful flowers…
I have lupine and columbine blooming in my front garden…
The tiny lavender flowers look like violets…
What a blessed way to renew and recharge!
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Yes, those little flowers looked much like the violets in my flower pots. But I’m not sure if that’s what they are–maybe a mountain version of the same? I’m horrible with botany. My neighbor down the street had an amazing display of lupines early this month. They don’t last long here in town. It’s too hot and dry. That’s why it’s so fun to migrate to the high country as the weather warms, to see the cascading series of blooming plants.
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Such a gorgeous landscape. Looks very much like eastern Washington. And it looks like you had a fantastic trip, judging by the photos.
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wow, this landscape is gorgeous!! I just started a new blog https://simplywritten1.wordpress.com
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Thank you. Good luck on your new “online blog.” 😉
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