Boise River
Sandy and Abby hiking along the Boise River greenbelt
After our hike up Shafer Butte, it looked like Abby had completely recovered from her knee surgery. Since the weather was good I wanted to get out with Abby again and Sandy wanted to join us. Two days later we decided to do a walk close to home just to get out. I had found that there was a trail along the Boise River between Eagle Road and Glenwood that would be a little different than our usual walk in the park in our neighborhood. We drove to the Glenwood end where there was a small parking area on the west of the road on the north side of the river. Unfortunately it was full, even though it was early in the mornning and it was a weekday. I guess you need to get a really early start to get a parking spot there. We had to adopt Plan B, which was to cross the highway and park in the large lot on the south side of the river near the Idaho State Fairgrounds. From there, a paved greenbelt path followed the south side of the river heading east.
A lab has to get in the water
It started out with the river on our left and a huge campground linked to the Fairgrounds. Even though the fair was two months away, the campground was full of big trailers and RV's. Although it was pretty by the river, I couldn't see spending weeks there with other campers only fifteen feet away. I guess I'm just not much of a camper/RV'er.
Once we passed the campground we were away from people. There were woods on both sides and there weren't any roads nearby. We were right in the middle of Garden City but it seemed far away. We walked about two miles along the river before turning around. It was quite pretty. At one point a bridge crossed over to the north bank and the path went along the back of really nice subdivision. Although it was pretty, I'm not sure I would want an expensive house right next to the river. I have seen the river get pretty high some years.
Of course a lab can't walk next to the water without getting in the water. There were a couple of spots where we could get right to the river bank and the water was shallow. I would go right to the edge of the water and let Abby wade out into the river. I made sure that it was on flat ground and that I had good balance. I did not want her to get excited and lunge out and pull me into the water!
It was a nice excursion. Close to home but very pretty. A good change from our daily walks in the neighborhood.
