Boise Riverwalk
A sunny winter day along the Boise River
After my trip to Moab, I was psyched to do more hiking. I couldn't travel anywhere for a while since Sandy was back in the midwest visiting family. There was still a fair amount of snow and ice on the ground in the foothills so those local trails weren't a good option. The weather was really good here in the valley in February - sunny with temperatures in the high forties, pushing fifty degrees. I decided to take Abby for a long walk on the Greenbelt.
I've explored the Greenbelt from Veteran's Park going east quite a bit. It's a very nice area to walk, with lots of trees and parkland along the river. Where it is built up, the houses, apartments and the few businesses (Luciano's Italian Restaurant is one) are designed to blend into the riverside environment. Sandy and Abby and I also did a walk last July starting at Glenwood Street and heading east.
One stretch of the river that I had never explored was west from Glenwood. There is no through street that crosses the river from Glenwood all the way to Eagle Road, which is almost five miles. Google maps showed a path going all the way. Abby and I set out one day in February when the weather was nice to check it out.
Abby really wants to go in for a swim
There is a small parking area just west of Glenwood. Even though it was the weekend, there were only a few cars there at noon on a Sunday. I guess most people were still at church. Google maps showed a pedestrian bridge about a mile to the west. As a minimum I figured it would be a good hike to walk to the bridge, cross there and loop back on the other side of the river. If we felt good, we could keep going instead and see how far we got.
The first section was signed as a "Nature Trail". It was pedestrians only. Although I have nothing aganist bikes, it can be unnerving when a bike zooms by you from behind at high speed. It's especially worrisome with Abby. She tends to change directions suddenly and lunge for whatever gets here interest. On a pedestrian only path I don't have to be quite as alert and I can relax more and just enjoy the walk. It was a nice, wide path - dirt but packed solid. Even though it was wet it wasn't squishy mud so it didn't get all over my shoes. Somehow Abby still managed to get muddy. I don't know how she did it. It's a real talent that she has.
Abby wanted to join the fishermen in the river
We were doing fine when we reached the bridge so we kept on going. We crossed over to the other side where I knew from the map the trail went all the way to Eagle Road. This side was paved so we did see some bike traffic. It had been cool starting out, but now we were out of the trees and in the sun and it felt warm. I had my pack along so I started to shed layers. I did the rest of the hike with just a shell jacket and a baseball cap. It was nice weather for February.
Not long after crossing the bridge we left Garden City entered Boise where the character of the hike changed. Instead of a nature walk it was like an industrial park. First we walked behind the Sunroc gravel pit and cement factory. Next was the Boise sewage processing plant. Not real scenic but at least it didn't smell. That was a little surprising. It was easy walking though and at least we did have the river and woods on one side, which was better than nothing.
A little bit of white water along the river
Eventually we reached the Eagle city limits. The path changed to dirt again and now it was prettier. To the south was a pricy subdivision. There was nice landscaping and lots of scenic ponds. Some of the houses along this stretch were quite impressive. One that was on a large pond/lake even had installed an artificial beach in their back yard. Not exactly like living on a tropical island but still quite unique. We were seeing more people too. They probably lived in the subdivision. Sometimes we saw fisherman out in the river in waders. Every time we saw one Abby wanted to go swimming and join them. She didn't understand why they could go in the river and she couldn't. I wasn't about to let her get THAT wet and muddy though.
We were going strong and made it all the way to Eagle Road. A loop trip wasn't really an option because we were at about the widest point of Eagle Island. It would have been a good half mile along Eagle Road (not a pleasant walk with all that traffic) to get to the other side of the northern channel of the river. We turned around and headed back on the same trail.
It seemed like to be faster heading back. Maybe we were moving faster or maybe we just recongnized the landmarks as we passed them. There seemed to be quite a few more people on the trail on the way back too. It was a nice day and a lot of people came out to walk. There were lone walkers, families with kids, and people with dogs, runners, and bike riders. Once we reached the end of the subdivisions and started through the "industrial" area it thinned out. That section seemed to go fast too and soon we were back to the bridge.
Patrolling the river's edge
At the bridge we stayed on the south side of the river instead of crossing back the way that we had come. That made for some variety. While we were walking a lady caught up with us. She was walking a little faster than us, especially when Abby would stop for sniffs. She said that as she followed us she had wondered what kind of dog Abby was. I answered Labrador Retriever. Turns out she had a lab mix which had died recently, so we walked along for a few minutes talking about labs. Eventually though she picked up speed and started to pull a few steps ahead.
Just about that time a man came walking the other direction, holding a bouquet of flowers (it was the day before Valentine's Day). After he passed the lady he made a face at me, pointed at the flowers and then the lady just ahead of us and winked. I think he was advising me to make sure to get flowers for "my wife". Dude. Sandy was out of town and we had already celebrated Valentine's Day before she left. I don't miss those things! That's a noob mistake and I'm an old married guy.
Appreciating the scenery along the river
We reached Glenwood and followed the road over the bridge. We were back at the car with an elapsed time of three hours. Not bad since it was probably eight miles or more. A nice walk on a beautiful winter day.
When we got home I needed to usher Abby straight into the laundry room. She was good while I cleaned her up. Some dog treats helped. Then after she had her dinner she went up to the guest room to lie down in the sun and take a nap. I thought sounded pretty good too. I guess it had been a good work out for both of us.
