Back in the Hills

Early morning - climbing out of Five Mile Gulch

After my marathon hike in Yosemite National Park when I climbed Half Dome, I didn't do much hiking for a while. Shannon, Jimmy and our two grandkids came to visit us for a week in late June. In July we went to Stanley for my birthday and did get in two moderate hikes. But then I went to Consimworld Expo, my favorite wargaming convention, for over a week. In early August, Sandy was back in the midwest being a gramma. Abby is getting too old to do hard core hiking so I couldn't leave her for a whole day. So it was just neighborhood walks while Sandy was gone. Then when she came back, she had a cold, the flu, some nasty bug. Whatever it was, she was really sick for over a week. I didn't want to just take off and abandon her until she got better. Now it was already late August. Somehow two months had gone by without me doing much hiking. Summer was going by quickly. I decided that it was time to go outside and get back in the hills.

Looking back up to the ridge on the descent

I started with Five Mile Gulch in the Boise foothills. The standard hike there, a loop that takes the Five Mile Gulch Trail to the Watchman Trail to the Three Bears Trail, is my favorite in the foothills. I've done it several times. Abby and Sandy have both done it. It's six miles and about a thousand feet of elevation gain. A good workout. Sandy and I did it again this spring, back in May.

This time I wanted to do a longer loop, up Five Mile Gulch but instead of turning off on the Watchman Trail, following the Five Mile Gulch Trail another thousand feet up to a ridge crest. AllTrails showed another trail that I could take down to the end of the Watchman Trail, which I followed in the reverse direction back to the trailhead. It was listed as ten miles with over 2300 feet of elevation gain. I've wanted to try the bigger loop for a while and thought it would provide a good workout.

Boise and the Treasure Valley from Femrite's Patrol

August has been relatively mild but we still have highs in the nineties. That meant any hike required an early start. When I was unusually tired one evening and ended up going to bed at 8 pm, it meant that I was up at 5:30 am. This was my chance. I fed Abby, packed up my gear and was out of the house as soon as it started to get light. I was at the trailhead by a few minutes after seven. The temperature was a pleasant sixty degrees so I had the whole morning to hike before it would get too hot. And more good news - there was only one golf cart parked there. Last time, the small parking area was full and I barely got a spot along the road. It looked like I would have the trail to myself, at least for a while.

I only saw one person on the first segment through Five Mile Gulch, a runner coming down. The golf cart must have been his. Beyond the junction I was in new territory. The trail up to the ridge was good and I didn't see anyone at all. Best of all, I was in shade almost the entire time. Nice hiking but with limited views since I was in the gulch most of the way to the crest, and then was in the trees.

Not many people on the trail but lots of Mormon crickets

I only followed the forest road for about fifteen minutes. The turnoff for the trail I would take back down was well signed, but I wasn't pleased when I saw that it was the "8th Street Motorcycle Trail". It followed a ridge crest down to the Watchman Trail, which provided great views over Boise and the Treasure Valley. I was not excited about sharing a trail with motorcycles though. At one point, a mountain bike came zooming around a corner right behind me. I must have really jumped because the guy slowed down and apologized for startling me. A little later two motorcycles passed me going uphill. I saw (and definitely heard) them coming a long way off so I was able to find a good spot to get to the side. They are still noisy, smelly and obnoxious though. Fortunately, that was the only traffic I encountered on the segment coming down off the ridge.

It still sucked though. The motorcycles completely tore up the trail. It was steep with loose stones and dirt so that I was always just on the edge of slipping. Even the great view didn't make up for it. I was glad when I finally reached the Watchman Trail and could walk the last four miles back on familiar trail. I did have four mountain bikes pass going the other direction but they were polite. They all stopped so I could pass them rather than making me get off the trail, which is not always easy when the trail is traversing a steep hillside. That was it for traffic except for two hikers with a dog that I passed less than half a mile from the trailhead. I guess people avoid the foothill trails in the heat of the summer. I am used to a lot of traffic when I have hiked them in the spring.

The hidden cave in Five Mile Gulch

One interesting thing did happen near the end of the hike. Coming down Five Mile Gulch I noticed that the AllTrails map had a "Cave" marked right next to the trail. When I reached the spot there was a small grove of trees. Looking carefully, I noticed some shadows just off the trail. Sure enough, there was a dark opening hidden in the brush. It was half cave, half old structure, and not really much to see. But I was impressed that I had gone right by it so many times without realizing that it was there.

I was also surprised that there were wildflowers. In the spring there are lots, but I thought in the heat of the summer there wouldn't be any. I saw purple aster, gumweed (another aster), rabbitbrush and a couple of flowers I couldn't identify. I always enjoy seeing wildflowers on my hikes so this was a pleasant surprise.

The fauna was another story. There were quite a few Mormon crickets. Not enough to be annoying, but there were always some visible hanging on the sagebrush. A few were on the trail but they either jumped aside before I passed or ignored me and let me step over them. I was careful not to step ON them.

And that was it. A really nice hike except for the stretch on the motorcycle trail, but that was unpleasant enough that I will probably stick to the standard shorter route in the future. It was a good workout and I'm ready to tackle something else.