Sublime

As mentioned in my previous post, Walter and I headed back up to Farragut State Park on Friday afternoon. The campground we thought we were going to be in was closed but the Snowberry Campground was open. There are really only two good tent sites there and we got one of them. Unfortunately we had to pay the hook-up price. Had I known this, I would have brought an extension cord, space heater, and a reading lamp. Oh well.

The weather was absolutely wonderful, about 70 degrees during the day and probably mid 30's at night. We slept in the back of the Blazer and that was comfy and warm. I stayed up reading until around 2 in the morning. I covered a whole new Smithsonian magazine and started in again on the latest Harry Potter book. Yeah, I have already read it three times but when you are a Potterholic these things happen. I wore out the batteries in my head lamp, then used the dome light of the Blazer for a bit then turned it off after an hour so I would not run the battery down. I was lying there in the dark feeling bummed out about not being able to read until I realized my cell phone has a flashlight on the end. It was perfect.

Of course I ended up sleeping until 10:00 the next morning but that was just fine. We buggered out of the camping spot at 1:00 and went for a hike on the Shoreline trail and the Ridgetop trail. The Ridgetop trail goes up to the top of the mountain across from the bay. It was a nice hike with lots of fall colors. The last half to three quarters of a mile is sort of tough; very steep with lots of rocks to scramble over, which is sometimes difficult for those of us with short legs. But, we made it to the top overlook and then walked about another 20 minutes along the ridge. It was incredibly beautiful up there, with views of the lake, towards the Rathdrum Prarie, and towards Sandpoint. After our hike back down (there were several spots I had to slide down on my butt) we sat on the lake shore and watched some loons for a while, then headed back to the car and drove to a picnic area across from Bernard Peak. Often times you can see mountain goats on the slopes across the bay but I could not see any. I believe the Ridgetop trail ends up on Bernard Peak and there are spots to look down and view the mountain goats, or at least that is what I think I heard somewhere.

It was with a light though reluctant heart that we left. The weather was so beautiful that I wanted to stay another night but had a dog-sitting conflict for the night. I would like to do some winter camping this year, but I find the older I get the more I want to stay warm. I was also laughing at myself because I realized also that the older I get the thicker my sleeping mat tends to be. I have finally upgraded to a 2" Thermarest for car camping. I remember the days when my friends and I would go camping with our sleeping bags and a sheet of plastic! We would only take food that we could cook on sticks or right in the can! Ah, youth.

Photos from top to bottom: Walter in his cute sweater; our campsite; the nest in the back of the Blazer; a tiny island in the lake; the view from half way up; one big ass rock that we eventually ended up on top of; looking down.