Sunday, April 24, 2005

5 Mile Creek

Today I took the mutts on a hike up 5 Mile Creek, as I do many weekends. It's a great hike in a little used section of the foothills here, and more days than not I don't see anyone else the whole time I'm out there. Today, with storm clouds rolling over the hilltops and the look of rain in the air, would be no different.

I set out with some fairly firm time limits, but I didn't have to pay attention to them, really. I ended up taking the trail farther than I ever had before, and I ended up all the way up on Boise Ridge Road, right at the junction with trail 4, Hull's Ridge Trail. A spot I'd never been to. It was fantastic having walked all the way there.

I made it to the top in just over an hour and a half, and after a short food rest break, was down in a little over an hour. Granted, I was moving at a good clip, but it's good to know a hike like that is possible without a huge time commitment.

Up at the top of the ridge, sheltered in the pine trees and looking over the other side into the Boise Mountains and on toward the Sawtooths, it's a whole different world than the lower foothills. And it's trips up to that area, like today, that I need to remind me of the fairly endless possibilities for hiking right out my back door.

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