Rich in Africa: Idaho Part 2

Though backpacking is a recreational activity, it does involve a lot of work and preparation to do it well. We’ve been doing this almost every year for the last decade or so which makes it easier, but there are things that add a twist to the preparations. One is that the girls grow each year and we need to modify their gear accordingly. The other thing that has complicated the process from one year to the next has been tracking down our stuff. Given that we have a rental car each year that often doesn’t have sufficient space for all our backpacks and so forth, other members of my family have generously offered to help haul things. That can mean our stuff can end up in multiple locations. When we would prepare for the backpack trip, we would often not know what we had and what we didn’t. Now, with this storage in New Meadows, we hopefully have resolved this issue.

okay, so it's not the most interesting photo, but it's satisfying

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Deep Lake

This was our third trip to this particular lake. For a while I was trying to choose a different lake each year. It can make it complicated when you don’t know how difficult the access road is, what the potential campsites might be like, how busy it might be, etc. Given our competing priorities this year, we opted on the path of least resistance and go to a known destination.

I prepared the packs the day before so that we could get an early start. The easy access road makes it a no-brainer for a rental car. I look forward to the day when I will have a vehicle of my own in this part of the world but it doesn’t make sense at this point. For now, we make do with a modest rental vehicle.

ready to go

The trail is a relatively steep mile or so up to a ridge offering some nice views as you climb. As the trail crests, it levels out the blue of the lake eventually begins to appear through the trees. Because the girls know the trail well by now, they were off like jack rabbits, even with their heavier packs this year.

no brainer

Though we always open the invitation for other members of the family to join us, it’s often not realistic. It’s fun either way but this year it would be just the four of us.

While there are similarities from one year to the next, there are differences. Frequently there are forest fires in the region and that was the case this year. The amount of smoke in the air fluctuated throughout the two days but it never cleared completely.

the campsite

The weather is another variable. Last year we had a storm that came upon us the morning we were breaking camp. It ended up being less of a storm than we feared but you just never know. Moreover, you don’t have cell reception in order to get up-to-date weather information (as was the case back in the old days). On this trip, we ended up having quite a bit of rain, including heavy rain the first night. Thankfully, we had just bought a large trap and the prior evening, anticipating possible rain during the night, made it into a canopy using about a hundred miles of bungy cords and straps. Ended up working like a charm.

colder than it looks

Over the course of the two days, we spent our time relaxing, reading, swimming in the lake, etc. No matter what, camping involves hours of various projects (collecting wood, cooking, filtering water, etc.). It’s the sort of thing that I enjoy. I probably spent more time on that sort of thing than I do relaxing. It’s how I’m wired.

the campfire - no screens

Deep Lake in the evening sun

The smoke obscured the normally stunning night sky. We did have a nearly full moon, which was wonderful, but a crystal-clear sky with bright stars all the way to the horizon is something that most people rarely, if ever, see.

the buck stops here

Overall, it was a fantastic couple of days. I would be happy to stay much longer, but we had things to do. The morning we broke camp, two deer appeared through the trees. It seemed to be a couple stepping out for a Thursday morning breakfast by the lake. Deer are commonplace in some places but seeing them in the wild like this is special. We stopped and watched them probably longer than we should have since we needed to meet family at our storage in New Meadows at noon. Eventually we were packed up, said our farewells to our beloved lake, and began making our way down the mountain. Hard to say if we will return next year or try someplace new. We have a year to sort that out.

success!

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Community Garden

My brother volunteers at a community garden. These exist in various forms across the US and in other countries, though I’ve never had any experience with one. When he pitched the idea for us to come and volunteer for a morning, I honestly wasn’t sure how helpful we would be. I’m very familiar with farming and gardening, I haven’t really had a garden as an adult given that I have mostly lived in apartments. We had briefly had a garden in Bujumbura but it didn’t do well. Everything seemed to be eaten by bugs.

This would be a new experience for the girls. It’s one of those blind spots that we need to rectify. They’ve had a rich childhood in many ways, but working the land hasn’t been a part of it. We frequently discuss getting a place that has a yard but that would inevitably take us farther from their school. The horrendous Nairobi traffic has kept us where we are, at least for now.

It was a beautiful summer morning and we all jumped right in and started helping pick and wash vegetables. The objective is to have enough to display on picnic tables for people to buy. It provides the community with inexpensive and healthy food. Proceeds go to maintaining the garden, equipment, etc.