Road Trip! Leg One: Boise to Riggins

I stopped along the river for a little bit to undrowsy myself.

The trip from Boise to Riggins is not very far, a bit over three hours. I planned my trip this way for two reasons. One, I didn't want to have a long day of driving on the first day. Inevitably, things get delayed in the morning and I have to tie up loose ends, so I knew that I would not be likely to leave first thing in the morning. I didn't want to hit the road late and then have a really long drive. I wanted to hit Missoula on my road trip, and even though it wasn't really on the route, it only added 3 hours of time to the trip. Riggins was a perfect stop in between. My second big reason for wanting to stop over in Riggins was for the chance to catch up with my friends Jim and Jane.

The amazing duo!

Jim and Jane are some of my favorite people in the Idaho ultrarunning community. I first met them at the Weiser River 50k where Jim and Jane worked an aid station and Jim made fun of my then-boyfriend for the fact that I was carrying the hydration pack for both of us. They are always good for a cool story about living in the mountains or running ultras and for offering delicious snacks that usually come right from their yard.


I was planning on camping in Riggins, but Jim told me that there were a bunch of drunk fishermen down by the river for the salmon running and that I should stay in their camper. I also asked Jim if he would be interested in taking me up to see the Seven Devils, since I had never been up there before.


I left Boise around 11am, and of course remembered about ten things that I meant to bring with me as soon as I was on the road for ten minutes. Oh well! I tried to pack minimally, but I am sure that I overpacked some. Still, mostly everything I had fit in the trunk, which left plenty of room for me and the dogs. We had an uneventful (but always beautiful) drive up to Riggins. Highway 55, for you non-Idahoan folks, is the route that you take from Boise to McCall, which gets you mostly to Riggins. It winds alongside the river through much of the drive. All trips up that direction have always been wonderful, so the drive feels sort of nostalgic for me every time.

June snow still blocking the road.

Arriving in Riggins, we got the dogs acquainted and hopped into the truck to head up to the Devils. Something that astounds me about this particular landmark is that you are able to climb so quickly in elevation. Riggins sits at about 1800ft, but the highest point on the Seven Devils peaks out at about 9300ft. With a car ride of less than fifteen miles up dirt mountain roads, you can be up to the mountains.

Seven Devils

We drove up, avoiding the cows and calfs that were congregating in the way, and parked the car at the snow line. We walked out for several miles to soak up some amazing views of both the Devils and surrounding mountain ranges.

Snow!

Jim and Jane were able to name all of the peaks visible on the horizon, and there were mountains in all directions. The Devils were super beautiful, of course, and Jim informed me that there is a trail that circumnavigates the peaks that is a bit under 30 miles. I have good intentions of returning (hopefully at the end of the summer) to run that trail and get a bit more up close and personal with those mountains.


I had to stop a few times to just look around and enjoy the beauty of the mountains. I often am asked by people back East if I find myself missing the ocean since I moved to Idaho. Surprisingly, I don't. For me, I love the ocean because it offers the opportunity to experience the great expanse of something- something bigger than me and bigger than all that humans can create around me. The mountains offer a very similar feeling, and I often find myself needing to just stop and absorb that beauty- that expanse. It's a different kind of ocean.

Mountain ocean.

We shuttled back down the mountain in Jim's truck, and Jim and Jane told me stories of the mountain lions, wolves, and bears that they have encountered on their runs up and down the dirt road. Jane fed us a delicious soup with vegetables from the garden and we ate strawberries for dessert. Even the dogs made out really well for food; Jane fed them some of her homemade dog biscuits. We bunked down for the night in their camper, and it was nice to have made it through the first day on the road. Actually, the first day made it hard to leave Idaho when I thought about the fact that I could spend my summer on these excursions! I felt lucky to be so welcomed by Jim and Jane.

"Oh, would you like to sleep here?"

The dogs and I got up in the morning and mostly got ourselves ready to hit the road again. Gracie pulled a Houdini maneuver under the chain-link fence that allowed her to go on a deer-chasing mission across the hills. Jim and I hopped on the four-wheeler in our pajamas to go search for her, but she returned back to the house where Jane rounded her up and came to find us. Jane made us a wonderful breakfast (breakfast smoothie and vegan pancakes from Scott Jurek's book), and with a full belly and a happy heart, I hit the road again.

Next leg: Riggins to Missoula!