I’ve already got my big trips planned for next summer. Ambrose and I will be going back to the Olympic National Forest for one more go at the Wild Coast. We just love that trip so much, and now that Ambrose has lost so much weight, it will be like an entirely different trip. I’m looking forward to another nine days trekking along the ocean.
The other really big trip will be another section of the Idaho Centennial Trail. I’ll be doing a day hike to finish the section that will take me through Lynx Meadows, and then I’ll be backpacking from Warm Springs Bar up to the Moose Meadows Guard Station. From there, I’ll meet up with Ambrose and Bill, and we’ll all hike out together along the Selway River. That should be 5 to 6 days, depending on how fast I go through the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I’ve heard mixed things about the state of the trails I’ll be taking, so I’m planning on no more than 10 miles per day. I hope I can do the 30 miles in 3 days, but I’ll carry food as if it will take 4 days. Ambrose will be carrying more food for me for the hike out.
And there’s one more trip now in the planning stages. I have invited one of my nieces (the eldest) to come out from Illinois to go on a backpacking and camping trip. It will be a long weekend. I’ll pick her up from the airport and start driving out to the campsite. Most likely, the first night will be somewhere between Featherville and the Big Smokey Campground. The second night will be an overnight backpack out to Skillern Hot Springs. And then one more night at the Big Smokey before heading back to my apartment so she can shower before flying home.
I hope that the Skillern trip is an adventure for her. I know that I loved it as my first backpacking trip, and I’ve brought one other person out for a good first trip. But with teenagers, who knows, right? Still, I’m looking forward to spending some time with her one on one, in a place that I know well and where I feel comfortable.
Of course, Ambrose and I will go out over Memorial Day weekend for our annual trip. I hope we have better luck with morels this year. And there will doubtless be some training hikes and/or overnighters out to 6125. Can you tell I can’t wait for it to be backpacking season again?