View Full Version : hiking in Idaho?
Bear Cables
09-10-2008, 13:17
Does anyone know of any long trails in Idaho?
littlebill31
09-10-2008, 13:25
My Uncle went all around Idaho when he graduated Paul Smiths collage in the early '70s and about 5 years ago.I'll ask him and post later.
This summer, we day hiked on the Blodgett Canyon trail which runs from Montana to Idaho in the Bitterroot wilderness area.
http://www.wildernesstrip.com/Trips/default.asp?id=668&category=12
Gray Blazer
09-10-2008, 14:19
Make sure to hit some hot springs.
Feral Bill
09-10-2008, 21:46
I do not think there are any named, functional long distance trails in Idaho, but you could piece together a long trip in central Idaho from the large network of trails there. I believe a week or two of hot spring to hot spring hiking would be possible. Thinking about it, I should do that next summer!
I don't know it qualifies as "functional", but this one is on my mental radar:
http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/recreation/idahocentennialtrail.aspx
http://idahocentennialtrail.blogspot.com/
Brian Frankle of ULA fame is on it now:
http://www.ula-equipment.com/ICT/index.htm
Of course, there is the CDT that goes along the border between ID/MT. Very gorgeous!
MAP: http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=36&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=13984
PHOTOS of MT/ID border (to Yellowstone)
http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=36&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=13979&g2_page=4
fiddlehead
09-10-2008, 22:57
Idaho is one of AMerica's best kept secrets.
I know a few but won't tell you on a public forum.
(promises i have made and will keep)
Hint: read Lewis and Clark's journals.
Sawtooth National Wilderness...
Idaho is one of AMerica's best kept secrets.
I know a few but won't tell you on a public forum.
(promises i have made and will keep)
Hint: read Lewis and Clark's journals.
A bit bitter..don't you think? ;)
fiddlehead
09-11-2008, 01:57
A bit bitter..don't you think? ;)
Not bitter at all.
Just trying to fulfill a promise to someone who showed me one of the best hiking areas i've seen in the states.
Sorry, if i somehow offended someone.
Just trying to fulfill a promise to someone who showed me
.
The issue is to keep your word.
Not bitter at all.
Just trying to fulfill a promise to someone who showed me one of the best hiking areas i've seen in the states.
Sorry, if i somehow offended someone.
Oh..I was making a joke!
The BITTERROOT range is where L&C traveled ..
I wasn't implying you were bitter, just making a pun about the Bitter root range. :o
Again, I am sorry if I came across otherwise...
I am a big L&C buff, so I get too excited when I see L&C references from other people... :)
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot/heritage/landc/lewis_and_clark.htm
I plan to escape to the Frank Church Wilderness in the next year or three and get lost for a couple of weeks. I made this decision after talking to some folks from Idaho who know the area well.
Spirit Walker
09-12-2008, 11:29
The Idaho Centennial Trail has been section hiked but never thruhiked. We intended to do it this year, but Jim's foot and knee problems ended that hope. Working out the resupply issue is feasible but means combining alternate routes in order to deal with the large Wilderness areas. Water does need to be cached in the first section as there is only one certain water source in the first 100 miles. We still hope to do the trail someday. Idaho Public Television sells a program on the trail - very nice.
The CDT also runs along the Bitterroots between Montana and Idaho - I thought it was very nice hiking, especially in July when the flowers are in bloom.
Feral Bill
09-12-2008, 15:53
I looked up the Idaho Centennial Trail. It is mostly "multiple use", meaning open to motorcycles and such. Not altogether a hiking trail.
I looked up the Idaho Centennial Trail. It is mostly "multiple use", meaning open to motorcycles and such. Not altogether a hiking trail.
Which is why Brian Frankle is doing alternates. He plans on writing about these alternate routes. I can't wait!
The huge designated Wilderness Areas is of course free of any mechanized transportation. (OVER 300 miles in one stretch!!!!!!!..or one-third of the trail)
And from my own experience hiking the CDT, many of the "multiple use areas" are usually very rutted jeep roads that get little-to-no-traffic.
HEck, even in Colorado it is like that.
Combine the over 300 miles of designated wilderness, and the little used jeep roads, and I suspect it will be an awesome experience. As I said, I am curious to read about Brian Frankle's alt. routes, too.
Feral Bill
09-12-2008, 17:42
All right, you have me interested. It starts just a few miles from my summer place.
Spirit Walker
09-13-2008, 10:27
In several areas on the ICt there are two routes, the wilderness/hiker route and the non-wilderness/motorized route. They split for fairly long distances, i.e. in the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness. Mountain bikes use the motorized route. You still follow jeep tracks in places (i.e. the first 100 miles) but the roads probably aren't heavily used.