Taking my sweetheart for a spin in the mountains

What my sweetheart Julie wants, she gets.

What she doesn’t want, she just says, “No.”

We’re not talking about fancy clothes or jewelry. I’d say, “Hey sweetie pie,” I was hoping the extra sugar would encourage her to jump on board with my idea. “Would you like to go cross-country skiing up at Kelly Canyon?”

“Nope,” she replied. “I’m waiting for some new snow.”

So lately, I’ve been going without her. She did have a point. While there has been plenty of snow in the backcountry to ski on, it has been hard and icy lately. That is until the most recent storm that passed through last Sunday and dropped about 3 to 4 inches of new white stuff.

So, I approached her again on President’s Day with the sweetest, most pleasant voice I could muster. (Since it’s out of my usual character, it kind of strained a vocal cord.)

“Hey sweet Julie, you want to go cross-country skiing up at Kelly’s?”

“How much new snow did they get?”

“I think about 3 or 4 inches.”

“OK.”

YIPPEE!

I dropped her off at the skier drop-off near the resort lodge, parked in the lower lot where the snowshoers and cross-country skiers park, and hiked up with her to the last ski lift.

From there, we skied up to the Y Junction and on to the Morgan Summit warming hut. With a fresh topping of powdery snow on top of a hard-packed base of almost 2 feet, the skiing was fast and pleasant.

At the warming hut, we paused for a snack and fired up the wood stove in case someone else was following behind us.

From the warming hut, we followed the marked route to the Pine Loop Trail. The route had been groomed and skied in the past but was now covered over with fresh snow. In some places where the wind had blown the snow around, the groomed path was only a memory. Not to worry, there are blue diamonds on the trees to mark the way.

After a few initial ups and downs, the Pine Loop Trail is mostly easy skiing. The route takes you through a deep forest of fir and occasional pockets of aspen trees. From the Morgan Summit warming hut, the Pine Loop Trail covers a little under 2 miles. It’s about 2 miles from the ski lodge to the hut (all uphill), making for about 6 miles altogether there and back. A map can be found on the Idaho Falls Ski Club’s website and also in the local guidebook “Eastern Idaho Sweet Spots.”

We experienced super quiet while skiing the Pine Loop. It was fun guessing what critters made which tracks in the snow. One small rodent had its sad tale told in the snow. You could follow its tracks for 20 or 30 yards, then the tracks abruptly stopped where a set of wing marks were made in the snow, left no doubt by a raptor descending from above. The bird of prey caught its breakfast.

We skied back to the warming hut, and then down the hill from Morgan Summit. Ours were the only tracks on the road except halfway down we came across fresh moose tracks trotting up ahead of us. The tracks weren’t there on the way up the hill. We could see where the moose must have heard us coming and left the road and continued up the hill and out of view. I imagined the giant standing off the road peeking behind a tree and spying on us as we skied by.

With each new snowstorm that passes by in the next few weeks, conditions should improve for cross-country skiing in the region.

Jerry Painter is a longtime East Idaho journalist and outdoorsman.

Getting fat on a winter hot springs ride

There are four main means of transportation people use to cover the 10 miles of snowy road to Granite Creek Hot Springs in the wintertime: snowmobile, sled dogs, cross-country skis and fat tire bike.

Last week, my friend Joe Hill and I chose fat bike.

Although we are both avid cyclists (Joe owns the Sled Shed ski and bike shop in Rexburg), neither of us owns a fat bike. So, we rented bikes for the day. Many bike shops in the area rent bikes. Joe picked up a pair from the Outdoor Resource Center at Brigham Young University-Idaho, and we met early in the morning in Ririe for our drive to the winter trailhead a few miles south of Hoback Junction, Wyoming.

I have been up this beautiful mountain canyon a few times in the summer, but this was my first winter visit. The road is left unplowed in the winter and open only to snow travel. From trailhead to hot springs is about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, but there are several ups and downs both directions. The views along the way are typically spectacular with mountains in the distance and a pretty stream at the bottom of the canyon. Many sections of stream were frozen over with nearly a foot of ice.

If you talk to most fat bike riders, one of the biggest worries is the condition of the snow on the planned route. The week prior to the ride, the temperatures were bitter cold, hovering between minus 10 and 15. But when we decided to ride, the temperatures climbed to 30-plus degrees. If the snow is too soft, tires sink in and wheels feel like they are riding through glue.

At the trailhead we found scores of snowmobiles lined up in a large parking area. Most were commercially guided machines to take clients to see the sights. Near the trailhead and up a hill is a large barn announcing sled dog tours for hire.

We parked and sat for a minute discussing what to wear and not wear on the ride. The truck thermometer said it was 35 degrees. I was worried the snow was going to soften up and make riding challenging.

We dressed like we were cross-country skiing with several layers. I started riding with a beanie on under my bike helmet and a buff over my face. There was a slight breeze that made things chilly.

As we started down the road, there was that initial thrill you get of starting off on an adventure. We found that riding on the outer edge of the road proved to have the most solid snow. In the middle, snowmobiles had churned up the surface, making fat tires sink in. I noticed that the sled dog teams also chose the edge of the road.

After about a half-mile, which included a steady uphill section, we stopped and peeled off a layer of clothing. I also took off my beanie and buff. Despite shedding layers, I could still feel my under layers getting damp with sweat.

“I can tell I haven’t been getting much riding in this winter,” Joe said as we ground up another hill. Add to that a new baby that doesn’t sleep through the night and his fitness was not where he would like it.

Riding a fat bike over snow is a novel experience. We putted along at about an average speed of 7 to 8 mph. We stopped about every 15 or 20 minutes to snap photos and eat snacks.

After about an hour and 20 minutes, we came to Granite Creek Falls. We stopped and walked down to the creek and took photos. A couple was sitting in a natural hot pool on the other side of the creek below the falls. Unfortunately, to use that hot spring, you must walk through the frosty water.

The developed hot springs are about another 10 minutes of riding up the road. Here, the Forest Service operates a pool with changing rooms and benches. There is a caretaker on-site to take your $8.

At first we were the only ones in the pool, then a group of people who arrived by sled dog joined us in the pool. One talkative woman said they were a group of Rhodes scholars doing a travel trip as part of their program. She listed off several other trips they had taken in the area: Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful, the National Elk Refuge, cross-country skiing in West Yellowstone, Mont., riding the gondola at Snow King Ski Resort and marching around downtown Jackson, Wyo.

The typical reaction to seeing a person enter the pool was first an expression of uncertainty that quickly turned to smiles and, “Oh, this is nice!”

After a bit more than 30 minutes in the pool, we dressed, walked past the curious sled dogs and began riding down the road. By this time (early afternoon) a few things had changed. The snow was a bit softer and our bikes were acting more squirrelly and a strong head wind also fought against us. We had one major thing in our favor — the way back was mostly downhill. It ended up taking only about an hour to return back.

After my first go at fat biking Granite Creek, this trip might make the annual regular winter trip list.

For more information about Granite Creek Hot Springs, go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=71639.

Jerry Painter is a longtime East Idaho journalist and outdoorsman.

Taking cross-country skis into adventure territory

It’s what happens when I’m let off the leash.

Last week, I did two solo trips — one near Kelly Canyon and the other at the South Valley Trails area south of Victor.

At Kelly Canyon, I began skiing up the road headed toward the Y Junction. About a quarter of a mile up the road, I came to a snowshoe trail called the Big Slot. I reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out my climbing skins. It was just the thing when there’s no one there to tell me “that’s a dumb thing to do.”

Climbing skins come in all widths and lengths, and I purchased these several years ago from Black Diamond for my skinny skis. What happens is it basically turns your cross-country skis into snowshoes (only generally better). Once when skiing up to the top of Kelly Mountain near the warming hut, I put a set on my daughter’s skis. Her comment was, “This feels like cheating.” She was used to going up hills with lots of zig-zags and extra effort. With climbing skins on, we both chugged our way up the hill in half the time.

Last week, I skied up the Big Slot gully over the snowshoe tracks. I removed the skins after arriving at the Buckskin-Morgan Ridge. From here, I followed ski tracks along the ridge and down to the Morgan Summit and the upper warming hut that is there. If you’ve never tried these trails, they are worth doing. It may help you to bring along a map so you won’t get lost. There is a map of the trails in the local guidebook, “Eastern Idaho Sweet Spots.”

After a snack in the hut, I skied to the Hidden Vista Overlook and on to the Hawley Gulch Overlook. These trails offer an extra loop with some nice scenery. From Morgan Summit, I returned back to the parking lot via the road down.

My second adventure was a solo trip up the little canyon off the regular groomed trails at the South Valley Trails area.

This area features cross-country trails, fat bike trails, snowshoe trails and sledding hills. The parking lot is near the Mike Harris Campground. One of the loop trails goes through the Mike Harris Campground.

I headed up the groomed trail on the road from the parking area, then turned off on a self-groomed trail (not on the trailhead map) heading up a canyon and following a small stream.

The route turned out to be adventures in stream crossings with the previous skier bravely finding snow bridges across the stream. I liked the texture of the snow on this non-groomed, unpacked trail. Most of the time the stream was no wider than a yard or so and 6 inches deep, but I still didn’t want to make a splat in the running water. I guessed I was following an alpine-touring skier heading up into the hills looking for turns. The skier was obviously using climbing skins, but I stubbornly decided to make a go of it on my waxless skis. There were a few times when the going got steep, and I had to resort to side-stepping.

I only managed to sneak up into the canyon about a mile or two before it was either put on the skins or turn around. The way had narrowed to the point that sidestepping was not going to be an option. I opted to turn around.

The return trip was a zoomer, with a couple awesome crashes, due to unexpected dips or branches reaching out and grabbing me.

As I neared the junction with the groomed trails, I met a couple coming up the trail who asked about the way ahead.

“Adventures in stream crossings,” I said.

The woman was ready to turn around, but the guy she was with persuaded her to keep going “at least until it gets dicey,” he said.

Personally, I enjoyed the adventure of skiing through the deep forest on a self-groomed trail and wondering if the snow bridges were going to hold my weight over the stream below. I figured it wasn’t a life-and-death situation. At worst, I’d get a bit wet and probably embarrassed when I met other skiers. Being embarrassed is not a new thing for me.

Jerry Painter is a longtime East Idaho journalist and outdoorsman.

Going for the pretty stuff along the Buffalo River

For my sweetheart, this is a must-do trail every winter.

We showed up on a Tuesday and had the Buffalo River trail in the Island Park area all to ourselves.

Julie likes the trail “because it’s pretty.” That seems to be a thing for the ladies. I will admit, with the sun shining, the bluish river flowing and the thick, snowy woods, the trail is a beaut. It’s also flat. That makes it a great trail for a group of mixed levels of experience.

The trail begins just out of the parking lot of the Island Park Forest Service Ranger Station just south of Pond’s Lodge. The access couldn’t be easier.

The trail is a “Park ’N Ski” trail, meaning that skiers/snowshoers are asked to purchase and place a Park ’N Ski sticker on their windshield for the winter season. The money goes to pay for the cost of grooming the region’s ski trails. Three-day permits can be purchased for $7.50 and annual permits can be purchased for $25. Find the permits online at the Idaho Parks and Recreation website.

The 2-mile trail makes a big loop just south of the Buffalo River on the east side of Highway 20. If you’re looking for some more mileage after doing this trail, drive a quarter of a mile north to Pond’s Lodge and park just south of the lodge’s parking lot at the Moose ski trails. This trailhead connects into a series of trails continuing along the Buffalo River and over to the Island Park Reservoir dam area with options to do several miles of varied terrain.

The Buffalo River trail is set up as a self-guided nature trail with occasional factoid signs along the way talking about the geology, local animals, waterfowl, fish, etc. We found that we usually had to scrape the snow off the signs in order to read them. A long section of the trail parallels the river. We were hoping to see some water birds in the river, but the only birds we saw were off in the distance downstream west of the Highway 20 bridge.

The Buffalo River is a shallow river a few miles long that flows in a southwesterly direction and connects with the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River just south of Island Park Reservoir. This mellow river attracts anglers hunting brook trout and canoes looking for a mellow place to paddle during milder weather months.

We did see a few moose tracks in the snow, but it was a day for all the critters to be somewhere else.

Yellowstone National Park has updated its backcountry reservation system to allow people to do it all online.

Beginning this spring, visitors will be able to make advance online reservations for backcountry permits at www.recreation.gov.

The park said moving to an online system allows backcountry users to check availability in real time and receive instant confirmation when reserving a trip.

Starting March 1 through March 20, the system will offer a lottery system for backcountry permits.

From April 1 to April 24, people will be able to reserve single reservations online.

Starting April 26, people can reserve additional reservations.

After April 26, the remaining permits will be available for reservation on www.recreation.gov.

Walk-up permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis up to 48 hours in advance. Walk-up permits cannot be reserved online. Fees apply for all backcountry sites.

“Early access lottery and general permits will account for approximately 75 percent of permits issued for the season,” Yellowstone National Park said in a news release. “The remaining permits will be available as walk-up permits.”

So it sounds like if you want to get that prized backcountry campsite for this coming summer, you’d better get online this spring.

Yellowstone offers more than 1,000 miles of trails and 293 designated backcountry campsites, the park said. Permits are required for all overnight stays in the park’s backcountry.

Jerry Painter is a longtime East Idaho journalist and outdoorsman.

Kelly Canyon backcountry is full of ancient memories

I’m blaming a major bout of sentimentality on the fact that it was the middle of the week and I was the only one for miles around in the Kelly Canyon area.

Once I cross-country skied past the resort, I had the place to myself. The only sound was the swishing of my skis and a bit of puffing as I skied up to the Morgan Summit warming hut. All that quiet got me thinking of past winter visits to the area, back before all my kids had moved away and my dog was still alive.

I paused at the warming hut long enough to fire up the woodstove and chew on a Christmas Clif bar, a gift from a daughter.

I sat in silence and remembered talking my dog into an overnighter skiing up there years ago (before all the “no dogs allowed” signs) “to test out a new tent in the snow.” My dog Sunny was game for any outdoor activity no matter how flimsy the excuse was to get us out there. We slept about 50 yards from the warming hut, but in the morning cooked our breakfast inside the hut. I couldn’t resist the table and chairs inside. About the time we finished with breakfast, I heard voices nearby and suddenly the hut was invaded by half a dozen college students “checking out the trails” early in the morning. They came from places all around the West and even Texas, where snow was a new experience to them. Sunny was happy with all his new friends.

After my Clif bar was gone, I decided to go the distance and started skiing down the Pine Loop trail and then on down the Hawley Gulch Trail (about another 4-mile loop). The Hawley Gulch trail turned into an adventure when I had to do some route-finding. There were no previous tracks to follow, and snowmobilers had attacked the area leaving 2-foot-deep ruts to avoid. The route is marked with blue diamonds on trees, but they always seem hard to find at critical junctures. Fortunately, I’ve done the route several times and never felt too lost.

The snow last week was nearly ideal for backcountry cross-country skiing.

Where the trail connects with Hawley Gulch there is a large slope that flows down to a small footbridge. As I looked up the slope, the memory came rushing into my mind of my oldest son deliberately bombing down the hill on cross-country skis at Mach speed. He did a complete somersault disappearing into a soft spot. He slowly rose from the snow, dazed, moaning with a bloodied face. It’s always later that you think of the foolishness of it when we still had an hour of skiing to return to cell service.

Farther down the trail last week, I popped out on the road next to a sign that says Poison Flat. As I skied up the road, I passed the spot where years ago I paused during a ski trip with Sunny. “Sunny look up, turkeys.” A flock of 11 turkeys hurried across the road and up into the woods maybe 30 yards in front of us. Sunny never looked up. He had his nose buried in the snow sniffing turkey tracks, as if to say, “Dude, check out these amazing smells of all these turkeys.” I relished the sights, Sunny relished the smells.

Where the road reconnects with the Y Junction, I finally heard other humans during last week’s ski. Two women skied up the road and past me on their way toward the lower warming hut on the logging road. They nodded as they passed, one woman chattering non-stop.

By the time I had zoomed back down the road to the ski resort, cars were starting to arrive for day skiing. My stomach was telling me it was time to get home for lunch.

Next time I plan to bring along some pals to adventure with to avoid slipping down into that deep hole of sentimentality.

Jerry Painter is a longtime East Idaho journalist and outdoorsman.