From Hood River we started making our way east and landed in Boise where we have a few friends and it seemed like a good time to be in a city. It’s weird how city life rejuvenated us a little when getting into nature usually does. But I guess after so much nature and hiking, it was nice to get a little routine going again. And an added bonus.. there was a Trader Joes! Needless to say, I bought a lot of snacks.
There’s a really nice Greenbelt that runs through town along the river, I was ready for some flat, easy runs and this was perfect! I was really happy to have found an easy running route that I could make as long or short as I wanted and had pleasant views. Being so transient, sometimes it’s hard to find those little things like a nice running route, that make your stay that much more enjoyable. I took advantage of this path as much as I could. It was also fun to bike or walk along to check out different breweries and wineries.
We were planning on another bikepack trip with Eric and Jenni (who live), so to prepare we did a little ride around the ski area at Bogus Basin. It was a really fun, flowy, trail but there was a lot of loose dirt. I inhaled so much that my throat was dry for a few days. Although it was nice that the temps were a little cooler and we got some cool views of town and beyond.
The bikepack loop is the Thunder in Paradise which takes you to a few hot springs in Boise National Forest, about 1.5 hrs outside of Boise. It normally takes 3 days for the full loop but since Jenni had to get back early for work, we decided to do an out-and-back section of 24 miles to Atlanta hot springs. We didn’t really think about it being Labor Day weekend and the fact that everyone and their mom would be out and about, so we had a little bit of a shock when we kept getting dusted out by the numerous ATV’s and trucks driving past us on the dirt roads. Nothing was particularly difficult about the ride except for it being a steady enough uphill for about 18 straight miles. About 4000 feet up actually. That coupled with a lot of sun, a lot of vehicles and a lot of dirt in our faces made for a less than highly enjoyable ride. For a good portion of the ride we were along the river where we dunked our helmets, buffs and shirts in to cool off. And thankfully there was a small river because we needed a lot of water with that heat!
We finally made it down the steep few miles a descent and found a campsite in a quiet campground right along the river. We were all pretty beat by this point and the hot springs were another 2 miles or so away, so we decided to save those for the morning. We camped just outside of the tiny, old town of Atlanta (I think the population is 19 people) but they had their 1 restaurant open and obliged to sell Tom some beers to-go. Boy, we were happy to have these!
The next morning we packed up and bike over to the hot springs. A big group was already set up at the more pleasant of the two and the other hot spring left little to be desired. So feeling a little over the whole thing, we decided to make our way up with steep 4000′ ascent back over the pass. As Tom and I started making our way up the steep part, a truck passed us and didn’t hesitate to give us a ride to the top! They were already giving another one from our crew a lift so it was no problem tossing our bikes in the back. Although when we came upon Eric and Jenni (they were a bit ahead of us) there wasn’t a whole lot of room left for them, so we grabbed their bags off their bikes to make it easier and they trudged on.
Thankfully the 4000′ we biked up the day before was as glorious on the way down as we had all hoped. We grabbed some ice cream sandwiches in the little town and since we were all pretty over the mass amounts of people we headed back to Boise. Where it seemed like there were fewer people (probably because they were all out for the long weekend).
The next day was Monday and we found ourselves at “The Wave” which is long the Greenbelt in town and switches between a wave for kayaking or surfing. Today it was set up for surfing so Eric showed Tom and ropes and after some trail and error, he stood up on the board! I knew surfing would require more effort than I was willing to put in, so I stayed on shore and made friends with all the dogs.
Instead of leaving on a Friday (which is generally what we do for some type of weekend adventure) we were having so much fun being with friends, and our other friend Natalie was in Boise too! So we decided to stay through the weekend and soak up a little more city life. And good thing because we found out about the little bike park right in town! We spent the rest of the weekend biking all over Boise, checking out the Teneya Winery (which also happens to be near The Wave) and eating from Boise Bites food truck (a family friend’s food truck that is delicious!). We also did a few sessions at the bike park where I worked on my pump skills and tried to get a tiny big of air.
Boise Bite! 
getting a little air there
Boise, you did us good! We were questioning staying 1 more week because we had friends (which is a very nice thing to have being so transient) and there was plenty in and around town to keep us occupied. But we decided to leave on a high note.