Southern Idaho

[Adventure IQ]

This is an ongoing adventure I am staging into several weekends since I want to explore but still need to pay the bills....

.....the area extends from south west of boise idaho to east of mountain home....I am going without map in the full sense of exploration. This was the first full weekend of checking out all the trails. Will be posting videos later on http://adventureiq.com/ but will keep this thread well updated. If you like it there is a facebook page of the website....my kiddo checks it out all the time to see who "likes" her videos.

This has been a great daddy/daughter experience for both of us. She is all about the outdoors.

Will post up more pics as I explore this area....mmmm....maybe I should get a map of known dirt roads.....

http://adventureiq.com/

[HenryJ]

Go ahead and take a map. Be sure someone knows the planned route. SAR has been all too busy lately. The offroad conditions can go from bad to worse in a hurry this time of year. Something as simple as the frost going out can turn a passable road into an impassible gooey mess. This is a big country to go looking looking for a single vehicle. Air search has been hindered by the weather, mostly fog in the mornings.
Have a plan and be safe. It is lots more fun
Heck, time spent around the map planning the exploration is half the fun!

I'm just across the border and have spent lots of time in SW Idaho/Eastern Oregon. Improved roads with rock can be decent. We still have a month or so if the weather holds before offroad conditions get favorable for trails. Right now things are soft and lots of damage is done. Give it some time to firm up and the spring will bring some wonderful places to explore.

Pick up a Benchmark Maps Roads and Recreation Atlas. (Made in Oregon) They are very good for Oregon and Idaho.

See ya...out there.

[mjmcdowell]

Just sayin.... you should have eye and ear protection for your daughter (even tho she may have been just posing) start them right when they are young mjmcdowell

[Foy]

Go ahead and take a map.

Be sure someone knows the planned route. SAR has been all too busy lately. The offroad conditions can go from bad to worse in a hurry this time of year. Something as simple as the frost going out can turn a passable road into an impassible gooey mess. This is a big country to go looking looking for a single vehicle.

Have a plan and be safe. It is lots more fun

Heck, time spent around the map planning the exploration is half the fun!


Pick up a Benchmark Maps Roads and Recreation Atlas. (Made in Oregon) They are very good for Oregon and Idaho.

See ya...out there.

Hi PakRat,

You have the opportunity to teach your daughter how to handle herself in the outdoors, including how to not get herself lost, or worse. The Benchmarks for southern ID and NV are valuable tools which can save your, or her, very life. As was said above, spreading the maps out on the dining room table before the adventure is good family time, too, and by all means somebody back home should know what your general plans are and when you expect to be in cell phone range to let them know you're on the way home. Do a little googling using keywords "Chretien + Nevada" to read about the couple from Canada who got lost in southern ID/northeast NV just 11 months ago (they were south of Mountain Home, as a matter of fact). The wife barely survived and nobody has found the husband's body yet. "Death by GPS" happens all too often, as the elementary skills of map reading have been replaced by reliance on an instrument/machine. You can show your daughter a foolproof way to remain safe and in control of most of her destiny while afield, by remembering: "There is no COMPLETE SUBSTITUTE for having a good map, a compass, and the ability to use them".

Foy

[Adventure IQ]

Thanks for the inputscand I appreciate greatly. I guess i should clear a few things up so know one here thinks I am out as a maverick.

As far as area ....my wife knows the general areaI am in and my adventure buddy knows specifically the area I travel.. I understand all too well the death by gps and highly familiar with the story. I have been a survival instructor since 1988 and carry full kits with me. On board is my cb, ham radio, and aircraft radio pretuned to both the emergency freq as well as backcountry freq...obviosly used in extreme emergency only. Additionaly I carry a spot gps, signal kit, full emt kit with me. The days out with my kiddo were not the mapless days....those were days we were working predesignated trails we have familiarity with....my solo days were the mapless days. Highly proficient with land navigation as I was the primary land nav instructor at Ft Dix back in the 90s and taught some of the first GPS classes as an advisor to the Royal Saudi Airforce during Desert Shield.

I recognize the risk associated with solo travel as well as mapless travel on this trek and take measures to minimize those risk so I do not wind up in a situation that would endanger fellow rescuers. Part of this is by not going crosscountry of off established by ways, watching the weather, and not exceeding my skills or the abilitie of the vehicle.

Again I appreciate the views and not trying to justify my trip....merly pointing out that this was not an short conceived idea but rather a well thought out action.

[Adventure IQ]

...and of course I should add....I am searching for detailed maps of the area and will check out the references above. I do like the idea of sitting down with the kiddo and a map....

[Adventure IQ]

Pick up a Benchmark Maps Roads and Recreation Atlas. (Made in Oregon) They are very good for Oregon and Idaho.

See ya...out there.

http://www.amazon.com/Idaho-Road-Rec.../dp/0929591062. This one?

[Foy]

http://www.amazon.com/Idaho-Road-Rec.../dp/0929591062. This one?

PakRatt,

Roger the Idaho Benchmark, as linked. That's the one, alright. I'd go ahead and snag a NV Benchmark, as well. Never can tell when you'll want to head "South of the Border". I used each in July 2011, and they're both excellent planning and operations tools and worth the price paid.

Have fun!

Foy

[HenryJ]

http://www.amazon.com/Idaho-Road-Rec.../dp/0929591062. This one?

Yes! Glad to hear the "maverick" does have some common sense and more than can be conveyed in a single post on the internet. Are you member of a local emergency response organization?
I'm not sure from where you hail, but a bunch of us will be in the Leslie gulch / Succor Creek park area the last weekend in April. That is a great place to explore.

[Adventure IQ]

PakRatt,

Roger the Idaho Benchmark, as linked. That's the one, alright. I'd go ahead and snag a NV Benchmark, as well. Never can tell when you'll want to head "South of the Border". I used each in July 2011, and they're both excellent planning and operations tools and worth the price paid.

Have fun!

Foy

I was looking at it thinking the same thing--- will do