Camas Lilies blooming at Centennial Marsh, morels popping, and ski areas opening soon

Photo by Steve S.

Hi all, 

Beauty is surrounding us this spring with colorful wildflower blooms, verdant mountains everywhere and rushing water in streams. 

One of those memorable scenes is the camas lily bloom at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh near Fairfield. Fields of the lavender flowers carpet the landscape for as far as your eyes can see. It's also a great place to see songbirds, water birds and birds of prey. See post on Southern Idaho Tourism for details. Easy day trip. 

Upper meadow bloom, looking north from the highway 

Watch out for the weather on Friday, if you're planning to get out and about ... looks dicy! High chance of rain, hail, you name it! Similar forecast for Saturday, but more afternoon than morning, according to the National Weather Service.  

I'm seeing that the morels are popping right now in fire zones burned last summer like the Four Corners Fire area near Cascade. But truth be told, I don't want to hear about it! Been too busy to get out foraging myself, so that's been driving me nuts! Be sure to get out soon while the picking is good! I've been wondering how the picking is in the Moose Fire zone near Salmon ... has to be productive, too! 

I've been curious when our local ski areas will be opening for the summer season. You won't have to wait too much longer! Here's what I discovered: 

• Brundage Mountain Resort opens Friday, June 16 for summer operations. Lift-served hiking and biking available, yoga sessions and more. Summer concert series starts on July 7. See band lineup to the left. See event calendar for more details.  
  
  
• Tamarack Resort opens for summer operations on Saturday, June 17. Tam has lift-served hiking and biking, waterfront boat, kayak and SUP rentals, and a zip line course. See events calendar for details on summer activities, live music and more. 
  
  
• Bogus Basin opens for summer ops on Friday, June 23. They have lift-served biking and hiking, music on the mountain, music on the patio, yoga, guided nature hikes, the glade runner, climbing wall, bungee trampoline, gem panning and summer tubing. food and beverage on the patio and more. See summer event calendar for details. 

Have fun! 
- SS 

    

Hike or bike the Snake River Trail and look for eagles, hawks and falcons in SW Idaho

Wendy checks out the scene at Discovery Point with the Snake River Canyon in the distance.

Hi all, 

The weather looks really wet and rainy Saturday and Sunday in the Boise Valley, but Friday looks good with partly cloudy skies and a high of 52 F. 

A lot of people are totally sick of the snow and winter weather, but there will be a number of events going on this weekend with Tamarack Resort holding the Idaho State Pond Skim Championship on Saturday, April 1st. Should be blizzard-like conditions for the event with plenty of music and a hearty party atmosphere. Tam is closing on April 2, but will remain open for a bonus week for Boundless season pass holders and it'll provide discounted lift tickets in the bonus week. Plus people with a season pass to Bogus or Brundage can get a lift ticket at no charge. 

They've had sunshine for the Tamarack pond skim event in the past, but they won't have it this year. 
100 percent chance of snow with 10-16" of new expected. (photo courtesy Tamarack Resort)

Brundage Mountain will be hosting the 2023 BREWlympic Games on Saturday, April 1st. There are relay races in the morning, but the main event happens at 2 p.m. when eight teams of four face off in the Gelande Quaff tournament, sliding huge mugs of beer down a long table to a teammate who catches the mug and chugs the beer. "Strict rules apply and style points are key to victory," Brundage officials said. Gaper Day costumes are encouraged for competitors and spectators alike. 

The forecast Saturday at Brundage is very similar to Tamarack - 10-14" of new snow, high temp of 28 degrees, and 100% chance of snow. Brundage is closing for the season on April 9th. 

Bogus Basin, BTW, will hosting its on pond skim on Saturday, April 15, and closing day is on Sunday, April 16. 

If you're curious about the snowy forecast for this weekend, here's my latest forecast for the Idaho Daily Snow via opensnow.com. 

View of Swan Falls Dam and looking downcanyon. 

In between rain and snow storms (when will spring ever come!?), I'd recommend going down to the Snake River by Swan Falls and hiking or biking the Snake River Trail downriver to enjoy the sights, look for prairie falcons, a variety of hawks and golden eagles. Wendy and I had a nice hike in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area last Saturday. It was chilly with temps in the low 40s and occasional snow and rain squalls, but we did locate a prairie falcon eyrie in the rocky cliffs with our binoculars and I got a picture. Score!

We also saw golden eye ducks, wood ducks, mergansers, lots of ravens, pigeons, and red-tailed hawks. Wendy could mention more songbirds. 

Prairie falcon guarding the nest ... needed more than a 200 mm telephoto lens.

We hiked on the Snake River River trail a couple of miles and enjoyed seeing the green shoots of cheatgrass sprouting in the canyon (just anything green was nice to see), the sound of the Snake River flowing downriver through small riffles, and the sounds of bird life in the canyon.     

Trail side view of the Snake River canyon. 

Soon, I'm planning to go back after things dry out and ride my mountain bike to Wees Bar and take pics of the Native American petroglyphs on the south bank of the Snake. Idaho Power has created a very nice public walkway at Swan Falls Dam for crossing over the dam to the trails on the other side. I'll be writing about that adventure soon. 

BLM trail sign on the east end of the Snake River Trail. It's about 4.5 miles downriver
to Halverson Lake and Centennial Park.  

Directions: Take I-84 to the Kuna exit at Meridian Road. Go south to Kuna and follow signs to the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. Stop at Discovery Point, a BLM interpretive area, on your way to Swan Falls Dam to glass for golden eagles. Once at the dam, go downstream on the dirt/gravel road 4 miles to the trailhead. It's a non-motorized trail, restricted to walking, running and mountain biking. 

For hiking, I recommend wearing trail boots or trail shoes. Bring plenty of water and snacks/lunch for your day trip. Enjoy! 

- SS   

Wees Bar area across the river. Native American Petroglyph site. 

Bald eagle viewing near Hagerman is excellent right now, plus other tidbits

Pair of bald eagles in flight (courtesy Gordan Hardcastle)

Wood ducks and golden-eye in flight (courtesy Gordan Hardcastle)

A variety of ducks take flight at the Hagerman WMA (click to enlarge)

Red-tailed hawk in the morning sun

Bald eagles near the Westpoint store/cafe ... 12 in one tree! 

Hi all,

I wanted to share a blog post I wrote this week for Southern Idaho Tourism about viewing bald eagles, waterfowl and other birds near Wendell and Hagerman right now. In a matter of two hours, I saw more than 35 bald eagles near Wendell in the early morning hours last Saturday ... and I saw a ton of ducks and geese at the Hagerman Wildlife Management Area.

I love to see bald eagles, so it was a thrill to see so many birds in a short amount of time. See the blog post for driving directions and a map. It's only 1.25 hours to the Hagerman area via I-84 when the roads are dry. There also is a birding list of all the birds you can see in the area right now. Make sure you bring your binoculars, camera and a bird book!

While you're in the 'hood, think about visiting Miracle Hot Springs after you go eagle- and bird-watching ... that'd make for one heck of a great day! Top it off with a meal at the Snake River Grill in Hagerman. The restaurant is famous for it's exotic menu and excellent food!

What a humdinger of a snow storm last night! Brundage and Bogus got more than 16 inches of snow, and the lucky folks who were in position to go powder skiing today had a bonanza! Both areas needed more snow after all the ski traffic they've been receiving ... and more is on the way this weekend!

A couple of tidbits:

Chadd Cripe's feature story on pond hockey in Ketchum in the Idaho Statesman got a lot of hits when I shared it on my Facebook page. I'm a pond hockey player from way back when in Minnesota. Tuck this one away for future reference in case you might be able to field a team for next year's event! Or you can just reminisce about playing pond hockey!

Lift ticket discount for bus riders at Bogus: If you ride the bus to Bogus, you'll get a $10 discount on your lift ticket. Everyone knows that parking can be a challenge at Bogus, especially on busy days, so if you have the flexibility to ride the bus everyone benefits! Here's more information on bus transportation to Bogus.

River applications are due at the end of January for the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Main Salmon River, Selway River and Hells Canyon. Go to recreation.gov to fill out the form and submit your application.

Have a great weekend!
- SS

Winter birding is a fun activity; Hagerman Bird Festival offers opportunities to learn

Great blue heron along the Boise River (courtesy Ken Miracle)

Juvenile bald eagle on the Boise River (courtesy Ken Miracle)

Merganser on the Boise River (Courtesy Ken Miracle)

Kingfisher (Courtesy Ken Miracle)

Hi all,

To me, it's always a treat to see birds and wildlife as part of an outdoor recreation outing. But every once in a while, I like to make seeing birds or wildlife the central focus of an outdoor adventure. One of my favorite winter bird walks in Boise is along the Boise River, particularly when it's colder outside, with temperatures below freezing. My main objective is to see bald eagles perching on the top of cottonwood trees. But you'll also see a variety of ducks, geese, kingfishers, herons and songbirds. The variety of ducks can be pretty darn cool. I especially like to see the colorful wood ducks.  

About 15-20 bald eagles typically winter along the Boise River urban corridor, between Lucky Peak and Eagle. If you're lucky, you'll see an eagle swoop down to the river to catch a trout or whitefish breakfast with its talons. And that's a beautiful thing to behold. Nature in action.

This week, my outdoor tip is to take a moment to look for birds and learn about them. Consider starting a bird list! According to an article in Audubon, all you need is a pair of binoculars and a basic field guide to birds to get started in birding. I've recently learned about another way you could get into birding -- attend the Hagerman Bird Festival, Feb. 12-14. The Festival provides guided outings to see particular types of birds, such as night walks to see owls and boat tours to see waterfowl on the Snake River. I wrote about the festival for Southern Idaho Tourism, and I thought my readers on Stueby's Outdoor Journal would want to know about it, too.

Mallard ducks on the Snake River (Courtesy SITA)

Here's my blog post:

Maybe you've been wanting to become a "birder" -- a person who goes out to look at birds, learns how to identify them and keeps a list -- or perhaps participate in a bird-watching outing and see if you like it.

The upcoming Hagerman Birding Festival, scheduled for Feb. 12-14, is a perfect event to learn how to get started. Pre-registration is open for the event, which is limited to the first 150 people who sign up. There are classroom sessions where you learn how to identify different kinds of birds and field trips with birding experts. That's where the rubber hits the road. The multiday event costs $80 for adults and $25 for children 16 and younger,  including food and field trips.

Inspiration. Usually, a person's interest in birding is started by an inspirational moment. For me, it was watching bald eagles swoop down and catch crimson kokanee in West Glacier, Montana. Even since then, I've always been interested in birds of prey in particular. I must have taken 300 photos of eagles catching fish on that snowy day in December.

We learn in the Twin Falls Times-News  that Burley High School senior Joseph DeTemple is a budding birder after earning a Boy Scout merit badge through identifying eight species of birds. He's working with veteran birder Wallace Keck, superintendent of City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park, to learn about birding. DeTemple already has identified more than 130 species. He's off and running!

Sharp-shinned hawk at the City of Rocks
(Courtesy Wallace Keck)

Keck, whose life list hovers near 460 species, was inspired by taking an ornithology class in college at Arkansas State University. Campus was near a number of mountains and rivers that made birding fun and exciting for Keck, who frequently blogs about his birding adventures. Keck recently blogged about "The Big Year" in which he hopes to add more species to his life list and surpass 500 species.

So how about making 2016 a year in which you start birding? The greater Southern Idaho region is a wonderful place to see birds -- from lots of waterfowl, bald eagles, and great blue herons in the Hagerman area along the Snake River, to more waterfowl at Lake Walcott State Park and Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge, songbirds at City of Rocks National Reserve and a variety of species at The Nature Conservancy's Silver Creek Preserve near Picabo. With every stop, you'll pick up more species. 

At City of Rocks, you can see a variety of songbirds such as pinyon jays and scrub jays and a variety of other birds surrounding the feeders they have at the Visitor Center, plus Keck photographed a beautiful Cooper's hawk perched in a tree nearby, looking for a morning meal.

Christine Gertschen, the organizer of the Hagerman Bird Festival this year, lives in Hagerman and enjoys seeing all the birds in that area. "The birds come here because of the open water on the Snake River," she says. "Last night, I was watching a pair of great-horned owls. Birding is just crazy around here in the winter ... it's definitely a hot spot."

How to get started? According to an article in Audubon, all you need is a pair of binoculars and a basic field guide to birds. Perhaps a small pocket notebook would be handy for noting species. My partner Wendy Wilson is an expert birder, and she likes to use the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America for identifying birds. That guide is very well-done and very detailed. But there are quite a few available.

Audubon suggests thinking about a particular species that you'd like to identify, and then go out and find it. The Hagerman Birding Festival would be a perfect way to learn how to get started birding from the experts and go out in the field and start your own bird list.

To sign up for the festival, visit http://www.hagermanbirdfestival.com. For more information, call 208-352-3175 or email hagermanbirdfestival@gmail.com. See you at the festival!

    

If you plan to be visiting from out of town, look for lodging deals here at the Southern Idaho Tourism web site.

Another resource for learning about birds is to join the Idaho Birding Facebook page. You'll see a lot of birders and photographers posting close up and spectacular bird pics on the page. And you can learn tips about identifying a particular species.

Enjoy the birds!
- SS

Steens Mountain, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge are a great spring camping destination

Kiger Gorge 

Steens Mountain from the Alvord Desert side by Mann Lake 

Here's Steve biking the Steens Mountain Loop road from our camp to Fish Lake C.G.
You can see that there's still some snow on the top of Steens Mountain. 

We camped in the meadow below the junipers off the loop road ... 

We had the place to ourselves ... very quiet all weekend

Hi all,

Wendy and I had a fun little spring camping trip over a three-day span to Steens Mountain and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last week, and I wanted to share some highlights from our trip for those who might want to visit this unique area in Eastern Oregon.

It had been more than 10 years since I'd last visited the Steens Mountain area, but it's a place I've visited from time to time since the early 1980s. When I used to live in La Grande, Oregon, way back in the day, working for the local newspaper there, we used to head down to the Steens Mountain-Malheur NWF area every spring to go birding, hiking, hot-springing and camping.

Nowadays, you also can bike the graveled Steens Mountain Loop Road (59 miles total distance), which climbs the north slope of Steens Mountain from Frenchglen and takes you to the very top of the mountain at nearly 10,000 feet and provides access to super-cool hiking or backpacking trips in a variety of canyons.

You also could bring your road bike and cruise around the Malheur NWF on paved roads or ride from Frenchglen to Burns or vice-versa, if you're so inclined. Since I'm training for the Lyle Pearson 200 in late May, I decided to crank out the 60-mile route from Frenchglen to Burns, and really enjoyed it -- mainly because I didn't have a bad headwind. : - )

Camping - Page Springs Campground is a beautiful spot in the springtime near Frenchglen, Oregon. I was expecting to camp there for our trip, but then they opened the Steens Mountain Loop Road before we arrived, so we were able to find a cool meadow to camp in near the loop road about six miles from Frenchglen. We brought all the stuff we needed for self-support car camping. There's also cool digs at Fish Lake Campground and Jackman Park (higher-elevation sites).

Steens Mountain Loop Road 

The Frenchglen Hotel has a limited number of rooms, if you'd prefer to stay in a cozy bed. Make your reservations well in advance. The hotel is popular with birders and fills up quickly.

Birding - Wendy is an expert birder -- in case you didn't know. She identified 72 species in the three days we visited last week. Because of the drought that has gripped Southeast Oregon for several years in a row, Malheur Lake was VERY LOW, so the birding was not nearly as good as it could have been. Malheur NWR was established in 1908 as an important venue for nesting and migratory birds. You can thank Teddy Roosevelt for preserving the area. At this time of year, there were a number of shorebirds frequenting the area, a diversity of ducks, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, songbirds and much more. The refuge reportedly supports between 5 and 66 percent of the migratory waterfowl species in the Pacific Flyway. One of Wendy's favorite sightings last weekend was the American avocet. If you go, I'd recommend visiting the Malheur NWR headquarters, about 30 miles south of Burns, and see what refuge officials recommend as to the best locations to observe birds. It's hard to know when the lake has receded so far below its full level.

Hiking - There's a nice trail that follows the Blitzen River for about four miles (one-way) from Page Springs Campground. That's an easily accessible trail close to Frenchglen. It is a fairly rocky trail, and as of last weekend, people were seeing rattlesnakes along the way. I decided to skip the trail so my dog Huck didn't get zapped. Farther up on Steens Mountain, there are multiple hikes to consider. See the Less Traveled Northwest web site to see specific hiking recommendations ... many of them are short trails that start and finish on the Steens Mountain Loop road.

Biking the Steens Mountain Loop Road - The gravel road grinder-type rides are getting more and more popular these days, and the Steens Mountain Loop road is a well-compacted gravel road for almost 60 miles with lots of elevation gain from Page Springs (4,500 feet) to the Steens Mountain summit (nearly 10,000 feet). I rode a portion of the loop road to the Fish Lake Campground with a cross-biker from Portland, and really enjoyed it. To do the full loop road route, I'd recommend riding it over several days and camping along the way with vehicle support or carrying bike-packing equipment.

Hot springs - Back in my La Grande days, we used to hit Alvord Hot Springs all the time on the Alvord Desert side (southeast side) of Steens Mountain. It's an old tin shack with a nice, hot, deep pool. Since those days, Alvord Hot Springs has been commercialized by the property owners to maintain order. The day fee is only $5. You can camp there, too, if you want. There's also a hot springs on Hart Mountain, about an hour from Frenchglen.

Pete French Round Barn

Roof construction 

Inside the Round Barn ... they kept the horses inside in stables, and then
worked on breaking them in the outer loop of the barn. 

Round Barn - Harney County cattle king Pete French built several large round barns with his men in the early days to break and train horses for use in his big ranching operation. One of the barns is still standing near Diamond, Oregon, north of Frenchglen, and it's quite the masterpiece of construction. Worth the visit, I thought.

- SS