Here's at least 10 last-minute ideas for outings and camping on Labor Day weekend!

Final weekend for camping ... Labor Day weekend

Hi all,

Labor Day weekend is upon us! It's the typical last weekend of camping in the summer season, so I'm dishing up some last-minute tips for the three-day weekend, as always. 

Before we get into the camping ideas, both Bogus Basin and Brundage Mountain have some fun stuff going on this weekend. 

This weekend will be the final segment of Music on the Mountain at Bogus Basin for the summer, a free concert highlighted by Jeff Crosby (headliner), Rider & Rolling Thunder, Matt Hopper & the Roman Candles on Saturday, Aug. 31, from 12-6 pm on the lawn outside Simplot Lodge. Plus you can partake in Fun Zone activities, including summer tubing, bungee trampoline, gem panning, climbing wall, and mountain coaster will operate from 11 am to 7 pm., and so will the Deer Point Chairlift. Plus, you can hike, ride or trail-run on Bogus' many trails.

Live music at Bogus Basin will continue into Sunday with Music on the Patio, featuring local artist Ryan Wissinger, who will play from 2:00 to 5:00pm.

On Friday night, Aug. 30,  Brundage is hosting a free concert with, guess who? Jeff Crosby and the Refugees. A BBQ dinner will be served as well, Friday night. Buy tickets at Brundage.com. The Bluebird Bluebird quad will be running from 10 am to 5 pm daily through Monday.

Now, on to the camping tips and other Labor Day ideas ... the weather looks stellar BTW for camping, hiking and biking this Labor Day weekend, with daytime highs in the 80s in the mountains, and 90s in the Boise Valley.
  

• Cascade area - Stolle Meadows and Landmark are my favorite camping areas in this neck of the woods. There are tons of primitive car-camping spots in both locations, east of Cascade, off the Warm Lake Highway. I've heard there may be some construction in the Stolle Meadows area so check with the Cascade Ranger District for any closures. Plus, there are hot springs in the vicinity. FYI: There should be salmon spawning in Stolle Meadows this weekend.

• 

  Lick Creek area in the Payette National Forest 

• McCall area - Camping, hiking and backpacking in the Lick Creek area NE of McCall should be fabulous. Some of the nice mountain lakes up there include Box, Snowslide, Duck, Hum, Enos and Thirty-three lakes. Pick up a Payette National Forest map or a McCall Adventure Map to get the details for access. Also, check my blog from earlier this summer on five easy-to-access kid-friendly mountain lakes in the McCall area. 

  

  Stanley Lake 

• Stanley area - I'm sure the Stanley area will be hopping with lots of campers at Stanley Lake, Redfish Lake, Pettit Lake and points along the Salmon River. Backpacking in the White Clouds should be dandy, particularly from the East Fork side, being a three-day weekend and all. Don't forget the Marsh Creek Trail as another potential destination ... great hiking and fly fishing spot. Hike up to the junction of Bear Valley and Marsh Creeks, and there's a huge glory hole right there. 

  

  North and Middle Forks of the Boise River ... car-camping mecca 

• Idaho City area - The North and Middle Forks of the Boise River work great for car camping. See my post from last week.  
• Salmon River beaches - Upstream from Riggins along the Salmon River Road are some sweet spots for camping, hanging out and swimming.

If you're staying in town, I'm hearing that some people will be taking in the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, going on from Thursday through Sunday. There are supposed to be more than 5,000 balloon launches.

Also, Labor Day weekend is chock full of big sales at your favorite outdoor retailers in the Boise area, places like Idaho Mountain Touring, George's Cycles, Boise REI, Greenwood's, McU Sports, Alpenglow Mountain Sport, Idaho River Sports, and Shu's Idaho Running Company, all have some fantastic clothing and gear on sale right now. Great deals! Go get 'em! 

- SS

Bogus Basin mountain bike festival, hiking Granite Mountain and house party for Lauren McLean

Riding at Bogus Basin is a pleasant alternative with cooler weather, shade and great trails! 

Hi all,

If you haven't been mountain biking at Bogus Basin this summer, this weekend looks like the perfect time to go.

Bogus is hosting a Mountain Bike Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Chair #1 will be running to take folks to the top of Deer Point. There are guided rides for men, women and kids, professional riders competing in the "Whip-Off" big air challenge, demo bikes, raffles and more.

The event costs $45 through Friday, and $50 on Saturday. Register here: 

The goal, according to organizers, is to celebrate mountain biking by "bringing our passion-filled mountain bike community together." Meet new riding friends, meet local shops and services, get out and ride the trails and enjoy what should be a nice cool mountain day. Participating bike organizations and shops include SWIMBA, Central Idaho Mountain Biking Association (CIMBA), George's, Idaho Mountain Touring, Reed Cycles, Boise REI, World Cycle, Eagle Bike Shop, McU Sports, Rolling H Cycles, and Kore North Bicycles.

I love the trails at Bogus. If you haven't gotten to know the trail system up there, you need to. IMBA rated the Around the Mountain Trail at Bogus the best in the state of Idaho! 


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Granite Mountain summit and USFS lookout. Elevation 8,500 feet.

Hike Granite Mountain

I went for a fun hike to the top of Granite Mountain last Saturday while I was in McCall. Here's a link to my Facebook pics. I'd rate the hike "moderate." It was 3+ miles to the top of Granite Mountain from the trailhead off the Goose Lake Road. Travel time was about 4+ hours round-trip.

The views on top are fantastic. There's a manned Forest Service lookout tower on top. You can see the Wallowas and Seven Devils to the west, Meadows Valley and the Little Salmon canyon leading down to Riggins, the northwest corner of "the Frank," the Payette Crest off to the east, and Brundage Mountain, and Long Valley to the south.

Granite Mountain is the giant hulk of mountain that looms to the west of McCall when you approach the mountain community. Brundage provides snowcat powder skiing trips on Granite, and I have had some legendary times up there on the mountain.
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House party for Lauren McLean 

The political race for Mayor of Boise is under way. I have known Lauren McLean since the first $10 million open space campaign 1999-2001, and she has been a proven champion of open space and trails for the Boise Foothills ever since. I still feel that winning that initial open space campaign was a transformative event for the City of Boise, and now there's huge community support for open space, trails, conservation and water quality.

Mayor Bieter has had four terms to lead Boise, and I think a lot of people feel they are ready for a change.

My partner Wendy Wilson and I are co-hosting a house party on Thursday, Aug. 29, for Lauren at our home at 3209 N. 39th Street in NW Boise. Sam Sandmire and Cary Hattabaugh, Diane Ronayne, Zack Waterman, Nicole LeFavour, Suki and Bill Molina, and Elena Lansing are co-hosting. 

We are inviting folks to come hear Lauren speak about her priorities for the City of Boise moving forward, even if you haven't made up your mind. We are inviting outdoorsy and conservation types. Shiny Shoe Bob is playing music, and we'll have food, wine and beer.

If you're interested in coming to the house party, please RSVP to wwwilderness3920@gmail.com. 

Please see our Facebook invite for more information.    
- SS

Refresh your soul with a double mountain lake hike to Snowslide and Maki Lakes

Huck looks for fish in Snowslide Lake

Wildflowers were magnificent on the pass on the way to Maki Lake. Edelweiss moment.

Hi all,

My tip of the week is about hitting the high mountain lakes in the premium part of the hiking season in August and September ...

See my article in the Idaho Press about hiking to Snowslide and Maki Lakes off of Lick Creek Road in McCall. The article was published on Wednesday, Aug. 14, in the Idaho Press Outdoors section.

Maki Lake also could be named Hidden Lake ... you won't see it until you arrive ... 

Cool to have both lakes to ourselves on a Saturday in August. 

Looking down at Snowslide Lake from the pass above ... granite granite everywhere! 

Summer vacation is on the wane! Two weekends left before school starts!

Steve backpacking in the Red Mountain Lakes area.

Hi all,

Sad but true, summer vacation is on the wane! There are only two weekends left before Boise Schools start up on Monday, Aug. 19. How have you done on your summer outdoor punch list?

Taking a look back at my many recommendations for summer, let's review your options for what to do!  

1. Float a river (day trip) - we're blessed with so many options here, but have you floated the Boise River? How about the Payette River -- there's the Main Payette, South Fork Payette or Cabarton run on the North Fork. Check with Cascade Raft, Idaho Whitewater Unlimited, Bear Valley or the Payette River Company about guided trips. The Payette's calmer sections are great for stand-up paddle boarding (SUP), sit-on-top kayaking and canoeing.

Float a river! This is on the Cabarton stretch of the Payette River. 

2. Climb a mountain - The pinnacle is to climb Mount Borah, but there are so many other options in Idaho, with dozens of peaks over 10,000 feet and 8 peaks over 12,000 feet. See Idaho mountain expert Tom Lopez's list of recommended mountain peaks. McCall mountain expert John Platt also has an extensive list of peaks and mountains that he's climbed.

3. Ride the ski lift to the top of Bogus Basin, Brundage Mountain or Sun Valley and go hiking or biking from there. Bogus is going to give away a free season pass to whoever is the 100,000th person to ride the mountain coaster this weekend. Sounds like a reason to go! Brundage recently opened a new intermediate-level mountain bike trail. They've also got Emily Tipton playing Friday night as part of the TGIF concert series and a Caribbean dinner planned. Hope the Netheker fire burning near Burgdorf doesn't create a lot of smoke! #prayforburgdorf!

4. Take your kids fishing - See the list of Idaho Fish and Game's Family Fishing Waters to find some great recommendations close to home.

Go hiking in the Sawtooths (photo courtesy Michael Lanza/The Big Outside)

5. Go backpacking in the Sawtooths, White Clouds, Pioneers or Big Lost Mountain Range. See Michael Lanza's recommended hikes in the Sawtooths in his blog, the Big Outside. See a recommended major loop in the White Clouds in Backpacker mag. For a great hike in the Pioneers, see my blog post about hiking Broad Canyon. For the Big Lost range, see this overview in Summit Post.com. 

6. Sleep under the stars in a dark sky venue like Bear Valley, the Owyhee Canyonlands or outside of Stanley.

Catch a trout on the Middle Fork Salmon River. 

7. Fly into the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and go fly-fishing for native cutthroat trout. Air taxi services in Boise, Cascade or McCall can take you into the Middle Fork in less than an hour. All fishing is catch and release.

8. Go mountain biking on a classic loop trail like Fisher-Williams in the White Clouds, Loon Lake north of McCall or Around the Mountain at Bogus Basin. 

Climbing up a short hill to finish the Fisher-Williams Loop (courtesy Salsa cycles)

9. Go SUP'ing, boating or swimming in a refreshing, natural Idaho mountain lake like Payette Lake, Redfish Lake, or Priest Lake.

10. Go see an outdoor concert! See a summer roundup in the Idaho Statesman for a full rundown of outdoor concerts planned in the summer of 2019.

For further enrichment on Idaho bucket list trips, see an Idaho bucket list post from Boise State radio, and a post that I did listing another 30 bucket list trips that they didn't cover.
- SS