Matthew Singer

Month: July 2014

  • Roman Nose Lakes

    Roman Nose Lakes

    Upper Roman Nose Lake with Roman Nose peak rising behind it.
    Upper Roman Nose Lake with Roman Nose peak rising behind it.

    Last year, I tried to take my family up to Harrison Lake to enjoy a true alpine zone. When we got close, we saw that the lake had been closed due to problematic bear activity. I would have still been ok hiking up there, but my parents were wary, so we came up with an alternative: Roman Nose. There used to be a road connecting the Pack River to Roman Nose lakes on the other side of the ridge. That road is no longer passable except by ATV or mountain bike. We found that out the hard way. On the bright side, we ended up discovering a great patch of huckleberries and came home with almost a full gallon of them.

    This year, I wanted to make up for last year’s shortcomings and head straight for the Roman Nose Lakes. Besides, Erin is not yet ready for the level of difficulty of the Harrison Lake hike. But Roman Nose is an easy hike at just under 3-miles round trip to one lake and not much elevation gain. The plan was to leave early and get to the trailhead before noon. We’d hike out to the upper lake where Erin and Clara and my parents would hang out for a while, and I would continue up to the summit of Roman Nose for some sweet panoramic vistas. Then we’d stop and pick more huckleberries on the way down and end the day with a nice dinner in Sandpoint.

    Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan. Here’s what really happened. We left the house after 9:00, which would have put us at the lakes around noon. But along the way, Clara needed to be fed. Actually, Clara was sleeping just fine in her carseat, but Erin needed to feed her to feel comfortable. So we stopped at the Coeur d’Alene Casino for about an hour while she nursed. We got back on the road and made it smoothly into Sandpoint and continued north to the road accessing the lakes.

    Now, if you look at Google Maps as well as the maps on a Garmin GPS, there appears to be three roads that lead up to the lakes. One of these is the correct route. My GPS chose one of the alternates, which if maintained would be the shortest and fastest choice. However, about 3 miles before the routes converged near the destination, that road becomes washed out to the point where I’d be wary of even bringing a heavy duty SUV. So, we got close, but had to turn around and backtrack, during which we had to stop again to nurse and change a diaper. Luckily there was a geocache hidden by a stream crossing, so we stopped there for a while. I pulled out the hiking guide book and sought out the recommended directions up to the lake. Of course, I didn’t quite read them correctly and thought that the road we wanted was just at the base of the road we were currently on. As we started up that road, I found the correct road on the GPS, so we turned around again and headed for the right road.

    Of the three routes up the mountain, the correct one is the longest and furthest away. But otherwise, it’s a well-maintained and relatively smooth road, at least compared to the unmaintained roads. But then, Roman Nose Lakes is a highly used area, so I was expecting the access to be easy. We finally made it up to the parking area by 4:00 pm. At this point in the day, I wasn’t going to be making any runs for the summit, and I had to make a convincing point to even hike out to the upper lake. But we did, and it was awesome. Erin made it with no problems and Clara enjoyed her first hike. With all of the stops for feedings and diaper changes, we made it back to the car by 7:30 and made it back into Sandpoint too late to dine at our preferred restaurant. And, we didn’t get to collect any huckleberries.

    Despite our misadventures, the Idaho Selkirks are awesome mountains, and I do regret not having spent more time up there in the past four years. I look at these last two trips as learning experiences. I now know how to get to my destinations, and traveling that long of a distance with an infant will require an overnight stay if we are to get anything accomplished. In the mean time, I really want to go back and stand on top of Roman Nose and hike to Harrison Lake and perhaps also stand atop Harrison Peak. I want to backpack in to some of the other lakes where the hikes are too long for just a day. And perhaps maybe I can get back up there without Erin and the baby and accomplish one of those goals before winter hits this year.

    FYI: The correct direction to Roman Nose Lakes is to take Snow Creek Road. Even Google Maps wants to route up Ruby Creek Road, but this is impassible without an ATV.

    [map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” gpx=”http://www.mineral2.com/wp-content/uploads/Roman Nose Lakes Hike.GPX”]
  • Grandmother and Grandfather Mountains

    Grandmother and Grandfather Mountains

    Since my daughter was born a month ago, I haven’t been able to get out and stretch my legs on the trail. So when an opportunity came along to go hiking, I jumped at it. The past few weeks had been miserably hot, even to the point where escaping into the high elevations wouldn’t provide refuge from the heat. However, since nights were cool, the early morning hours were a pleasant time to be outside. So one morning, CJ and I hit up Spud Hill in Deary and made it down just in time for the heat to make life uncomfortable. Despite the haze in the air, we could see all the way out to the Wallowas over 100 miles away.

    Spud Hill (elevation 4009) overlooks Deary and the eastern edge of the Palouse.
    Spud Hill (elevation 4009) overlooks Deary and the eastern edge of the Palouse.

    On Wednesday of last week, temperatures actually broke 100 degrees fahrenheit, making it the hottest day of summer so far. We had to go to Spokane to pick up my mother from the airport, but because it was so hot, we didn’t even take any walks in the city. On Friday, we got a blast of cold air from Canada, but with it came smoke from a massive series of fires burning in the Northwest Territories. The smoke was so bad that even I was having trouble walking around town. Luckily, it moved out of the area over the weekend and yesterday, the air was pretty clear and still cool. There were clouds in the sky, but so far everything seemed dry, so I suggested we take advantage of the “good” conditions and hike up to Grandmother and Grandfather mountain.

    The clouds were thicker over the mountains. On the drive up, I notice that the summits of each of the peaks were cloaked in the cloud, and the dark skies had the possibility of rain. But the clouds were moving quickly, and there was sunshine to the west that had me hopeful that we’d end up with a nice day on the mountain. During the hike, the summit of Grandmother Mountain came in and out of the clouds. We must have timed it just right because when we hit the summit, the low clouds had lifted and moved further out. Since it seemed nice, we decided to continue on to Grandfather Mountain.

    For most of the hike, the mountains were cloaked in the clouds.
    For most of the hike, the mountains were cloaked in the clouds.

    At Grandfather mountain, we noticed that there was some rain to the northeast. The clouds still looked like they were moving from the northwest, but it didn’t take long to feel the raindrops upon us. We ate a quick lunch and I found a geocache on the summit that hadn’t been found since 2005.

    We found a geocache at the summit of Grandfather Mountain. This cache hadn't been found since 2005.
    We found a geocache at the summit of Grandfather Mountain. This cache hadn’t been found since 2005.

    Though the rain never amounted to more than a light sprinkle, we got fairly damp having to hike back in it for four miles. Despite the weather, it was a great hike. The wildflowers were in the peak of their blooms and provided a colorful carpet as we passed by. There were more beargrass flowers than I had ever seen up there before. I have not hiked 8 miles at once in a while, but my leg has healed such that I was pleasantly tired at the end, but not overly sore. In fact, my good leg was aching more than the injured one. I think I might be ready for a good hiking season, that is, if I can get the time to get out.

    Wildflowers blooming in the meadow on Grandmother Mountain.
    Wildflowers blooming in the meadow on Grandmother Mountain.
    My mom taking photos of the wildflower blooms.
    My mom taking photos of the wildflower blooms.

    The full trip to Grandfather Mountain is a little over 8 miles with almost 2000 feet of total elevation gain. If you don’t wish to make the full trip to Grandfather, the shorter hike to Grandmother Mountain is just as good since the best views and scenery are found on this section of the hike. Grandmother Mountain is my favorite local hike. I’ve been up here several times each year since I’ve moved out here. It’s even a popular destination for people living farther away. On this hike, we met some hikers who came down from Spokane. That’s impressive considering there are plenty of great places to hike with a shorter driving time from the city.

    [map style=”width: auto; height:600px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” gpx=”http://www.mineral2.com/wp-content/uploads/Grandfather Mountain Jul 20 2014.GPX”]

  • Introducing Clara

    Introducing Clara

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    On Thursday, June 19, my 32nd birthday, Erin woke up having contractions that were 10 minutes apart, give or take a minute. This persisted through the morning. By the afternoon, the contractions had gotten closer together. We left home around 2:30 and an hour later, we were at the birth center in Moscow.

    Clara would have been born at the birth center with the midwife attending, but upon the final moments, we discovered she was breech. So, Erin was transferred over to the hospital where Clara came into this world ass-first at 10:47 pm.

    Since we’ve arrived home, life has certainly changed. We now have much less free time and live on a sleep-deprived schedule. Greta immediately adored Clara, and she doesn’t seem to mind the dog either.Clara and Greta

    If I don’t seem as active over the next few months, this is why. I still hope to sneak in the occasional hiking trip, but they will be limited. It’s a worthy sacrifice.