Wilson Creek Hike April 2022

I recently got the chance to explore a whole new area of hiking trails with a friend. We hadn't hung out in a while, and the weather was perfect for a hike in the high desert, so she suggested Wilson Creek, which is south of Nampa. I hadn't been there before, so we met up at her place and then she drove us out.

I enjoyed the views on the way; I always forget how many mountains you can see south of Nampa. The drive itself seemed to pass quickly as we caught up with what's been going on in each other's lives since we'd last had a chance to hang out. 

The one thing she warned me about was the trails were situated in an open range, so we might run into some cows. We pulled up by the main trailhead, but decided to keep going to a secondary one to avoid any crowds. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot that we chose, and I picked a direction and we hiked south along the road. 

Well, we thought it was along trail, as there seemed to be a trail along the side of the road. But it turned out to be more of a sandy ditch, so we stepped back up onto the road. After a while, the road offered us a trail and we took that, curving around in a big loop, following trails kind of at random. 

It's not often that I go on a hike without extensive pre-planning, especially in a new an unfamiliar area. I liked it. Not something I'll do all the time, but something I'd like to do more often. Of course, it helped that my friend was familiar with the area, and when we wanted to get back to the car, she knew which trails would get us in that general direction. 

We took some challenging uphill routes, but overall the hike wasn't strenuous, or too long. Just a few hours hiking in the spring high desert, with birds of prey circling overhead and cattle flocking down below. We didn't run into any cows while hiking, but on the road one almost followed us as we were heading out. 

Oof that was a steep climb!

A calf frolicking next to the road. 

100 Mile Failure; 92 Mile Success

The desert caught me by surprise.

Flatness, I expected. An arid landscape, lacking drinking water. Wind, tearing at my face, pushing against my body with every step. The terrain was miles of sameness appearing in every direction, hiding draws and canyons in its rolling.

But I was fast. In spite of the wind, in spite of the lack of water. I moved with a speed that I didn't even believe when I camped on the first night, more than 25 miles from the border with Nevada. Tomorrow, I told myself, I'll see whether I really hiked that far. Because if I could reach my husband, waiting with the car at the 50 mile point of my hike, on the second night instead of halfway through the third day as planned, then I would have proven I could hike over 25 miles in a day.

And, to my surprise, I did.

I slept in a tent with my husband the second night, a tent that I did not have to pitch, with plentiful water and food, and a friend to bring me one or the other if I asked very nicely. It would have been so easy to call it then. To declare that 50 miles in 2 days was plenty.

But I didn't.

I pushed on the next day through another 24 miles. I met up with Ambrose twice more that day, at the Bruneau scenic overlook and again on the road. Then I hiked off for my third night, knowing I would have about 26 miles to go to finish up my planned route. Not knowing whether Ambrose would be able to drive the car to pick me up at the designated spot.

Between that uncertainty and the intense pain that developed on my right foot when my pinky toe decided to try to bore a hole into its neighbor, I ended the hike at Hammett, ID. With the out and back on Sunday, that made for a total of 92 miles in about 3.5 days.

I've learned to be more careful in trimming down my toenails before a long fast hike. Next time, they'll be close trimmed and filed. I'll do more route scouting beforehand to make sure my car can handle the pickup where I want it to, though for next year, I know it can meet me at either end to link the sections from this year and last year.

I believe that I can do a 100 mile hiking trip. I'll have to, for some of the sections of the ICT that go through remote areas. I know I can handle the weight and the distance. Next time I will have to pace myself a little better, and it sure would help if those sections weren't through desert.