“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.”
Henry David Thoreau
Last week I returned from three weeks of road-tripping through Montana and Idaho, catching up with friends and hiking every day. Yes, every day, first in the hills around Missoula and then in Sun Valley, Idaho. The vistas were spectacular and I took quite a few pictures that are now posted in the Gallery. Check them out (click here) and maybe plan your own trip there? It truly is gorgeous.
Here is also a video of one of our first hikes in Sun Valley Idaho (we=Keyla the dog and me): At that point, we hadn’t discovered the local trails website yet (which lists all hikes, all closures etc.) and just hiked up-up-up an exposed butte until the trail became too wet. Great views in all directions! On another day, we hiked Bald Mountain Trail which switchbacks up the side of the local ski hill. Once we hit the ski runs, the trail became impassable so we climbed up a steep run instead. Not knowing how hard it would be to get back down, we turned around there (turned out the downhill was fun! Sliding on hiking boots should be a sport!). That, of course, meant that we had to go back and make it to the top! Our Summit Day was great – there is something meditative (and exhausting!) to just climbing straight up the ski runs. Amazing views from the top (click for video) made it all worthwhile.
I can’t describe Sun Valley with a better word than “Playground”. Skiers, runners, hikers, climbers, mountainbikers, cyclists, dogs … they can all play all day every day there.
My apologies for the long delay posting the New Year’s pictures. Somehow the semester started off very busy, and we only just finished the skate ski season. So here is your winter treat: pictures from our New Year’s in Winthrop, as well as a mix of pictures from other adventures this past winter (click the text to access the pictures). In addition, enjoy the following videos:
Skiing in Big Valley with ALL the dogs
AWESOME downhill on skate skis in the Rendezvous/Winthrop
You probably would have guessed that I would spend at least a day skate skiing while here in Europe 
I did … today … Suisse style! While we typically drive to our ski destination in Canada, I decided to use train and bus today to get into
the Swiss Alps. No worries about road conditions, stress-free travels, and about as fast as driving. One can read, enjoy the scenery, go to the bathroom, chat with the locals. So here is how this worked:
