The outdoors are calling, at least i think they are? I might just
be going crazy from being inside for so long.
Eventually this will all pass but social distancing will probably stick around
for a while. Luckily for us Idahoans social
distancing is kind of our thing. It's a big state with plenty of
adventures you can have with the entire family
while still keeping your distance from large crowds and small towns.
As soon as the stay-at-home orders lifted i set out to find some of these
adventures away from my hometown of Boise. I picked
spots that I could get to and back from on one take of gas so that
I didn't have to stop anywhere. What i found were six stunning hikes
each with their own unique terrain features and challenges. All six you can
make a day trip or a weekend backpack. You can do them by
yourself or with the family. It's time to start
dipping our toes back into the outdoors and this toe dip begins at Ten Mile Creek.
So here we are, this is base camp for the Ten Mile Creek hike that we're going to
go on tomorrow. It's a 4.2 mile out and back trail
that you can also do as a little backpacking trip. If you're coming from
Boise or from Idaho City or you're going
through Banks, at the junction this is 12.6 miles east.
There's a sportsman access sign, turn there.
There's a bridge you go over, there's then a fork in the road
keep left along the dirt. You travel about a mile
down that dirt road and you'll see this little spur trail
on your left. Take that little road down
0.2 miles and there is the trailhead. All along that road up top and down here
by the trailhead there are these nice little camping
spots that you can hang out for the weekend.
You could just park for the night, hang out for a day, the Payette River is right
down there. Plenty of room around me this is a
beautiful place. Definitely socially distant right now.
Because this isn't a developed campsite there are no bathrooms here.
In a pinch you used to be able to go to Sourdough Lodge which is
right down the road. Buy some snacks, use the bathroom, but
because of the pandemic like most businesses they are closed right now
so you know you pack out what you pack in so
make sure you have a a plan for when nature calls.
Oh my gosh so so far this is a hell of a hike.
I wasn't sure where I was at for most of it.
All of a sudden I'm out in this clearing, I see a fireplace with a log that looks
like a great place to set up shop and I'm just kind of
peering around looking and down just right here I see
rocks forming what I think is a pool and I went down there and touched it.
It's a hot springs and I looked at my book once again
and apparently i am 1.7 miles down the trail so i've made much more
ground than i thought and i've come to this clearing and there
is a place to camp and there's a hot springs uh
I brought my bathing suit so i'm going to check it out.
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and now back to Ten Mile Creek.
The uh, the creek has risen and
not so much blown it out but it's pretty cold in here. So this
stream is the hot water so where i'm standing now my feet right now
that's super hot, but you take one little step
right into here and it's starting to get pretty cold and now it's really cold.
Guessing later in the year this is a really wonderful hot springs.
It's not the cleanest it's got you know a
bunch of algae in it so it's definitely natural.
But I am in love with this spot this clearing so i've got about a little
less than a mile to the end of the trail so i'm going to
set up camp here and we'll go take a look at the end
of the trail.
Ten Mile Creek is large and it is flowing and I can't get past here and
this is the end. This is 2.1 miles from the trailhead, I made
the right decision with choosing to camp at the meadow.
My advice would be if you're planning on camping
out here, pick a camp spot before the hot springs. But i'm glad I did it
I'm glad I saw the end, it's good to know. So I'm
gonna head back to camp and really hope it doesn't rain tonight.
So there you have it, Ten Mile Trail. I am tired though usually I have my
adventure buddy Chad with me but like so many of you the coronavirus
has kind of upended his life and he's at home watching his three kids. This is
actually the longest I've gone without seeing the guy and I'm
sure that you have people in your life that you miss too
family, friends, and the best way to reconnect with those people
is to disconnect with them out nature so get out there
get adventuring as soon as you can. So next week we'll be on the South Fork of
the Payette River so if you don't want to miss that video make sure
you hit that subscribe button or that follow button.
Big thanks to our sponsors we truly couldn't do this without them.
Follow us on social media at the Adventures of Jon and Chad.
I am at Jon_Conti, thank you for watching
and we'll see you next time.