Exploring the American Wilderness and Other Adventures

Quail-Harrison Hollows Loop at the Hillside to Hollow Reserve, Boise, Idaho

Walla Walla, Washington -> Boise, Idaho: 254 miles

Listening to: Taylor Swift Radio on Pandora

Hike: Quail-Harrison Hollows Loop at the Hillside to Hollow Reserve

Lodging: The 36th Street Urban Yurt in Large Garden Oasis

Dinner: Vegetarian Tacos at Highlands Hollow Brewhouse 

……

Yesterday was draining. I never forgot my dreams, but while I have been bitterly holding onto them, I forgot I have wings. I’m really tired. My body is angry. But, I’m flying, even if it is just a little bit. 

My drive from Walla Walla was beautiful, with the passes through the Blue Mountains being a little scary. I again had to face how I used to not ever be afraid of things like that. 

I love Boise. It’s everything – it’s a real city, with culture and diversity, two things lacking in North Idaho, and still close to recreation areas and the wilderness. 

I hiked before I did anything in town. I very much want to complete the Idaho Grand Slam and hike Adelmann Mine, but recent trail reports indicate now is not a great time on any of those trails with the early snow melt. Very close to my lodging is the Hillside to Hollow Reserve and recent trail reports accurately said it was a mix of mud and dirt trails. I wanted to do two of the trails to create a 6-ish mile workout, but it took a solid mile for my legs to warm up and I just felt over-tired from the last 24 hours of solo adventure, so I did only the 4-mile Quail-Harrison Hollows Loop, with nearly 1000’ elevation gain. The trail system reminds me a lot of Dry Gulch Preserve in Wenatchee, Washington, and Badger and Candy Mountains, in Richland, Washington, but more dirt than sand. There are muddy sections, but going slow and then cleaning the mud out of my tread after each section worked great.  I got to have wide open skies and sunshine with views of the trails for miles. It is an off-leash dog recreation area and I MET SO MANY DOGS! Other hikers stayed on the trails around the base of the hikes, so I had the higher elevations to myself. You can see the city from the hills and I think that’s just beautiful. Similar to what happened at Badger and Candy Mountains in Richland, developers are building large, very expensive housing divisions adjacent to the recreation area. I have mixed feelings about that and lack the facts to have an educated conversation about it, so I will leave that there. 

“You can either swim or drown, but it is going to keep raining” – Jessica Katoff