As Day 7 started we were heading toward the random spot again.  The plan was to get once again to the closest spot on the road to the spot, get out and hike, and then get to the actual spot, and pitch a tent right there on the spot itself.  We were racing to get back toward the spot, so we would have time for the hike before dark.

But it was starting to look threatening...  storm clouds on the horizon...

Marilyn: I was starting to think that this whole camping idea was not a good one especially with a bad storm brewing in the sky.

As we traveled up and around mountains, heading back toward the random spot, the threat of rain seemed to come and go.  Sometimes it was pouring, other times it was completely calm, with clouds only on the far horizon.

Marilyn: My exact thought was can we go home now?

When we finally reached the area of the random spot, we decided to park a little bit away from the closest spot on the road to the spot.  It was an area about a half mile from where we had stopped before.  But it was flatter.  The idea was that while it was further from the spot, if we headed out from here, there would be more horizontal distance, but we could avoid goign up and over the ridge we had climbed before, and instead go around it.

There was also another factor though.  By the time we got here, although the rain had subsided, at least for the moment, it was definately starting to get dark.  We knew from last time that we were talking at least a two hour hike to the random spot, perhaps three.  We all agreed that would be unwise, and there might not even be a good place to pitch the tent there anyway, if it was on the side of a hill.  Right here by the road, there was a flat area that was mostly clear of brush.  A place to pitch the tent.

So it was decided, suprisingly with not much resistance from me, to pitch the tent right here, a hundred meters or so from where we parked the car, and do the hike to the random spot first thing in the morning.

Chad and Marilyn had not really done the tent pitching thing before, at least not with the kind of tent I had borrowed from my step-mom Cathy, so they were a bit comical putting it up...

Marilyn: I was at least glad that we parked close to the car so just in case we could run like hell to the car and drive out of there immediately.

I was very interested to learn how to put the tent together. That was the fun part of camping.

Chad: We managed.  In fact we did a better job at that than you did taking this picture.

It was not late enough to be this dark if the sky was clear, but with the storm clouds, it was getting dark very fast.  And it was windy.  And the temperature was dropping very fast too.  The tent was up.  It was time to get inside and hunker down for the night.

Marilyn: Sam, you forget to mention that we were sleeping on top and all around cow dung. Yuk!

Chad: Yes, it was gettin quite cold.

Of course, it was much earlier than any of us had been used to going to sleep so far on this trip, but it was dark.  There was no TV.  There was nothing else.  So...  what could we do but at least get ready for sleep...

Marilyn: How cute…the three of us in the tent…now what do we do for the next 12 hours?

Chad: Or, get ready for a miserable, cold, sleepless night.  One of the two. 

OK, now this is a good time to remember that when we left home the previous day to head to rafting, knowing we were going camping directly afterwards, Chad decided NOT to bring his sleeping bag.

Chad had a big huge old fashioned sleeping bag, rather than the small compactible modern numbers Marilyn and I had.  He thought it would just be too big and cubersome to hike with.  It had filled an entire suitcase for him on the plane.

Of course, we were now camping 100 meters from the car.

Of course, although it was in the 70's or 80's during the day, it was plummeting to near freezing during the night.

Chad had no sleeping bag.  No blanket.  No nothing.

His plan was just to sleep with his coat.  But he was already shivering.

We started trying various things.

First Marilyn gave Chad her sleeping bag, and tried to fit in mine with me.  Um...  that was a tight squeeze.  Kind of interesting in a few ways, but it was just not working.  We just could not physically both fit in there.

Then we tried switching to using one of the bags as a blanket.

No good.

I suggested just putting both sleeping bags on top as blankets, that would fit over all three of us, and sleeping directly on the bottom of the tent.

I had no issue with this.  Marilyn and Chad did.

Eventually, we settled on something where we had one of the sleeping bags in sort of an S shape, and the other on top as an extra blanket.  I did sleep directly on the floor, cause I had no issue with that.

It was not the best arrangement.  We were all a little chilly, even with our coats.  But it would do.

I at least was completely satisfied with the arrangements. 

While Chad and Marilyn started discussing their respective love lives again, and bitching about how uncomfortable and cold it was, I fell right asleep.

Marilyn: Chatting with Chad was cool! I always like to get the male perspective on relationships. The complaining part was funny too. I am glad that he was just as miserable in the situation as me and expressed his dislike for the whole situation. It at least made me feel a little bit better.

Chad: We tried to get Sam to open up and join the discussion, to no avail.  He was all clammed up.

I may have stirred a couple times to switch position or to make a quick bathroom run, but basically I slept straight through the night.

Chad and Marilyn reported that overnight there were coyotes nearby howling, and rain, and wind, and all sorts of things that scared them.  And that they basically could not sleep at all because it was so uncomfortable and cold.

I remember none of this, because I was sleeping like a baby.  Chad and Marilyn are f***ing wimps!

Marilyn: There were all sorts of strange noises outside our tent. I heard a pack of coyotes. I was afraid that they were going to eat us alive.

Chad: Would have been no problem if I'd had my sleeping bag!  Very stupid move!  

Then before you knew it, we were waking up.

Marilyn: It was the longest 12 hours of my life. I was counting sheep while waiting for the sun to rise. Thank goodness for daylight.

Well, we let Chad sleep a few more minutes....

Marilyn: Thanks to me…Chad had a pillow to sleep on.

Chad: My eyes were closed, but unfortunately I was not sleeping.

But, we knew if we wanted to get the hiking in, and get back to the condo in time for our checkout, we needed to get on the way.  So, everybody up and out...

Marilyn: Let’s get this show on the road already!

We got the tent all packed back up again and in the truck, and we were all ready to start the hike to the random spot!!!

But then...

Marilyn: I was exhausted and had absolutely no energy. I hadn’t slept a wink and was not in the mood to hike anywhere. I really just wanted to go back to the condo.

Marilyn had decided that she had has such an uncomfortable and fitful sleep (or lack there of) that she could not possibly hike anywhere.  She wanted to sleep in the car instead.

"Um, Marilyn, this is kind of the whole reason we are here, you don't want to come??"

Nope.  She didn't.  Said we could go without her.

So Chad and I left her in the truck and started on our way.

Too bad for Marilyn.  She'll miss out.  Screw her.  Lazy wimp!

Marilyn: More like a tired wimp!

Chad: Inexcusible!

So we headed out just as the sun was actually rising.  About half a mile to the left of the route we had taken the other day.  A little flatter, but there was still soem climbing involved.

Soon after we started, we saw a bone.  We took a picture of it and marked the spot in the GPS, thinking we would come back and get it later, to bring to Marilyn.  But we never did.

Marilyn: I am glad that they did not bring me back that bone as a souvenir.

Chad: That sounds ominous- like we died a horrible death in the desert.  But don't worry, we survived!  

Chad hadleft his sleeping bag at the condo (on purpose).  Meanwhile, I had forgotten my belt.  It had been bothering me most of the previous day, but now, hiking up the side of a hill, it was really pissing me off, and I was complaining constantly to Chad, as every 15 feet or so, I felt like I had to pull my pants up.  I was also expressing that a few days ago these jeans were not that tight!  But perhaps that was wishful thinking. 

Chad ended up giving me his belt to shut me up.  I really appreciated that, and felt much more comfortable after that.

Marilyn: That was nice of you Chad to give Sam your belt.

Chad: Glad I could help.  You must have been slimming down!

After about half an hour of hiking, we had gone around the ridge we had gone over the other day, and were able to see roughly where we had gone before.  There was still a long way to go though.

Marilyn: Hurry up guys…no dilly dallying please…..

Chad: Not that far, if you'd just pick up the pace a little.  :)

At this point, what we could see was a crease in the dise of the mountain, perhaps a little gorge.  Whatever the correct term is.  We needed to get to the other side.  We could go down into the gorge and up the other side, or we could go around in a big U, staying at the same vertical level.

In the end, Chad took the straight route, and I went the U way.  We got to the other side about the same time.  Chad may have beaten me by a few seconds, but it was pretty close.  My way was a lot longer, but flat and easy for the most part.  His was shorter, but had the whole up and down thing going.

Anyway, shortly after getting to the other side, Chad decided that he desperately needed to use the non-existant facilities.  And not the quick and easy kind either. 

And while a number of people had told us before we even got to Idaho, "If you go camping, be sure to bring toilet paper!"...  we of course had not.

So Chaded for a little grove of trees and bushes to do his business.

Marilyn: There Chad goes again…literally……

Chad: A little grove of trees that was severely lacking in the leaf department, I might add. 

I went a good distance away and sat on a rock to wait for Chad.  Chad took a long time.

I will spare the details, Chad can supply more if he wishes, but suffice it to say that for at least the next half hour, Chad was complaining about how he felt dirty and unclean, and about just how foul he was due to the lack of proper sanitary facilities, and his choices of meals the previous day.

Thank you Chad for the pleasant thoughts.

And I am quite glad I did not feel a similar need at that time.

In any case, after that we did have a ways to go yet.  We could see from here we had to go down into another valley, then up the other side again (there was no going around this one).

At this point I was bad.  I started concentrating just on the hike and getting to where we wanted to be, that I didn't take any more pictures for awhile.  Was probably saving batteries too.

In any case, each time we thought we guessed that we could see the point as soon as we got over a ridge, there would be more.  I kept thinking, that must be it right up there, but I kept being wrong.

At a couple different points, we saw off a little ways what looked like a dirt road.  There had been no dirt road back here shown on the GPS.  This road was certainly closer to the random spot than where we had stopped!  We would have to check it out on the way back.

We headed up and down and around and up into some areads that were a bit more wooded, then back out that up to more scrubby hills, then up the side of a hill around some dead trees...

And then the countdown began.  100 feet.  90.  80.  70.  60.  50.  40.  30.  20.  10...  ZERO.

Well, OK, I got the picture at 6 feet.  It was bouncing around within GPS error, but Chad and I were there, at the random spot!!!

Marilyn: All I can say is that is so disgusting….Sam you went into took many details…spare me!

Chad: I think your description of the event will suffice.  Other than to say, I learned a valuable lesson for the next time I go camping.  

OK.  I know it is blurry.  I was all excited, and exausted from the hike.  I didn't take the time to set the macro focus properly.  Sorry!  In any cases, we were up at 8874 feet above sea level and had just hiked about 2 hours as the crow files (more on the ground) up and down and across the scrubby hills.  It had taken us almost exactly 2 hours.  Go us!!  It was time to celebrate!

Marilyn: Salute!

Chad: Cheers.

Well, Chad was celebrating.  I was just glad to have made it!

Marilyn: Me too! Ditto!

But we were there.  Time for the now traditional set of pictures in all directions from the random spot.  It really was an awesome view.

Marilyn: Splendid!

Chad: Quite spectacular, yes.  

The clock struck 15 (well, it would have had there been a clock that could strike with us) while I was in the middle of the panorama pictures...  it was time to head back.  But first, the rest of the pictures showing the area around the random spot...

Marilyn: How desolate!

And, it was my first time trying this, so I didn't do it exactly right, but here are all the above images stitched together for an almost (but not quite) 360 degree view from the spot.

Marilyn: Pretty neat Sam.

Chad: Hey, not too shabby!

The mountains in the distance looked great.  And just a TAD more challenging than the place where we were....

Marilyn: I don’t think that I will be climbing those any time soon.

And there was this neat dead tree beyween two live trees on the side of the hill...

Marilyn: Nature at it’s finest.

Then it was time to head off.  First item on the agenda, check out that road we saw on the way to the spot.  We couldn't quite see it from the random spot, but it was just over a hill...

Well, actually, once we had gone around a few corners, before we saw any road, we saw a cliff up on the side of a hill with caves in it!

We discussed climbing up to the caves to check them out.  But Marilyn was waiting for us back at the SUV, and we had to get back in time to check out...  and it would have taken awhile to get up to the caves and back.

So instead we kept going, turned a little and went over another hill, and yup...  there was the little dirt road!

Marilyn: Thanks guys for thinking of me. I was scared in the SUV by myself and was counting the seconds until you returned.

Chad: That road was a nice discovery.

One way the road headed north past the spot, the other way it headed back south in the general direction of where we had parked and camped.  Not quite straight at where we were, but back in the general direction.  It must have come off from the road we came in on, a little ways before where we stopped.  I had thought I had seen something like that when we came in, but it wasn't on the GPS map, so I had just gone right on by it, not really thinking anything of it.  Well, at least now that I was seeing the road, I thought maybe I had seen it.  But I didn't really know.

Chad and I started following the road.  It hugged the bottom of the valleys below where we had trudged before.  We were headed back along that path.

Then we got distracted again.  Up in the distance, up on a hill to our left, was this...  thing.

The above picture was at maximum zoom.  We had seen the thing while going toward the random spot from the other side and an even greater distance. 

Chad decided he would run up the hill to investigate.

And the thing was...

It was some sort of rain collection cistern.  It was connected to some pipes that initially went into the ground, but that at certain points had been visible running across the terrain.  On our first try for the spot we had parked near some of them, and had to step over and around them just as we were starting our climb.  They seemed to be directing the water away to somewhere, through larger and larger pipes.

I guessed it was for some sort of data collection on rainfall or snowmelt or something...  but that was a comple guess.  Maybe it was a water source for something.  Who knows.

It was a mysterious thing in the middle of nowhere that collected water and piped it away.

Odd.

Anyway, back to the road...

Marilyn: Very odd!

Chad: I know I wouldn't want to drink it.

We followed the road for a while, but then it turned sharply to the right, while the GPS was telling us that our SUV was straight ahead.  In that direction, after some scrub, was a barbed wire fence.  We decided that rather than follow the road who knows how far before it met the main road, we would go straight, and brave a crossing of the barbed wire fence...

Marilyn: Ouch. It is a good thing that you did not hurt yourselves.

Chad: Looks like my pants are falling down.  Wonder why. :)

After passing through the barbed wire fence without too much problem, perhaps just a small scratch or two, we walked a ways, then we hit the main road, well...  even the main road at this point was a gravel road. 

Another 20 minutes or so of walking down the road, and we went over a slight rise, and were finally able to see our SUV in the distance.

Marilyn: And this is what you call civilization out here in the middle of nowhere…a dirt road.

A few minutes later, we got back to the SUV.  Marilyn was finally awake, but we caught her by surprise.

Marilyn: Boy do I look like crap in this pic.

While we had been hiking to the random spot and back, Marilyn had been a lazy slug.

In any case, once back at the car, I checked the altitude.  8391 feet above sea level.  It had been a 483 feet climb to the random spot.  Not much compared to climbing Mount Baldy a few days earlier, but it had still been a decent hike.  A couple miles each way, with lots of going up and down hills.  And we had indeed gotten to the spot!  And Marilyn had missed it!!!

Ah...  but we had found that little road that got a lot closer to the spot.  And I wanted to see if I could find exactly where it met the main road, and see just how close we could have gotten driving if we had known that road was there.

We needed to get on the road back to the condo, but we had a little time, and by now Marilyn was showing remorse for not having gone to the spot, and really wanted to see it.

So we decided to find the little road, and drive as close as we could to the spot, then head back up there with Marilyn.

So we all got ready to leave and got in the car and started heading back, all the time looking for a little road heading off to the right.  We passed where Chad and I had met the road, then kept going another mile or so, and saw the road...  and we turned and headed down it.

Marilyn: At this point I got a second wind and wanted to see the random spot. I was glad that Sam and Chad found the dirt road. I did not want to feel left out.

Some of the road was OK and pretty flat.  But there were a couple places where we needed to turn on the four wheel drive.  On one of them, the road was tipped way off so that the right hand side of the truck was way lower than the right.  I was getting pretty scared of rollover, having no idea how far the truck could really tip!  That would have really sucked!  but somehow we made it through. 

As it turns out, that part where it was all tilted...  well...  there was a new path that went AROUND that part of the road, which would have been the smart thing to do.  Oops.  Oh well.

We kept watching the GPS as we got closer and closer.  A couple times it looked like we had gotten as close as we could, but we went a little further, and the road turned back toward the spot.  Eventually, we got even closer than we had thought guessing from where Chad and I had first found the road. 

The road got to a point that was less than a quarter mile from the random spot.  After going past the lowest distance a little ways to confirm it was going away from the spot we turned around, then parked at the closest point to the random spot in a fairly wooded area, surrounded by trees... 

Marilyn: It was pretty sunny there!

First thing we saw after parking?  A stone fire ring, and some other signs of a camping spot!  If only we had known of this place earlier!!

Marilyn: But this is a protected forested. Fires are not allowed.

Chad decided he had no desire at all to actually hike up to the spot again.  The road had pretty much stayed level.  Most of the last quarter mile was pretty steep.  Chad had done it already.

Marilyn really wanted to go though, so I agreed to hike up to the spot again.

Chad decided to walk down the road a bit to see where it went.

Marilyn and I started by contemplating heading straight up the hill through the wooded area, but rejected that idea, and instead walked down the road a bit the way we came to where it was more clear, then started heading up the hill and over and around a couple of small ridges...  and then, once again for me, we were at the spot.

What had taken Chad and I two hours from where we had camped, had taken Marilyn and I only 30 minutes from the new closer parking spot. 

So Marilyn was happy and exilerated!

Marilyn: I was ecstatic! I did not want to miss out on the whole point of the vacation…the infamous random spot.

And, having done this twice now, I was ready to collapse!

Marilyn: Poor poor Sam. It is not like he hadn’t already walked enough today and I dragged him back to the random spot again. I felt bad.

Did I mention Marilyn was happy to be there??

Marilyn: I felt like I was on top of the world. This pic rocks!

Chad: Nice vert ability there Marilyn!  

Time to hike back to the car.  On the way back, after going around the first few hills as we approached the car, we decided that we would try going straight down the hill through the wooded area rather than going around on the scrubby parts.  It wasn't as bad as it had looked from the bottom.

Marilyn: The terrain was very different from the rest of the forest. I felt like I was hiking back in the woods of Pennsylvania.

We got back to the car, and Chad was impatiently waiting for us. He had walked a way down the road, and found it kept going. Then he went back and sat in the car. He was really ready to go back to the condo now.

Marilyn: It had been an exhilarating 24 hours to say the least.

The random spot had been fun. But it was time to go home.

Marilyn: Thank goodness. A warm shower was calling my name.

So we headed on our way back, back toward Ketchum. We of course saw more cows along the way. But this time some of them were accompanied by an actual cowboy!

Marilyn: A real cowboy…how cool!

And we passed a guy fishing...

Marilyn: Nice camera shot. He looks like a serious fisherman.

Somewhere along the way, Chad and I realized that we were both too exausted to drive.  Marilyn would have to drive us the rest of the way home.

Marilyn: And you both trust me? I have a lead foot on the highways…watch out!

Marilyn took over in time for us to go once again, and for the last time, past the steep mountain road with the cliff on the side.

Marilyn: I was literally going 3 miles an hour. My left leg was so sore and burning from having my foot on the brake petal the whole time. I was concentrating so hard so that I did not make any mistakes. There wasn’t any room for errors in this situation.

I had been very uncomfortable and nervous on this road, but Marilyn was downright petrified. I don't think we cracked 10 miles per hour once. And she keept scooting way over to the left hand side of the road to not be near the edge. Chad and I had to keep yelling at her to keep right, because if she was on the left side of that road and some car came barelling around the corner, it would be a nasty head on crash and we probably WOULD get shoved off the edge! Chad and I were both too tired to drive though, so we were glad to let her have the chance, and in the end she did a good job and we made it back to the valley.

Marilyn: I was very proud of myself that we all made it back in one piece!

Soon after we were back at the condo.  I was freaking out because by the time we were getting back, we only had about 15 minutes until the time we were supposed to check out.  So I was all about how we had to just rush and throw ou stuff in the car super fast, and had time for nothing else.

Chad and Marilyn both decided that they were going to have showers, no matter what the time.  I was exasperated.  There was no time for that!  I decided that while they showered, I would throw stuff in the car.  And I mean THROW.  I just grabbed everything and stuffed it willy nilly into the car, with no rhyme or reason.

When the first of them got out of the shower though, I did run in and take one myself while they got their stuff together too.  I do admit I felt really gross and in need of a shower.

We managed to get all the stuff together, and Marilyn phoned ahead to the check out place (the same place we had checked in) to let them know we were running slighlty late and would be there in a few minutes.  They said if we got their quickly, we wouldn't be charged for a whole other day like the policy officially said.

When we got there, Chad stayed with the car to rearrange what I had just tossed in there;.  He was really annoyed at my packing job, so he fixed it.

Meanwhile, inside, Marilyn started complaining about the painters who had been in the condo while we were there, and who at one point had left the doors unlocked and opened while our stuff was in there, and was saying we should get all kinds of credit for that.  We ended up getting a free day because of Marilyn. I never would have even asked for it. Anyway, we were all checked out.

Marilyn: Of course, we were running late. It was very insane. I cannot even take a shower in 15 minutes let along pack all of my belongings. It was really a 2 hour project in normal circumstances.

It pays to complain. Hey, I saved us $200.00. Since I was the one that complained, I should have been the one to get a credit on my tab with Sam…just kidding!

Good going Marilyn!  On the complaining that is.  It was deserved.  

We decided to take one more trip into Kethcum before heading back to Boise.

Marilyn: I am going to miss Ketchum. It is such a charming town.

We got some stuff to eat, and then right before heading out, we needed to stop so Marilyn could shop for gifts and trinkets. Chad was patient, but ready to go.

Marilyn: It wasn’t any fun shopping with Chad. It is a party pooper!

That done, we headed back to the truck.

Marilyn: Bye Bye Ketchum!

Then we hopped into the truck and started the drive back to Boise.  On major roads and highways this time.  As we started our trip back to Boise, our time in Ketchum done, and the vacation almost over, Day 7 ended.

Marilyn: And what a fun vacation it had been. Do we really have to go home?