Hiking Tablerock

For several years, Sean and I have talked about wanting to hike Tablerock together. We both hiked it as youth (he for scouts, and I for girls camp). I remembered it being awesome and have always wanted to go back as an adult. We decided this would be the year, and we made it happen at the end of the summer. Jackson asked if he could join us. It's a pretty difficult hike-- the way we were going is 14 miles round trip and 4,000 feet elevation gain. We thought he could do it, but gave him the stats and let him decide. I was really happy when he decided to come! We left the other kids with Sean's parents in Idaho Falls for the day, and the three of us set off. As we were nearing the parking lot, we spotted a couple of fox-- I considered it a good omen! 

Ready to go! Charlie came along for the hike, too!

The trail was really beautiful right from the beginning. I loved walking through these big meadows with the tall wildflowers. We saw a moose from a distance fairly early on in the hike. 

I was worried there wouldn't be many wildflowers that late into the season, but those fears were completely unfounded, because there were SO many wildflowers and they were gorgeous!

Jackson and I were excited to see our favorite-- Rosy Indian paintbrush! We learned about this particular version of Indian paintbrush on our trip to Glacier National Park a few years ago.

One of the first glimpses we got of Tablerock in the distance.

The wildflowers were pretty amazing everywhere, but in this section of the trail, they were unreal.

Found a little pocket of snow!

Tablerock was finally starting to look closer!

This last stretch was a killer. It's pretty steep, and at one point, you cross a big section of shale boulders.

When we finally made it up that last climb to the top of Tablerock, we gasped when the amazing view of the Tetons appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They are hidden from view until you summit. It truly was awe inspiring and SO beautiful. 

I was so proud of this kid! He did awesome and was so fun to have with us!

We found ourselves a nice rock ledge mostly shielded from the wind, and ate lunch with a pretty amazing view.

Jackson made friends with a squirrel at the summit.

The view was so amazing, it was hard to leave. I had started descending and then hurried and ran back up for one more look!

Headed down!

Charlie also did amazing on the hike. He seemed so happy to be with us. He did roll in horse poop on the way down. Thankfully, we were able to wash him off in the stream!

Awesome experience and I am so glad we made this hike happen this year! 

Sandpoint

On the last full day of our trip, we took a day trip up to nearby Sandpoint. We went in sort of blind and not really knowing what the day had in store, but it ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip! After stopping at a rock/gem shop and grabbing burritos at Joel's for lunch, we decided to go check out Schweitzer Resort. On our way to the resort, we notice a few people pulled over and realized they were picking huckleberries! We immediately pulled over and found our own little spot, and sure enough, there were huckleberries all around. We grabbed whatever bags we could find in the car and started picking. We were amazed at not only how many there were, but how BIG they were! They were much bigger than the ones we usually pick at the end of the summer outside of Idaho Falls. Before very long at all, we had picked a bunch! It was really fun and the kids were really excited about it.

Some were bigger than blueberries!

Sean, Jackson, and Bode decided to go mountain biking at Schweitzer, so while they were gone, Davis, Molly, and I decided to take a little hike the guys at the resort recommended and go pick more huckleberries. The trail was beautiful and we found more huckleberries than I have ever seen. They were everywhere! More than enough to go around. We saw a few other people picking and everyone was so friendly. The view of Lake Pend Oreille was so pretty!

View of the resort where Sean, Jackson, and Bode were mountain biking, from the trail Davis, Molly, and I were hiking.

The older boys loved the mountain biking and said the trails were awesome. Sean took a bunch of pictures and it was fun looking through them and hearing about it. 

When the boys were finished, we met up at the resort. We let the kids all pick something out at the gift shop. Jackson and Bode picked out beanies, Davis got a hat, and Molly picked out a shirt. 

View driving down from the resort back into Sandpoint.

After a stop for huckleberry shakes, we headed back to CDL.

The next morning, we packed up and had one more family shuffle board tournament before heading out. We made a quick stop for more huckleberry handpies and one last look at downtown before heading home. 

It was a great conclusion to a really, really fun trip. I feel very fortunate we were able to take this trip together. We were all itching to go somewhere after feeling a bit locked down due to Covid-19, and this worked out to be a trip where social distancing wasn't too big of a deal. It was fun seeing northern Idaho, because I have heard about it from my parents my whole life and wanted to see it. We all left big fans! Our trip turned out even better than I'd hoped and we came home with many new great memories.