Bogus Basin and Sheep

“Weight lifing” on the steep mountain bike trails at Eagle MTB park was just not working for us this morning.  We decided to drive up to Bogus Basin and do a hike we did in 2014.  On the way up we were over taken by a police car.  We saw them later stopped on the road.  We asked if someone had gone over the side and they said yes. 

This picture does not really do justice to the steepness of side of the hill.  The two police officers were preparing to set off down that hillside into a ravine to go look for a crashed vehicle.  We could not believe they were going to do it without climbing equipment, that’s really fire department work.  Anyway, they told us to move along so we did.  When we went home, no one was there, so there’s no telling what happened.  Hopefully the police didn’t break a leg on that hillside.

We drove all the way to the top, parking at the Pioneer Lodge.

See the trail on the far left side of the photo, sort of in the middle, top to bottom?  That would be the desired trail covered in snow.  There would be no hiking from that parking lot today.  Those two were on their way down, they’d hiked up and skied down something.

We hiked Sapper’s return.  It’s like a cat track.  It was a pleasant walk, not too wet, not too steep.  I think those green plants on the left are skunk cabbage.

We stopped at a trail head to see if anything looked rideable (no).  They had some literature up on the kiosk about the sheep that would be in the area twice a year.  One should not ride through a flock of sheep, one should dismount and walk through them.

The sheep herders travel with Great Pyrenees dogs to guard the sheep.  If the dogs approach, one should put the bike between you and the dog.  One should talk to the dog so it knows you’re human.  It’s interesting to see that sheep still migrate seasonally.

What is missing from the top of this hill?

The Simplot mansion is gone.  It was demolished in 2016.  The Simplots had given the house to Idaho for a governer’s mansion.  Idaho gave it back because they couldn’t afford it.  The Simplots didn’t want to live there, or maintain it, so it was demolished.  They do want to keep the land, and that flag flying.  You can read the article here.

That’s it!  That’s all I have to report from Boise.