I went to Idaho Falls on Friday, Sept. 30 to go shopping for the day and pick some corn at the Cherry Farm in Mud Lake. Whenever I have an outing, Josh likes to have his own "outing", too. He left after work on Friday and drove to the Pahsimeroi Valley, in anticipation of hiking to Bell Mountain the next day. Bell Mountain is the highest point in Lemhi County. Since he finished hiking the peaks east of Salmon in the nearby Bitterroots, Bell Mountain was next on his hiking list. We see Bell Mountain (its shape is also similar to that of a bell) when we drive from Salmon to Idaho Falls, but he did some research and found the best way to hike it was up its backside, which is reached via the Pahsimeroi Valley.
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| I took this photo in 2019: Bell Mtn is the uniquely-shaped peak. |
He found a spot at the base of the mountain after his 2-hour drive. He parked the Jeep and set up his tent for the night. He began his hike early Saturday morning, but unfortunately, a storm blew in that morning that made the hike much more difficult. It was terrible weather: cold, windy, snowy, and the clouds were very low, so he couldn't see where he was going. It took him a lot longer to get to the top than he'd anticipated. He was also struggling due to the elevation--oxygen levels are lower at higher elevations, and due to his paralyzed vocal cords, breathing is already a struggle, let alone at a higher altitude! At one point, he was getting very lightheaded and was so cold, that he stopped and made a fire on the hike. It gave him the energy to continue, and after realizing that he'd gone past the peak (but he couldn't tell at the time because the trail was vague and the visibility was bad), he back-tracked and finally made it to the intended peak. Unfortunately, the lookout views weren't great due to the weather, so he didn't stay at the top for very long. The way back down went much quicker, since he knew the correct way to go this time around, but the trail was pretty slippery from the recent dusting of snow. The hike and descent took him 7 and a half hours to complete, and he covered 8.4 miles on foot in that time. He was glad that he was able to accomplish what he set out to do (although he wants to go again when the weather is better so he can see the views from the top!). I was just glad that he returned home to me! When I woke up Saturday morning to bad weather, I worried about him all day!
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| The view from his campsite Friday afternoon. |
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The weather started out cold, but decent,
on Saturday morning. |
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| The storm rolled in, covering the mountaintops he was headed towards. |
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| The wintery wall he was headed into... |
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| The views he was leaving behind... |
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His traditional photo of MOUNTAIN Dew
on a MOUNTAINtop! |
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| Yep, that's fresh Bear Scat!!! |
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| Fall is so beautiful, even in a winter storm! |
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