Iverson Road

this picture is looking north along Iverson Road,  north of Notus, Idaho.    this is from yesterday 12-23-13   11 mile walk between Lon Davis/Market Road intersection and highway 20/26 in Notus.     

Payette to Notus map

Payette to Notus

since my last blog post, I have been working my way south from the town of Payette, Idaho  to  yesterday's new tag point in Notus, Idaho.     

This is roughly a 28 mile stretch, which I walked in sections.    I used Elmore Road which roughly parallels highway 95, walked that road north and west into Fruitland.   Then I had to road walk highway 95 to get across the Payette River and to my previous tag point in the town of Payette.

From Echo Ave. and Elmore Road intersection, I walked Elmore Road (x2) to the south to where it Tees into Pearl Road.   This section crosses a lot of farm and cattle land and had a lot of ups and down from the rolling hills.  

A short jaunt on Pearl Road took me to the top of Lon Davis Road.  This road is paved further south, but the 4.25 mile section across a huge section of hills was all dirt road.    I had to first scout it with my car in order to find where Lon Davis Road connected in to Pearl Road.   It is not marked with a sign.   it's just one of many dirt roads that exit onto Pearl Road.   

I went out on a bitterly cold day and walked the section (x2) of Lon Davis Road, there and back through the crunchy snow.  

Yesterday 12/23/13  I walked a 5.6 mile section (x2)   from Market Road to Iverson Road, down Iverson to Purple Sage Road, over to Notus Road.    Then I followed Notus Road a short way into the town of Notus, to highway 20/26, and crossed the highway and the railroad tracks.

this is my newest "tag point" and is where I will take up again in the new year on my continuing trek south to the Snake River.  

Weiser to Payette

via Cove Road and Hill Road and part of highway 95 through Payette

see attachment

Weiser to Payette

yesterday's walk started in the town of Weiser, Idaho, at the Weiser River Trail kiosk.   Darla was spending the day with her sister, so she dropped me off to begin the walk.   I walked 16 miles south to the town of Payette, following some back country roads which roughly parallel highway 95.   

the attached map shows the route of Hill Road in green.   this was my intended route.   however, in tried-and-true "Doofus and Lark" fashion  (except with only Doofus, not Lark)   the orange line shows an unintended detour I took.    

A few miles along, I came to a fork in the road which was not signed.  The branch to the left did not look as well travelled, while the branch to the right looked like the main road.   After some distance travelled along the right fork, it became apparent that it was taking me straight back to highway 95.   Just before reaching the highway, there was a dirt road that cut back to the east.   I figured this would take me back to Hill Road.....which, it did.   however, there was an irrigation ditch intervening between the dirt road and the pavement of Hill Road.   and there was no bridge across.   I started to continue along the irrigation road, but it started heading back to the west again, and passed behind a fence line that was posted No Trespassing.

....great....

i didn't want to wind up on private property.   I backtracked to the nearest point between the irrigation road and Hill Road. 

well....here goes nothing.   Let's get it over with.   I took off my boots and socks and rolled up my pants over my knees.  The water in the ditch only looked about knee deep.    I found out that it was hip deep.  Then I got over to the other bank and found it to be slimy mud.   My hiking pole sank halfway.   Oh, great, I'm going to get stuck in quicksand.   I had to angle my way up the bank by digging a foot hold with my left foot, stepping up, and then digging another foothold with my right foot.  All the way, I was clawing at the muddy bank with my free hand.    

I scrambled up the bank and out across the pavement with half my clothes and body drenched and muddy.    At least my boots and socks were dry, because I had cast them over to the other side.   My wallet was wet.  Fortunately I had stowed my cell phone and mp3 player in my shirt pocket.    I finished the remaining 9 miles of the walk in wet pants, although by the end of the walk they were mostly dried out.   

I rejoined highway 95 coming into the north side of Payette and walked another mile and a half south.   I finally called Darla for a pickup after almost 6 hours and 16 miles of solid walking.     

...the adventure lives on....

Forty in 48

here is another video segment of my seven year adventure hiking the Idaho Centennial Trail.

titled "Forty in 48"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Pp9DpLEbg&list=UUePBvxGwStEPcCEUHZrPE-w

this dates back to August of 2006 in the panhandle of Idaho, north of Clark Fork.

fellow Idaho Outdoors list members Nick Abshire, Jerry (Frog) Finnegan were with me on this 40 mile section hike.

I had to use Jerry's pictures, because the disposable camera I used was misplaced and never seen again.

near Lunch Peak we met Chris Harrington shaggythehiker@aol.com from Nampa, Idaho.

Chris was within a few days of completing his ICT hike. He finished at Upper Priest Falls, a few days after we finished our hike.

 

 

 

I have now walked the 85 mile Weiser River Trail 4 times.