Letterbox Planting on Goose Creek Trail

Releasing the Spare Tire

Removing the Flat Tire

Putting the Spare Tire On

(Raisin is Supervising)

Anthony Walking the Road Looking for His Lost Glasses

Mini Waterfalls Along the Trail

The Trail Head

One of the Letterboxes is Planted Here

Beautiful Trail

Little Mushroom

Taking a Dip

Near the Falls

On the Trail

There is Another Letterbox Here

Last Sunday was one of those days where fate was uncooperative with us and our plans for the day.  We were able to break down camp very quickly which was great but that was the ending of our simple plans to hike, visit a waterfall, plant letterboxes and drive back to Boise by early afternoon.

The first issue on our way down the rabbit hole was a pressure leak in the rear left tire.  We knew that was not good news as the truck's dashboard informed us of our demise.  We pulled out on to the main road and decided to just change the tire then and there instead of waiting for it to go completely flat.  With a full sized spare we knew we would be able to pull the tent trailer back to Boise without any issues or needing to call AAA.

It took about an hour for the tire change due to the fact that we needed to release the spare tire with the assistance of the owner manual directions.  It was not as easy as most vehicles to reach in and grab.  Once we finally figured it out Anthony was a total pro jacking the truck up and switching out the tires.

Back on the road again we thought we were finally headed to the trail when we realized that Anthony had left his glasses on the top of the tent trailer as we drove away.  Anthony had already lost his new glasses less than 9 months ago so we were not willing to drive away without looking for this pair.  After Anthony walked the road back and then forth again (while I followed very slowly in the truck) with no luck we finally conceded that an hour of looking was more than enough to realize that they were lost and we were not going to find them.  Part of the difficulty in finding them was that they were the style with the very light frame which are even hard to see just sitting on the dining room table.  This was his second pair of glasses left in the wilds.  Anthony is now down to his umpire glasses while we wait for his new glasses to arrive from the eye doctor.

We finally made it to Goose Creek Trail to hike the almost three miles (6 round trip) to the Goose Creek Waterfall.  Our plan was to hike to the waterfall and plant 4 letterboxes on our way back working the clues from the waterfall on the hike back to the camp ground.  The trail was perfect with lots of shade, lush foliage, little streams and the river near by.  It was so lovely in fact that I decided on the path to the waterfall that I would personally explore the underbrush from eye level.

In books and movies when the girl has two left feet is it cute and endearing.  In reality it results in bloody knees, scraped up palms and the heroine us usually embarrassed and covered in dirt and twigs.  Such is the case with me.  Remember I am the same girl that slipped on the rocks a the Great Lakes and cut up both knees and my shins.

Well it only took one wrong step on the right side of the mountain and over I toppled.  I can't really say how I landed or managed to stop as it was very steep and there was a significant amount of brush and plants.  Fortunately the dirt on the ground was soft and I luckily was able to plant my feet and stop my descent down the mountain.  It was a very long way down and there were large trees at the bottom.  It would have been really bad had I traveled all the way down.  I screamed for Anthony as I attempted to untangle myself from all of the leaves, vines and plants I was tangled up in. 

I can just imagine what it looked like to Anthony as he turned around on the trail and I had completely vanished from sight.  He walked back to where I was laying in the dirt, looked down and said "What are you doing down there?" and then asked if the camera was okay.  You just gotta love that man!  I was able to turn myself over on to my stomach and climb up a bit and then Anthony pulled me up the remainder of the way using one of his hiking poles.  The fall really shook me up.  And as expected I was covered in dirt, both knees were bleeding and the palms of my hands were very sore and scraped up.  The good news was that I was able to pull myself together and continue on the hike even though every step was painful due to my raw knees.

Upon making it to the falls we enjoyed our peanut butter sandwiches in the shade, shot a few pictures (not near the edge) and then started back on the trail.  We did get down to business and were able to plant four letterboxes on the lovely trail during our hike back.  Fate was not completely done with us for the day.  On the return hike one of the straps on Anthony's brand new backpack broke completely.  By the time we returned to the truck I was just prying that we would make it back to Boise without any further incidents.  Fortunately it was smooth sailing the rest of the afternoon and evening.

This is the Section Where I Fell