Hey Hey! I know I am really late to be making a post about this, but between work picking up in the summer and me picking up because of the summer, I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write it out. I was waiting till I got the TikTok / shorter videos edited from this trip, but I think I am just going to post those later. I just got back from a family camping trip that I will post about next weekend but wanted to make this post now to get all caught up if that makes sense lol. Hopefully, you have already seen the vlogs I made from this trip, and this will just be a summary. If you haven’t watched them I will have them linked and ready to watch in this post!

Day 1: Atlas’s Maiden Voyage!

So exciting to get to take Atlas out on our first adventure! I cannot explain the happiness I get driving my van around town every day. It is like I finally found the right slot for my soul. But getting to take Atlas on a real bona fide adventure took it to a whole other level. It doesn’t help how stir crazy I am to finally hit the road but its definitely good to work out some of the kinks and figure out what does and doesn’t work. Overall I think everything went well and we learned quite a bit and not just with the van but also with shooting video and editing, cooking, finding places to sleep and so much more.

For the maiden voyage, I wanted to pick somewhere really cool, but not too far away, and if possible somewhere I haven’t been. The Sawtooth have been on my bucket list for a while. I almost went last year, but there were some fires that tore through the area and ended up going somewhere else. I was on the fence even now since I was worried everything was going to be burnt, but was pleasantly surprised. The drive up went well and was fairly quiet There are definitely large sections of the Sawtooths that were affected by the fires, but the area around Redfish and a lot of the area northeast were in decent condition. The first day was mostly driving with me ending up at the Baker Creek Picnic Area where we camped and cooked up some grub before bed. You can watch my cooking / ADHD antics here:

Day 2: Redfish Lake, Geocaching, and Beltane!

Woke up and after getting the van fit to drive, we hit the road for a short drive down to a nearby hot springs that ended up being closed. By the looks, it was due to construction projects or that it was abandoned, but it was no worry; it was a good warm-up hike. After we headed for the real goal of the day: Reddish Lake! We stopped in Stanley and filled up Atlas’s tank and came back and enjoyed lunch before hitting the trail. There were a handful of geocaches in area 4 around the lower lake and a handful in the upper lake. I ended up finding 3 of the 4 closer ones. I think 1 of them was gone since there was an obvious spot for the cache but no cache. The ones at the upper lake were a little too hard to get to without snowshoes.

I had a blast exploring the caches brought me to some really cool places. The weather was perfect and there were not too many people out and about. The Sawtooth’s were just as beautiful as I expected them to be but seeing them and having them as the backdrop to your hiking is an EXPERIENCE. Once we got up to the upper lake I just spent some time on the lake journaling, playing with my tarot and reading. I have been reading about Druidism recently because I feel like their beliefs really align with my own. I want to see if I have a similar awakening I did with Wicca, but with Druidism. I read all about Ogham, or the Celtic tree alphabet. One of the things they talked about was that their design made them really easy to carve into things. I picked a “Few” that is for delight and celebration, hoping to bring those vibes in for the kids who would play there this summer.

My tarot was the 9 of wands, which typically means you are on the final stretch, but to stay diligent and mindful of the last few obstacles. Very fitting as we edge closer and closer to starting my life as a nomad. After running out of snacks and Olipop we headed back so we could find somewhere to camp for the night. For the 3rd day I wanted to find a Hotspring on the way back to Boise so I found a campsite that was near a few hot springs and found a nice river side spot at Salmon River Campground just outside Stanley. I cooked up some soup and did some more Wicca stuff before heading off for Z’s

Day 3: Hotsprings and Homecomings!

The first hot springs I tried were just a short walk to a river side hot springs that didn’t meet my standards. I was lucky enough to find one in Stanley that was not only huge but also completely empty with an amazing view of the Sawtooths! I could not have asked for a better way to end my first adventure, and am so so so so excited for all the adventures to come. If you want to watch my vlog from day 2 and 3 you can watch it down below. Don’t be afraid to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to watch my vlogs earlier. It takes me a minute to post them here. Thanks for checking in, I have a van update on the horizon, I am also going to be making some vlogs and a post for this camping trip I just went on this weekend. Cheers!