Backpacking with Kirk

Kirk and I decided we were long overdue for a little vacation.  We called up his parents and they came to take care of our kiddos for 5 days!  We were gone August 15 through 19.  We spent the first night up in Coeur d'Alene at a bed and breakfast.  We went out to dinner right by the lake and took a little walk through the park.  It was very relaxing.  We had a great breakfast and then headed out to Kelly Creek.  It is in the middle of nowhere in north Idaho.  We drove 4.5 hours from Coeur d'Alene to get there, 1.5 of those on a dirt road! 

The trail wasn't very steep and followed the river.  We saw a ton of garter snakes along the trail and it was pretty.  We have both missed being out in the mountains.  I haven't been backpacking for 4 years!  We used to go about 4 times a year.  We hiked up 4 miles that afternoon and found a great campsite.  It was right where Cayuse Creek meets Kelly Creek and was a beautiful spot.  We set up out tent and stuff and headed back downstream a little bit to catch some fish.  Kirk is much more experience than me and caught about a dozen that evening.  I only caught a couple, but they were pretty!  We made dinner and went to bed. 

The next morning we decided to hike further up Kelly creek to fish.  We hiked for about 45 minutes and then spotted a good hole and jumped in--literally.  We were wading the river most of the day.  The fishing started off slow, but picked up and we each caught several fish.  Kirk got stuck on the opposite bank from me for a while because the water got too deep to cross back.  I was still able to fish, but got kind of hungry!  Finally, we took a lunch break and fished a bit more before heading back down to our camp.  We went back to the spot we were at the previous evening again.  The fish were bigger and more plentiful down there.  I ended up catching a lot more fish this day. 

The third morning we hung out around camp a bit.  It was a foggy morning and we wanted to wait for the sun to hit the water before fishing.  That day we hiked up along Cayuse Creek.  It was also a pretty big creek.  It was very pretty and the water was super clear.  We caught a few fish on the way up, but not enough to get us to hike up very far.  We ended up going back down to Kelly Creek and fishing up toward our campsite again.  This ended up being my favorite part of the trip, and Kirk's too.  I was getting more comfortable with the fishing and was casting a lot better.  We saw a hole with a lot of fish rising  and I went up and caught a bunch.  Several of them got away, but I caught a lot too and it was really fun.  We went back and ate dinner and then fished on last evening.  I had caught 17 by the end of the afternoon and was able to get 3 more for a total of 20 that evening.  I bet Kirk caught over 60 while we were there, but he doesn't really keep track anymore. 

Our last day we just packed up and hiked out.  I was missing our kids by that point and was finally ready to go home.  I think Kirk was missing them a couple of days before me this time :).  We saw 2 otters swimming in the river on our way out and that was pretty fun.  We drove about 6 hours to get home with about 1.5 on a dirt road again.  We took a different route to get home and it was another really pretty and scenic drive.  We had a great time together.  It was nice to just relax and not have to worry about making meals, doing dishes, keeping 2 little kids happy, work, money etc.  We will definitely be planning another trip. . . hopefully next year!

Cade and Cami did great while we were gone.  I got really big hugs from both of them when I got home though.  Cade asked me if I wanted to leave again so Grandma could come play.