Life of a Gal Named Liv

Trailhead: 43d 47′ 04″ N 116d 05′ 15″ W

When hiking in the fall, you always take a chance. Do you hike to beautiful elevations and potentially risk freezing  your bum off… Or do you stay in the lower elevation and risk the chance of heatstroke? In Idaho, we never know what the weather will be like so, personally I always take that high elevation risk and just wear lots of layers. Today, thankfully turned out to be a lovely day with a low of 45 and a high of 65- perfect mountain weather.

 Unlike most of my hikes, the whole family (dog included) decided to join me on today’s trek through Bogus Basin’s forest. The hike itself is quite easy- mainly just a slight incline- but beware all access roads are blocked off fall to late spring so assume an extra 1.3 mile walk to the trailhead.

When you reach Shafer Butte Campground- via FR 374E- you can look over the edge to a beautiful view of the Boise national forest. From there, backtrack to trailhead 198 just after the picnic sites.  The Mores mountain trail is the general access to 190 and 198 so be sure to vear to the 198 trail at the fork.

 The trail winds through thick brush, granite outcroppings with mica inlay, and scenic passageways.

  Extensions to this hike are possible- it’s easy to connect to see Mores Creek and Mores Summit- which will lead you towards the old mining town of Silver City. (This is one of my prospect weekend trips this fall!) If an extension is not for you, backtrack uphill to the start of the trailhead-being sure to stay on 198 not 190. The hike back lets you see the sights again which I feel creates more appreciation for view.

 Overall, this was a perfect fall hike for our  bi-polar weather and really wasn’t too hard for everyone. I highly recommend the extension for those of us who like more of a challenge- but for the family it was definitely a great destination!

Hike on!

Liv