Ahh…Fall in Idaho

The fam at Palisades Creek.

Britt giving dad a break going up Palisades Cr.

Lunch at the reservoir in the gentle Fall sunshine.

"Free at last…" Palisades Reservoir.

Beautiful Madeline Ruby Lane TeNgaio.

We've been blessed with incredible fall weather lately and this past weekend was no exception. We know the inevitable is coming (winter) so we decided to ditch doing family stuff in town and headed out into the hills to see the fall colors and get one more hike in before it's too cold.

Lunchtime on Saturday found us on the shoreline of the Palisades Reservoir eating cold cuts whilebasking in the mellow fall sunshine. The foliage on the surrounding hillsides is just barely starting to turn colors so we didn't get the full-meal-deal. I think it's been a bit too warm and the temps at night aren't getting as cold yet to make the trees go into their winter dormancy. The scenery was still cool though.

Afterward, we hiked up Palisades Creek. Many hikers and fisherpeople were out on the trail. This is by far the best local hike to do in the fall due to the abundance of trees and bushes that turn color this time of year – and it's also the busiest. It's a trail we've kind of avoided before we had kids due to that fact but now that things have changed, we're all for it.

The trail is pretty mellow and fast going. Horseback riders use this trail too and it can get a bit stinky along the way. Just make sure the kids know the diference between mud and horse poo and they'll be alright. I'm gald we opted to leave Izzy (dog) at home because she looooooves horse poop. Both Madeline and Ethan took their mandatory wipe-outs alog the trail but they survived (stupid rocks in the trial anyway). Despite the spills we all had fun and made it farther than we have before on this trail.

By the time we were heading home the sun had lowered itself on the horizon illuminating the aspen and cottonwood trees along the south fork of the Snake River. Simply put: splendid.

Ahhh…fall in Idaho is blessedly sweet.