September planning done....where are we headed?

So, I missed Awesome August in the park and the great fishing that is available up there at this time of the year.   But I'm back home now, and I'm planning to get out and about in Sweet September. Hey..that started today already!

This weekend Paul and I are going to hit the Cub River in southeast Idaho near Preston of Napoleon Dynamite fame. The river is pretty small, so it's perfect for a three-year old. It's not really backcountry, but considering it's Paul's first night out of the house without Mommy, it's about as backcountry as I want to get with him right now. We'll be a 90-minute drive away from home, so the escape is very doable but hard enough to make me think twice about bailing.

I'm expecting to do a little bit of fishing and probably a lot of hiking. Paul wants a fire, too, and there are fire rings in the campgrounds, so we'll get to do that. I guess hot dogs and marshmallows are in order then, too! Of course, we'll be sleeping in a tent. If he's asleep before 9:30pm, I'll call it a success, but my plan is to simply let him go to sleep whenever he wants to so he'll associate camping with staying up as late as he wants and therefore want to go all the time. I hope to be able to sleep in a bit, but with this kid...who knows!?

On a side note for you planners, you can see all the campgrounds available online at www.recreation.gov and make reservations there, too. But beware that you can't make reservations once you're inside a three day window to the arrival date...I'm caught in that trap right now because I didn't make reservations yesterday and they don't take phone-ins inside that window either.  A commercial site that does the same thing is www.reserveamerica.com.

Then.....for the weekend of Sept 17, I get to hit the backcountry of Bechler Meadows for two nights. It's gonna be AWESOME! I've only been to that part of the park once, but it was so incredibly cool that I can't wait to get back. The fishing is much harder than the Lamar River, but I'm telling myself I'm ready for it. Also, the drive time is about half as long, so that's another plus.