Monday morning we woke at sunrise, around 4:30. After a quick, light breakfast we piled into Beth’s Grandmother’s car and took the 45 minute drive to the trail-head. When we arrived around 6:00, it was still very cool and damp out. It was an excellent time to be hiking so we wasted no time getting started. By 9:00 we had gone about 5 miles and had discarded our warm layers and pants legs; it was warming quickly. Before we even stopped for lunch, we had already reached the spot where we originally intented to camp. It was good that we were making quick time on the first day, because the next two days were forcasted to have temperatures reaching into the 90’s.

The trail was relatively flat, with very few difficult areas. The river was high and we saw a small group of rafters floating down the river, loaded with what appeared to be scientific equipment. It was amazing how clear the water was. In calm spots you could easily see to the bottom, even in deep and narrow areas. The sky was perfectly clear, and the day was warm. We stopped often for water, and made a stop for lunch around 1:00. By that time we had traveled over 12 miles. Again, we were making very good time for the first day. We chose our camping spot for the evening (another 5 miles down the trail) and after our break continued on.

The mountains on either side of the river became steeper at this point, and in one spot the trail migrated as high as 600 to 800 feet above the river. Still, the trail remained relatively easy, though you would not want to trip and fall; it was a very steep slope down the trail. I was surprised how dry it was. The remains more or less on the south-facing side of the Selway river, so there is little protection from the sun, and with the slopes being so steep, there is no purchase for pools of water. Small streams or creeks would cross the trail periodically, and the vegetation would be noticeable more lush and green in their immediate vicinity. These were excellent sources of water; there was no need to treat it for drinking. Oh, and there were absolutely no mosquitoes.

By about 4:00 we had reached a nice flat open area by the river that looked to be an excellent place to set up camp. Plus we were pretty tired from having been up since 4:30am and hiking 17 miles. There was a large group of rafters camped on a sand bar on the opposite side of the river, but there was nobody else in camping spot we had chosen. It was very quiet and peaceful. After setting up camp, eating dinner, and cleaning up there was some time before sunset to set by the river and take it easy. We left the rain sheet off of our tent (no chance of rain) to see the stars and let air flow around us while we slept. Being exhausted, we went to bed not long after sunset.

The second morning was another an early start. Sunrise; by 4:30 we were up and having breakfast. Not long after 5:00 we had our packs ready and were on the trail. Again, we knew it was going to be a hot day so we wanted to get as much of our hiking done as possible before it warmed up. The goal was to reach Moos Creek Ranger Station around noon-time and spend a little time there before continuing on. Beth’s mom had been stationed there for several summers when she worked in the Nez Perce National Forest during college. The trail and terrain was not significantly different from the day before, a little more step and rugged.

We reached Moose Creek around 11:00 and hiked along the air field to the far end where the ranger station was located. Although it may seem unlikely, there is an airfield at the wilderness Ranger Station and we saw a couple small planes land while we were there. People fly in in their personal airplanes, camp, and then fly out. Plane camping as opposed to car camping. The airstrip is also used by the Forest Service to supply the ranger station. The ‘compound’ around the ranger station consisted of the Ranger Station building itself(it’s on the national registry of historic places), 2 large cabins, a large bunk house, several smaller 2-person bunkhouses, and a sizable horse and mule corral with a barn. We saw more people here than the entire time on the trail. There were trail crew and other workers staying at the Ranger station, as well as a Ranger who managed the Station. A group of rafters who had camped by the river and made the walk up also passed through. We spent about an hour and a half at the Moose Creek Station, including some time eating our lunch, and got back on the trail.

By this time the temperature had risen into the 90’s. This is also where the trail took a turn due south, so there was very little shelter from the sun. This was by far the hottest part of the trail and it also became noticeably more difficult. It was steeper on either side of the trail and more steep spots and loose rock. There was also very little shelter from the Sun. About every mile or so the trail would turn inward away from the river to cross a stream or creek. We took breaks here, getting cold water and cooling off in the shade. Some breaks were longer than others. A couple times I went as far to remove my shirt, soak it in the creek, wring it out and put it back on before heading back out on the trail. This kept me very cool, until my shirt dried out (which was quickly). Trees also appeared much more sporadically; for awhile there was only a patch of shade every 300 feet or so. Other than that it was hiking in the direct sun in 90-degree heat. This was certainly the hottest section of trail of the entire hike.

Camping spots were much more sparse as well due to the more rugged terrain. We finally reached our camping site for the second night, Rattlesnake Bar (fortunately we did not see a single rattlesnake the entire trip). A trail crew was camping there as well, but they had not yet returned from their work site (they were fixing a washed-out bridge we passed just before getting to the campsite). This was right by the river, and I went for a swim before doing anything else. It was the most refreshing swim I had had in a very long time. The heat and 14 miles of hiking had really worn us out, much more-so than the previous day. After picking camping spots and setting up tents, it was time for dinner, which tasted much better than the night before despite being the same re-hydrated meals as the night before.

While we were cleaning up camp one of the trail crew stopped by to let us know a bear was hanging out across the river, knocking rocks down the slope into the river. Beth and I walked over to where they were watching nearby. The bear was across the river (about 30 feet across) and about 50 feet up the slope. It was the north side so the trees were thicker, but we still caught a few glimpses of him popping unto openings between trees. The bear was a cinnamon colored Black Bear, not a Grizzly (Grizzlies are not known to be present in this part of the wilderness). After about 10 minutes of bumping around in the woods, the bear roamed up the slope and was out of site.

We made sure to hang our food in a tree before going turning in for the evening.

Once again we made an early start on the 3rd day, quickly having breakfast, picking up camp, and hitting the trail by 5:30. It was a cool morning once again, but we know that would not last. There was nearly a 40 degree temperature difference between afternoon and night time temperatures. The goal today was to reach Selway Lodge where Beth’s grandmother hand grown up and where much of her childhood was spent. Her great Grandfather had constructed the original lodge at the location, which is still in use as the main house on the property. There was a lot of condensation this morning, and after walking through an overgrown section of trail I was wet from the waste down. Fortunately by this happened the sun was higher in the sky and it was beginning to warm up. The terrain was starting to be less extreme at this point, and we crossed many flat, open areas before and after crossing Bear Creek.

We reached Selway Lodge much earlier than we had originally anticipated. Beth’s mother had made arrangements with the caretakers of the lodge for a visit, so there was some concern about our early arrival. In any event, we crossed the bridge over the Selway and Beth’s mom entered the gate to the lodge to see if anyone was around. We waited outside. A few minutes Elan returned with the caretaker and we were invited in.

We left our packs outside the grounds and were lead to the porch in front of the lodge. We had a nice discussion with the caretaker and his wife before we were shown around the lodge. Most of the buildings had been fixed up on the inside, and power was provided the buildings by an impressive solar system on the south-facing roof of the barn. Horses grazed outside the fence in the pasture / airstrip. There was also an impressive gravity-feed water system that was fed by a creek up-hill from the lodge. The caretaker was also very good in explaining the history of the place and current happenings around the lodge. Overall it was very impressive and I’m glad we were invited in to see.

After departing the lodge and thanking the caretakers for their hospitality, we left or packs by the trail and took a short detour to a grove of Cedar trees about 2 miles from the Lodge that the caretakers had recommended. Since we were only a mile from the airstrip where we would be camping that night, we decided it would be a nice way to spend the remainder of the afternoon. I took off my hiking boots to give my feet a break and hiked in and out in my Tevas. The Cedar grove was right along the creek and very pretty It was a much wetter and heavily forested than most of the trail we had hiked previously. The creek and the narrow strip of flat land around it created a cooler, damper microcosm. It was very pretty.

We returned and picked up our packs and hiked the last mile to our final campsite at Shearer Air Strip. A plane had been arranged to land the following morning, pick us up, and take us back to the relative civilization of Grangeville, Idaho. Our campsite was right next to a bend in the river, about a mile from where the airplane would be picking us up the next morning. Considering we had hiked 45 miles in 3 days, I was none the worse for wear. I was tired, no doubt, but I had no sore muscles or joints. My feet on the other hand were swollen, and my left big toe had swollen up and the toenail had turned purple. Yikes – Too much time in those hot boots.

We woke up a little later than prior days, maybe around 5:30. The plane was scheduled to arrive at 8:00, and the pilot had said he wouldn’t be waiting long if we were not waiting; the winds that are brought on by late-morning sun make flying a small plane difficult. We wanted to make sure we were waiting when the plane arrived, so we ate breakfast and packed quickly. We walked the mile to the airfield and were waiting for the plane to arrive by 7:40. The plane arrived just after 8:00. The pilot was very particular about wight distribution, and seats were assigned based on body weight. Are packs were placed in the tale, and we centered the plane according to our assignments. The interior of the plane was not much larger than a mid-sized sedan.

It took less than 10 minutes to load the plane and climb into our seats before we the engine was fired up and we were bumping up the a slope at the end of the airfield for takeoff. At the top of the airfield, the pilot gunned the engine, turned down the airfield and we were on our way. The plane was in the air in about 10 seconds. Despite the size of the plan and the nature of dirt airfield (it was really just a mowed spot in a forest meadow) it was the smoothest takeoff you could imagine. It was a pleasant flight back and the pilot took the time to point out landmarks as we passed back over the mountains we had just hiked through. We covered the distance of our 3-day, 45-mile hike in a scenic 15 minutes.

It only took 30 minutes and we were landing at the small (but paved) municipal airport in Grangeville. Although it was nice to be back and having a big breakfast at the HiLltop Cafe, it was very satisfying to have hiked that distance and enjoyed the remoteness of the wilderness. There are few opportunities on the East Coast to be as easily away from the influence of humans, so this was a special experience for me.

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Backpacking in Idaho: Along the Selway River

The first bus picked us up around 6:30 at the bus stop in the village, then took us to the ferry terminal near Paquera. This trip took well over an hour because the bus made several stops along the way to pick up additional passengers. The roads, as mentioned before, were also not very good. At the ferry terminal, the bus dropped us off and we all walked on the ferry to Puntarenas. This ferry was smaller than the one we had taken in, but the ride took about the same amount of time (one hour). After departing the ferry on the Puntarenas side, we boarded a larger, nicer bus. It had air conditioning, but no bathroom (I did not drink any water during the bus trip). The final leg of the bus ride back to San Jose took about 2 and a half hours, and we arrived at the Coca Cola bus station in down-town San Jose around 1:30.

The Coca Cola bus station is a very busy place, and in a bad part of town. However, if you’re aware of what’s going on around you and keep an eye on your things, you shouldn’t have any problems. We walked about 8 blocks back to the Best Western (a cab would have been too complicated with 7 people). The rest of the afternoon we relaxed at the hotel drinking water and beer, and eating food (we didn’t eat anything but a few snacks the entire day.) Everyone went to bed pretty early because we all had early flight in the morning, and needed extra time to get through security.

1-30-10: This was officially the last day in Costa Rica. It was a very early day; we got up at 4:30 to get the 5:00 shuttle to the airport. After arriving at the airport we paid or $26 exit fee and made our way through security; this took about an hour and a half. Then we boarded the plan, and made our way to Miami. We had a 4 hour layover in Miami, but about half of that time was spent getting in through customs, then back in through security. We met a really nice and interesting guy at the Sam Adams pub near our departing terminal; he bough us a beer and told us some interesting stories about his travels around the world doing development work.

The flight to Logan was uneventful, but we arrived early. This allowed us to catch an earlier bus back to Portland; instead of getting home at 1:30 am, we would get back 2 hours earlier. This was a nice set of events. Our bus driver back to Portland was very funny. There was no snow when we arrived back in Portland, due to all the rain that had been received the previous Monday. This was good, because we didn’t have to dig Beth’s car out of the snow. Arrived back in Hallowell around 11:30, and went to bed almost immediately, tired after a long day of travel.

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Costa Rica Days 8 and 9: Travel Back to Sans Jose and Return to the USA

It was $10 to get into the park, paid at the gatehouse. The walk into the beach took about an hour and half, along a forest trail. It was a very scenic walk, but very hot. We passed by a couple brooks, went up and down some steep hills, and saw lots of trees and other flora. The beach was very pretty, but not very good for swimming. There were lots of small rocks on the beach and the waves were very powerful. I got a couple bruises on my legs from rocks being tossed into my legs by the waves. It was quite windy, so it’s quite possible the swimming would have been better on a calmer day. Needless to say, I only stayed in for a few minutes to cool off.


We spent about an hour at the beach before we had to head back to Cabuya and catch the last bus back to Montezuma. I got quite dehydrated on the way back. We brought 3 liters of water between the two of us; another liter or two would not have been a bad idea. I was a little foggy when we made it back to the gatehouse and signed out.



We walked back to Cabuya and ducked into the first marked we passed for some much needed water. I downed more than half of a 2-liter bottle very quickly. We waited for the bus back to Montezuma on a shaded bench in front of the market. The bus dropped us off at the bus stop in Montezuma, then we went back up the hill for a shower and to get ready for dinner. By the time we went down to town for dinner, I was feeling exhausted; My brain was not firing properly during dinner.

After dinner, I had to head back up to the hotel and fall asleep. Everyone else went out to Reggae night at Chico’s for a little while.

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Costa Rica Day 8: Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve

We purchased a tour from Montezuma Expeditions. They would take us on a fast boat to Isla Tortuga, take us snorkeling, feed us lunch, give us some time to hang out on the beach, then take us back to Montezuma. Everyone getting on the boat for the tour met at the office in town around 9:15. Then we all walked down to the beach, got on the boat, and were off by 9:30. It was a moderately windy day, so there was a lot of chop on the 1 hour trip out to the island, but it was not unpleasant. The boat dropped the lunch cooks off on Isla Tortuga beach, and took the rest of us to a reef close by to go snorkeling.


I did not have much success with the snorkel but, the flippers were great. Water kept getting into the nose seal and air tube, plus it was my first time snorkeling so it was a little claustrophobic. I ditched the goggles and snorkel on the boat and went back out for a swim with the flippers. After that, I got back on the boat and took some photographs of the scenery while everyone was in the water and there was room to move around.

After snorkeling, the boat took the group back to the island for lunch. The beach on Isal Tortuga was perfect; whit coral sands, turquoise waters, nested in a grove of palm trees. Lunch was good; fish, red sauce, grilled potatoes and beer (cerveza). After lunch we had a couple hours to explore the beach and do some swimming. I took a lot of photographs, then went swimming, and then swimming again. The crew called us back to the boat when it was time to go and everyone got back on for the trip back to Montezuma. The wind had died down by late afternoon when we headed back so the ride back only took about 45 minutes.



After arriving back in Montezuma and getting off the boat we went to the market for some water, beer, and food. Then, back to the hotel for some rest and re-hydration. A half dozen or so White Faced Capuchin Monkeys were hanging around the hotel grounds. The stuck around for about an hour and I got some good photographs; they were not afraid to get within 10 feet of us.

We prepared and consumed a really nice dinner at the hotel. Cheese, bread, olives, fruit. We passed plates around the table and shared bottles of wine. There were a lot of guests in the common area that night, so we stayed up socializing with them before going to bed.

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Costa Rica Day 7: Isla Tortuga

The waves and currents at the beach were very strong; small children would have trouble in this water. The surfers were out about 300 feet from the shore where the waves coming off the Pacific were breaking. We swam, relaxed in the shade, had beer and food. I turned pink as a cooked lobster. The sunset was quite spectacular; the sun turned bright orange before dipping below the ocean.

We left fairly quickly after the sun went down to walk and find some food in town. We walked along the main (well, the only) road through town. The dust was quite bad. Winter is the dry season in Costa Rica and none of the roads are paved. I had a delicious meal of marinated strip-steak with french fries made from plantains (maybe the best french fries I’ve ever had). After dinner we got a Tourismo van (essentially a taxi – there were 8 of us heading back) to take us back to Montezuma. The van ride back was only about $5 per person all the way back to Montezuma. Went to bed pretty soon after we got back to the hotel.

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Costa Rica Day 6: Santa Teresa

I spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel. Had a dinner of pasta and meat sauce and a cabbage salad. After dinner, we went down to town to have some beer in the street. Went for a short walk with Beth on the beach, then headed back up to the hotel for sleep.

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Costa Rica Day 5: Montezuma Falls

We walked down to town for dinner at restaurant that would be having the final playoff football game on a giant projection screen (Saints vs. Vikings). I had a really delicious meal: Tropical Chicken. It was a piece of grilled chicken with a whole lot of fresh fruit and a fruit sauce. Watermelon, pineapple, etc. The saints won the game and will be going to the Super Bowl against the Colts.

After dinner we bought some beers at the grocery and sat along the street. There were street performers. Drummers, guitarists, people throwing flaming batons. Early to bed.

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Costa Rica Day 4: More Exploring Montezuma

We had a simple breakfast of fresh fruit and bread, purchased at the grocery in town. Walked into town to get some water to re-hydrate myself. After that, we changed into our beach clothes and headed to the beach for some sun and surf. The ocean was as warm as bath water. Waves were rolling in and breaking close to shore, knocking me under water a couple times when I was not paying attention. Beth and her Father stayed in the water for a solid 2 hours; I was in and out during our time at the beach. I spent more time in the water than I have since I was a child. I loved it.

Before leaving the beach Beth and I went for a short walk farther down the beach, then we all had a beer and some snacks at a little cantine that was right along the beach. After that we made our way back to the hotel through town. The street was lined with vendors and their tables displaying arts and crafts for sale. Lots of hand-made jewelery.

Later in the evening we had cocktails and made dinner back at the hotel, which had a nice shared kitchen for the guests to use. We were invited to a beach party by one of the workers at the hotel. Several other guests also came along, and we all shared a van down the road to the party (it was a couple miles away). There was a DJ, a bonfire on the beach, and lots of drinking at the party. The beach was very pretty at night. After a few hours, everyone piled back into the van and headed back to town on the bumpy dirt road.

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Costa Rica Day 3: Exploring Montezuma and Relaxing

1-22-10: I woke up early, around 7:30, excited to do some exploring in San Jose. After some breakfast, I walked up to the upper balconies of the hotel ( it was a 4-floor building) to see the view of the city and the surrounding mountains. It was quite spectacular. San Jose is like nothing you would ever see in North America. Tin roofs, concrete buildings, narrow streets, no big cars. Next, we took a trip out into the streets. This being mys first time in the city, I left my camera behind. The reading I had done about the city indicated petty crime, such as pick-pocketing, was coming so I was not comfortable taking it out into the streets. The city was loaded with people during the day, a stark contrast to the night before. All the stores were open, selling shoes, bread, to leather goods, designer jeans, and many other things I probably didn’t see. The sidewalks were very narrow, only wide enough for two people to pass on a side, and the streets were all one lane, and loaded with taxis, vans, and delivery trucks. On the sidewalk vendors were selling fresh avocados, news papers, fruit, and lottery tickets.

Two blocks from the Best Western was the central market of San Jose. This was a large airplane hanger -like structure packed with…everything. It was full of vendors. Fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, leather goods, souvenirs, spices, herbs.. If you wanted a prepared meal there were plenty of tiny little food stalls where you could pull up a stool and get something to eat. Think of it as an ad-hoc supermarket. If your local grocery store were made up of 100 different independent vendors, each specializing in a certain product, it might be like the San Jose central market.

The van we rented to Montezuma arrived a little after 1:30 pm.. The van was nice because you could open the window and take pictures of the countryside. The ride down to the Pacific coast consisted of a lot of mountains and steep switch-back roads. Some of the corners were a little harry; no guard rails, lots of other traffic, and long tips to the bottom. But our driver was good, and so was his van. We reached Puntarenas around 4:30. The van dropped us off and we walked on the ferry that would take us across the Golfo deNicoya to the Nacoya peninsula. The ferry ride took about an hour, and was timed perfectly, as it allowed for a spectacular sunset.



After dark, the ferry arrived and we got into another van that would take us the rest of the way to Montezuma. It took about an hour over dirt and (possibly) paved roads. The van dropped us off right in front of our hotel around 8:00. After checking in at the Luna Lena, we dropped our stuff off and walked down the hill into town to get something to eat. I’m not sure if it was the water or the heat, but I did not feel well and headed back up to the hotel after dinner and went to bed.

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Costa Rica Days 1 and 2: Arrival in San Jose and travel to Montezuma.

Apparently the “Rescue and Recovery” software is on its own bootable partition on the computer. For some reason, whenever the laptop was shut down (as opposed to hibernate or sleep) or was reset, the computer would automatically re-boot from the “Rescue and Recovery” partition, instead of the normal Windows Vista partition. As far as I could tell, this was just a stripped-down Vista install that only ran “Rescue and Recovery”, and it took about 5 minutes to load up to the point I could safely re-start the computer again. Once I re-started, the computer would boot normally into the normal Vista install.

Obviously this was annoying, so I looked to see how I could remove the “Rescue and Recovery” partition. First, I ran the program supplied on the laptop that creates backup Windows installation disks so I would be able to re-install a fresh copy of windows. This created 3 DVDs, containing the Windows installation files, as well as the software Lenovo had pre-installed on the laptop. Next, I attempted to delete the “Rescue and Recovery” partition off of the hard drive using the disk performance tools built into Vista. When I attempted this, windows would not allow me to do that because it was a bootable partition; fair enough. On to the next solution.

My next plan of attack was to use the backup DVDs to perform a clean re-install of Windows Vista - this is where the real trouble started. I put the “Boot” DVD into the DVD drive, re-set the computer, and pressed F12 during the POST screen to boot from the DVD drive. The DVD booted and a “Rescue and Recovery” splash screen appeared, along with a “Loading Windows” progress bar. After about 5 minutes, a message appeared asking me to insert disk 1, OS installation (The boot disk was disk 0 in the set). I put in the disk the backup program had told me to label disk 1 into the DVD drive and clicked “OK”. After the disk spun up, the same message appeared; please insert disk 1.

At this point, my confidence in “Rescue and Recovery” was starting to fail (I was already not impressed with it). Just in case I made a mistake labeling the disks, I inserted the disk that the back up program had told me to label as disk 2; after that disk spun up, I again got the message asking me to insert disk 1. OK. Lets try disk one again - same message. OK. How about disk 0? Again, same message. I re-booted the computer and went through the same steps again with the same result.

The “Rescue and Recovery” backup application that Lenovo had provided created a set of disks that would not allow me to re-install Windows Vista.

At this point, I was very irritated, but not completely irate. The computer, I assumed, would still boot into windows, and as long as it was put into hibernate instead of being shut down, my girlfriend could jump right back into Vista and do her work.

I remove the bootable DVD from the drive and re-start the computer. After the POST screen, the next thing I see is a message indicating it’s trying to boot from the network through the Ethernet. This is not good; the boot order was set to Hard Drive, Optical Drive, Network. This means that the computer can no longer find the bootable Windows Vista partition on the hard drive.

It’s obvious what happened here: the programs that ran on the boot DVD before asking for the OS disk 1 had modified the bootable partition to the point that it won’t boot into windows.

Did it format the hard drive? Did it delete everything? I have no idea as it did not prompt me to do anything or provide any information on the screen besides a load bar. Now my girlfriend is stuck with a useless laptop until I can get recovery disks from Lenovo or, barring that, I’ll have to spend $100 on a new windows disk.

Based on this experience I WOULD NOT recommend purchasing a Lenovo product to anyone. I’ve purchased new computers from Dell, HP, and ACER and have never had any problems with them, software, hardware or otherwise. The performance of Lenovo’s “Rescue and Recovery” software is completely unacceptable.

We’ll see how getting replacement disks from Lenovo goes. I called them within a few days of receiving the computer to get a replacement disk set (it obviously did not come with one), and have not recieved them after 2 months of waiting. I’ll have to call them again…

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Lenovo’s Rescue and Recovery Software Really Stinks