It's About the (RV) Journey....: Beautiful meadow hike.....

We found ourselves again at Harriman State Park of Idaho, ready to hike another trail. We really like this park-it is close to the campground and has a little bit of everything! Rivers and lakes, mountains, meadows-all with nice hiking trails. I think the park is about 11,000 acres.

here we are again

moose resting under a tree

our hiking path

Railroad Ranch buildings up ahead

some kind of mammal in the fence...a marmot?

lots of birds and ducks (and anglers) in Henry's Fork

Anyone can walk through the "campus" of the old Railroad Ranch, and some of the buildings can be toured with the ranger. These buildings are beautiful on the inside...with large windows for the incredible views. Some of the buildings can be rented out, which is very popular especially in the winter (snowmobiling and cross-country skiing).

Railroad Ranch-we toured this the other day

the insides of these buildings are awesome, and have great views!

Looking across part of the meadow where the horses roam, there is nothing but wildflowers. Just can't get enough of these. Its so amazing.

looking across a part of the meadow

We reached the start of the trail, according to the map, however there were horses standing right there! Apparently, the trail goes through the horse fields. They are not wild horses, but the ones used for the trail rides in Harriman State Park of Idaho. There were so many of them, but these 4 really wanted to get out and say Hi. (You would have loved it Jess!)

heading past the barn to the start of the trail

excuse me...can we get in to walk the trail? Its right behind you.

After these 4 guys strolled away, I got up my nerve to walk past the horses, on the beginning of the trail through the meadow. Most of the other horses didn't even see us. They were too busy munching.

snacking!

The trail was a tiny little path through the meadows and into the woods. This was a great hike. The flowers were so awesome. I know I keep harping on the wildflowers, but they really were such a treat.

so pretty

We had our binoculars with us, to check out the area we were heading in. We spotted some sandhill cranes in the meadow beyond the water.

we'll be heading into that forest eventually

sandhill cranes

so many flowers

There was a wide variety of wildflowers, including one of our favorites with a bunch of buds on it. The trail was really just a narrow path, almost like a wildlife trail....surrounded by flowers. Nice.

we love this one!

narrow path through the fields

really pretty

Eventually, we started going uphill and into the forest. It was much cooler there. We also spotted some pretty red flowers, which were new to us. I just love these wildflowers. So different from a manicured garden.

starting to go up through the forest

new one to us!

pretty

nice red for variety

heading through the forest

Eventually, the trail leads back to Silver Lake, and we walked around one side of it. We saw trumpeter swans again, way off in the distance.

Silver Lake

really nice hike

having fun

pretty, right?

we see you two pelicans

On the drive back to the campground, we passed by Swan Lake again, and spotted two trumpeters. They really are so graceful! We were thrilled to spot 3 babies as well!!

see the 3 babies?

In this area in Idaho, 4-wheeling, or ATV-ing, is really popular! Many of the folks in our campground came with them towed or trailer-ed behind their camper. Along the side of the highways, you can see the trails, and then they disappear into the woods. There are so many trails in the area. (Chris, Andrew and Jess...you would love it!). A group of about 10 of them set off together from our campground the other morning. Its so nice...the folks that have these ATV's here often go around and ask each other where they are going, and they often go together, as its safer and more fun when there is more than one ATV.

4-wheelin'

bad picture....action shot from the car....these guys sure are having fun!

This is the view on our way back to the campground. Our closest foodstore/gas station is on the right and is about 5 miles from our camp. Henry's Lake is up ahead on the left, as is our campground. There are mountains all around. It really is that pretty.