Double Peak Hike - An Urban Hiking Experience

Two weekends in a row I hit the Double Peak hike, which is a short 15-minute drive from my house. This hike packs a nice punch, as it's fairly steep almost the whole way and provides decent views and feelings of being "in nature".

That is in spite of the fact that it is really more of an urban hiking experience, as housing developments are creeping their away around and up this mountainside. For now, it still has a few almost isolated-feeling spots and even offers a view here or there in which you can maybe almost photograph only natural items.

The first set of pictures is from my hike up to the top in the rain two weekends ago. I opted out of a beach day in the rain in favor of a hiking day in the rain (David took the kids to the beach, as Camille didn't want to miss the beach - even if it was raining). The hills looked shrouded in mystery.

This hike even boasts of a mountain lion. Notice the singular. I am sure that's accurate, and I'm sure this feline isn't going to be long for this habitat. Unless it starts hiding in suburban back yards eating people's pet cats and small dogs, I doubt it will stay here long.

The trail is well-marked the entire way. I love how the website describes that parts of it are "rough single track". It is the smoothest, widest, most evenly graded rough single-track I have ever seen.

The rain started to be a bit much near the top and I almost didn't reach the top, but thought, oh come on! What kind of outdoorsy Idaho person am I anyway?

So the next weekend I took the kids on the same hike, and that day, the weather was absolutely gorgeous (which it truly is here, almost all the time except for the freak week of rain here and there). This is a great hike for kids because you can easily "get somewhere" - i.e., the top, which is no small fete on a hike in Idaho. Here you get that sense of satisfaction within like 40-45 minutes, which might get you to the first set of switchbacks on a hike in the Tetons.

Ethan could not get over the missing letters on the sign - or, he was just doing his characteristic let's-try-to-drive-everyone-crazy-by-asking-an-obvious-question-repeatedly schtick. "Mom, why do they call it 'Ouble Peak Park'?" Ugh.

Lucy managed to take a decent photo of me, which you'll know see at right as my new blog photo. This is the first decent one of me in action in some sort of outdoor sport here in SoCal.

The light was very soft and inviting that late afternoon.

We discussed the impact the obvious development plots in the picture below will have on the enjoyability of this hike in the near future. These are unfortunately located very near to the top, which at this point is within the 'wilder' portion, not all that far from the mountain lion sign. I guess we will enjoy it as we can.