There is no grocery store or laundromat, but there is a brewery! Alpine is a tiny little town across the border in Wyoming. Near the end of the week, the slow internet was driving us crazy so we took a ride into Alpine to find a better signal. Most afternoons we hiked the trails, walked along the river and visited with our cow friends. Which is exactly what we did for most of our stay. Even though we have more time in the afternoon now that Tim is working 7-3 to keep in line with his east coast office, we still often prefer to not drive anywhere at the end of the work day. One of the markings of a good boondocking spot is when there are lots of things to explore right outside our door. Our site was just secluded enough that we weren’t bothered much by all the noisy vehicles zooming past, and the nearly overflowing river (there was a LOT of snow this year) provided an excellent sound diversion. Most people brought along an RV + a trailer full of noisy toysĭespite the crowds and slow internet, we loved it here. Lots of the spots along the road had room for multiple RVs. So all those people who loaded up their trailers with giant quads with roll cages were restricted to riding up and down the 3-mile dirt road. Both trails are single track only wide enough for a dirt bike. The really weird part is that FS Road 281 is a dead end road with two trailheads. What happened to enjoying nature on foot? What’s wrong with getting some exercise? How about stopping to smell that flowers, or listing the birds? This obsession with speed and noise baffles me. But I really don’t understand the ATV craze. I try hard to accept that different people enjoy different things. I am positive we were the only people on the road without some sort of dirt bike, 4-wheeler, Razor, or other noise spewing machine. Not impossible, just slow and requiring lots of patience.Īs the weekend grew closer more and more people arrived until all the spots on the road were overflowing with RVs, truck campers, tents, and trailers piled high with ATVs. ![]() Fortunately, the last three days of our stay were part of the long weekend but trying to get work done before that was hard. As the area filled with more people, our speed slowed to frustration level. With the booster and our seldom used directional antenna pointed in just the right direction, we got 1 bar of Verizon LTE. With the big holiday weekend looming, we made sure to choose a spot that could only fit one RV and was a good distance from other sites.Ĭell service was spotty, to say the least. Many are big enough for more than one RV and most are situated alongside a fast moving creek. There are about 20 boondocking spots scattered along the road. After driving through the Alpine North Campground on the western shore of Palisades Reservoir (a nice wooded campground) and checking out the Indian Creek Boondocking area (the reservoir water is really high right now making this spot tiny and muddy) we ventured down Forest Road 281 to see if we could find a spot with decent cell service. ![]() With two national forest campgrounds and several boondocking options, we figured our chances of finding a suitable spot were good. With no set route around Idaho, we began our summer tour of the Gem state (called that because it has both an abundance of natural resources and amazing scenery) along the Idaho/Wyoming border just outside the tiny town of Alpine. In other words…freedom! We basically went into the summer with one goal in mind - explore Idaho and find cool places to stay (preferably outside of campgrounds) Okay, I guess that’s two goals. Sometimes we don’t even know where we’re going to stay until we get there. ![]() Instead of planning out each stop and making reservations months in advance, we’re simply floating around and making it up as we go along. After spending last summer on the east coast where planning and reservations are a must, this year we’re taking a completely opposite approach.
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