Southeastern Idaho. Once again I want to write about other outdoorsmen being charming. They deserve the compliment. My little dog and I were biking towards another celltower mountain. We were surrounded by grand ridges of sagebrush, volcanic rocks, and isolated copses of yellowing aspens.
I noticed a familiar pickup truck parked along the side of a dirt road that was becoming so steep that I needed to rest, anyway. So we looked around for a man. There he was, on the sagebrush ridge, with a beautiful young German Short-haired Pointer. He had her half-trained for hunting birds: Hungarian partridges in their case. Her name was "Spud", appropriately enough for an Idaho dog with an agronomist owner.
We must have chatted for 20 minutes. He looked like he walked off a Cabela's catalog. I told him how much I admired the "GSP" and had even considered getting one before I got my current miniature poodle mix.
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We chickened out of going up to the celltower because it was so steep, and ended up finding a more moderate loop that was lower on the mountain. It certainly put me in a good mood, partly because the road appeared to go along the edge of an escarpment for 5-10 miles. I like roads that take topography into account.
Along came a jeep. It was virtually creeping -- just the opposite of the usual motorhead's attitude. Normally they drive on dirt roads on public lands as if they are in a NASCAR race. The jeepers were a young couple who always drove slow like that, they said. They were out to enjoy the "quakies", so what's the rush? Once again, a nice 20 minute chat ensued.
Let's hope my luck holds up with encountering pleasant and admirable outdoorsmen in southern Idaho.
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