Early this summer Marsha and I got out of the nasty Phoenix heat for a while to spend a great week in Idaho and Montana in late June and early July. The plan for this all started a year ago summer when my son Ed was about to turn 40. We wanted to take him on a trip or climb a mountain or do something big for his birthday. He told us that he had just signed up to run the Ironman race in Coeur d’Alene on June 27, 2010, and he would really like us to come along and be his “support” team. We of course agreed, and just to make up for the fact that he would have to wait a year to redeem his gift, we told him that, after the race, we would drive him down to Darby, MT for a few days of R&R at Triple Creek Ranch, our favorite outdoor getaway. It’s owned by some close friends, and this year it actually won Travel and Leisure magazine’s award as the #1 small resort in the world. See http://www.triplecreekranch.com/ if you’re addicted to the outdoors but you also want luxurious accommodations with gourmet food and wine every night. This is our idea of “roughing it!”
Anyway, we arrived in Idaho the day before the big race and checked into the Coeur d’Alene Resort, a beautiful high-rise hotel and marina overlooking the lake. Ed swam some practice laps while I fussed around with my cameras, shooting some video and getting started on what we all envisioned would eventually become the definitive “Ironman Ed” documentary.
You cannot imagine the scope of an event like this until you’ve seen one for yourself. Three thousand amateur athletes compete in an all-day race: A 2.5 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bicycle race, followed by a 26 mile marathon run. The start was amazing: All three thousand contestants were lined up shoulder to shoulder on the beach about 20-30 ranks deep, when the gun went off and all of them started running into the water, pounding against one another, jockeying for position. Ed told us later that, just to protect themselves in the crush, most of the women entrants actually began the race swimming with closed fists until the ranks spread out a bit. It was quite a sight.
We were, of course, very proud of our son, who completed the whole ordeal in 12 hours flat with a big smile on his face, getting high-fives all around from the thousands of fans who lined the final quarter mile all the way to the finish line. It was a truly great day… one we will never forget.
The following days in Montana were a blur of outdoor activity. Ed and I hired a fly-fishing guide and caught some cutthroat trout on a half-day float down the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. We also took an early morning hike up to the clouds surrounding snow-capped Trapper Peak. Marsha and I rode horses for hours at a time with our friends through some of the high country around the ranch, soaked in our private hot tub looking out over the mountains, and one day she spent several hours spotting birds, deer, elk and other wildlife with the ranch’s naturalist Bill McConnell.
Later in the week Ed, exhilarated but rested, traveled back home to Virginia, while Marsha and I moved 5 miles up the river to stay a few more nights with another couple we know who own a home right on the waterfront. Our friend Jim Allred taught Marsha to flycast and walked her right into the river to catch her first trout. On another day the four of us drove and hiked up to the barren rocks of the Bear Creek Overlook for a picnic and some beautiful photography. Jim and I startled a Momma Moose and her calf early one morning as we parked his truck at the trail head to Boulder Creek Falls, where we logged about four miles on foot along a swift running stream to a spectacular 200-foot long cataract cascading over sheer rock. Finally, on Sunday we all went back to the ranch for their big annual 4th of July barbecue bash, complete with fireworks display and horseback riding in the dark. It seemed like the ten days passed in a blink, a whole summer’s worth of fun in way too short a time.
By the way, the Ironman Ed video turned out pretty darned well, and we were able to share it with the whole family a few weeks later when most of us were in Washington, D.C. for my nephew Todd’s wedding. When and if I get around to posting it on YouTube I’ll give you the link!
Jim Myers
Anyway, we arrived in Idaho the day before the big race and checked into the Coeur d’Alene Resort, a beautiful high-rise hotel and marina overlooking the lake. Ed swam some practice laps while I fussed around with my cameras, shooting some video and getting started on what we all envisioned would eventually become the definitive “Ironman Ed” documentary.
You cannot imagine the scope of an event like this until you’ve seen one for yourself. Three thousand amateur athletes compete in an all-day race: A 2.5 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bicycle race, followed by a 26 mile marathon run. The start was amazing: All three thousand contestants were lined up shoulder to shoulder on the beach about 20-30 ranks deep, when the gun went off and all of them started running into the water, pounding against one another, jockeying for position. Ed told us later that, just to protect themselves in the crush, most of the women entrants actually began the race swimming with closed fists until the ranks spread out a bit. It was quite a sight.
We were, of course, very proud of our son, who completed the whole ordeal in 12 hours flat with a big smile on his face, getting high-fives all around from the thousands of fans who lined the final quarter mile all the way to the finish line. It was a truly great day… one we will never forget.
The following days in Montana were a blur of outdoor activity. Ed and I hired a fly-fishing guide and caught some cutthroat trout on a half-day float down the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. We also took an early morning hike up to the clouds surrounding snow-capped Trapper Peak. Marsha and I rode horses for hours at a time with our friends through some of the high country around the ranch, soaked in our private hot tub looking out over the mountains, and one day she spent several hours spotting birds, deer, elk and other wildlife with the ranch’s naturalist Bill McConnell.
Later in the week Ed, exhilarated but rested, traveled back home to Virginia, while Marsha and I moved 5 miles up the river to stay a few more nights with another couple we know who own a home right on the waterfront. Our friend Jim Allred taught Marsha to flycast and walked her right into the river to catch her first trout. On another day the four of us drove and hiked up to the barren rocks of the Bear Creek Overlook for a picnic and some beautiful photography. Jim and I startled a Momma Moose and her calf early one morning as we parked his truck at the trail head to Boulder Creek Falls, where we logged about four miles on foot along a swift running stream to a spectacular 200-foot long cataract cascading over sheer rock. Finally, on Sunday we all went back to the ranch for their big annual 4th of July barbecue bash, complete with fireworks display and horseback riding in the dark. It seemed like the ten days passed in a blink, a whole summer’s worth of fun in way too short a time.
By the way, the Ironman Ed video turned out pretty darned well, and we were able to share it with the whole family a few weeks later when most of us were in Washington, D.C. for my nephew Todd’s wedding. When and if I get around to posting it on YouTube I’ll give you the link!
Jim Myers
