Questions about moving to Boise

Helen,

Thanks for the update! My Idaho State Teaching Certification came through, which I'm psyched about. I'll definitely be bringing my climbing gear out in February. fingers crossed for those T-shirt days.

Sean

TommyWiggins wrote:Helen, Thanks for the update! My Idaho State Teaching Certification came through, which I'm psyched about. I'll definitely be bringing my climbing gear out in February. fingers crossed for those T-shirt days. Sean

Ah! Good news!

Except for all day rain, which is really rare here, it's likely just having hands too cold to climb. Black cliffs routes are on the short side, though, so you can get back in real shoes and gloves while someone else takes a shot at it!

Even wind might not matter, if you find the right spot, and it's sunny.

Best, OLH

Sean, about schools, Boise School District, as Cthorton said, has had STEM specialty schools for awhile now. Catholic school system as mentioned, and private and charter schools of various kinds.

Private/charter that I can think of off the top of my head, Rollingstone charter, Anser charter, Foothills school of Arts and Science, private, Sage International school, private, and adding a boarding option, several others, all pricey.

Boise, like many places, has been courting tech jobs (Micron is based here, HP has a facility, others), so that's the direction they are pushing the schools, and BSU also.

Pretty nifty geology here, by the way. Lots and lots and lots to go explore, much of it really strikingly harsh, and quite unforgiving, which is what many of us really love.

OLH

Old lady H wrote:If you have a sharp ear, parts of idaho almost have southern accents, dropping syllables and replacing certain sounds.

A former coworker who grew up in the valley east of Malad cannot hear the difference between Mary, merry, and marry.

TommyWiggins wrote:We have movers coming to give an estimate in the near future, but I fear it will be expensive.

When we moved from central CT (Wallingford) to Salt Lake City in late 2000, movers packed up all our remaining stuff and moved us. It cost $16,000 (paid for by my wife's new company). Shipping a car was around $1000.

Marc801 wrote: A former coworker who grew up in the valley east of Malad cannot hear the difference between Mary, merry, and marry.

Well, there ya go. I confess, still cain't hear the difference between Mark, Marc, and marque.

OLH

Here's an update for you fools who think you want to move here. Okay, this is up in our foothills, and I was actually having a good time, but the deep (for Boise) snow in town is really getting tiresome this year. I'm following ski tracks in this photo, just in boots, no snowshoes. If you hit it just right this year, you could ski all the way down from our local ski area, right into your favorite brewpub's front door in town! That said, it is VERY unusual for us, but it also means our highway department is....let's say challenged, to be kind!

-7 degrees, walking to the bus this morning, same rig, minus the trekking poles, although I've been tempted to haul them along to vault the thigh high snow piles on every street, plus a mess of extra street clothes layers.

Some years, we have almost no snow, mild enough to climb outside in December, now we have this, and the frigid temps. It is definitely getting wilder, more unpredictable and extreme, in all seasons, but that's true for most of us, I think.

Earth Science in action, eh? :-)

Best, Helen

Best, Helen

That's awesome...I've never been afraid of a little snow. Gives me an excuse to dust off the ol' snowshoes.

Speaking of Earth Science in action, I found this video while searching for something on Joshua Tree geology. (Just got back from there...Rubicon is awesome!)

Anyway, I was looking for a two minute video and ended up watching this one, clocking in almost an hour. Be warned!

youtube.com/watch?v=2RZMXd4…

It covers City of Rock at the end, even featuring Dave Bingham, the author of the climbing guide book.

My ticket is booked for Boise the week of February 20th. Looking forward to getting out there, and also meeting some of you folks.

Sean

1&2 - nothing to add
3a - I moved west in 2000. Used mover. In retrospect should have sold furniture, etc. We drove our vehicles.
3b - Slickrock in McCall (where I summer) has multipitch trad and sport to .10a. Not a lot of variety but excellent slab training. Also some single pitch sport on the Thinking Spot.
4 - The West Family YMCA off of Chinden has an OK wall and great gym and pool.
5 - The City is great, as is Castle Rock for sport. Campground fills quickly so advance reservations via Reserve America are helpful. I have not climbed in the Sawtooths.
6. - Red Rock campground is 9.5 hours from Boise, Smith about 7.5. I've climbed Yosemite, Bugs, J Tree, Teatons. All 1 1/2 days from McCall, probably the same from Boise. Lovers Leap also worth a visit. Bugs are great but require 1 full day for hike-in and another for hike-out. If you travel to the Bugs, check out Lake Louise and the Canmore, AB areas.
If you make the move and want to do Slickrock (July or August), give me a shout. I'll be headed to the City for a week in June if you'd like an introduction there.
Bob Bechaud

I was born and raised in Boise before I moved away for college. The North and East ends of Boise are really great places, definitely where I'd suggest you'd look. From the North and East ends of Boise, the best of what the city has to offer can be accessed by walk or bike for the most part. Best place in the valley to raise a family in my opinion, I'm biased though. The public high schools, particularly Boise High and Timberline, are held in really high regard as well.

The Black Cliffs are fairly underrated in my opinion, and only 15 minutes or so from downtown Boise, and the North and East neighborhoods. They kept me entertained all through high school. Be warned, in the summer, you need be on your first route by 6 am and out of there by 12 or so. The black rock will make it feel like 120 when its 95. On the flip side, in the winter, assuming it's dry, you can climb anytime its sunny and hits the 40 degree mark.

More's Mountain is another under appreciated area in my opinion, not nearly as much climbing but its granular granite with lots of crystals and fun features, nice change of pace from the basalt and much cooler on the summer days.

Both locations are in the Boise Climbs guide book by Sandi Epeldi, a must buy if you want to climb in the area. The Mountain project pages for the area are somewhat underdeveloped, but the guidebook is fantastic and an updated version just came out this past year!

City of Rocks and Castle Rocks are about 3 hours away, Massacre Rocks about 4.5 if I remember correctly. Massacre has more sport climbing than you could do in a lifetime it seems.

The Sawtooths are just great wilderness all around, I've never climbed there but I love the backpacking and camping in the area.

Thanks, Bob. I will definitely look you up.

Thanks, Cassidy. I'll add More's to the list.

TommyWiggins wrote:That's awesome...I've never been afraid of a little snow. Gives me an excuse to dust off the ol' snowshoes. Speaking of Earth Science in action, I found this video while searching for something on Joshua Tree geology. (Just got back from there...Rubicon is awesome!) Anyway, I was looking for a two minute video and ended up watching this one, clocking in almost an hour. Be warned! youtube.com/watch?v=2RZMXd4… It covers City of Rock at the end, even featuring Dave Bingham, the author of the climbing guide book. My ticket is booked for Boise the week of February 20th. Looking forward to getting out there, and also meeting some of you folks. Sean

Tommy, the Outdoor Idaho show has been going for decades, so there's a huge amount of fun stuff on there, very little duplication, either!

Obviously, you'll want to spend time with your friend, and the teacher, but I'd be happy to meet when you're here, climbing related or no. Outside of climbing, there's tons to explore out here. Lots here for kids, too.

Best, Helen

Hey all.

I'll be in boise next week. I've got some interviews lined up, have made some plans to meet up with some locals. I'm pretty psyched.

Two questions.

1. Is climbing feasible at the black cliffs right now? I know it snowed a lot in the last few weeks...but I am still hopeful.

2. Any standout bars, restaurants, coffee shops, or local places we should check out?

Cheers,

Sean

Hey Tommy/Sean!

I climbed at the cliffs last weekend and it was fantastic. I think, however, that the raptors have started nesting. I shot Boise Climbers Assoc a message asking if they could confirm that it's bird season there -- but if not, you're totally good to go...and I'll see you there!

Closest bar to the cliffs just got bulldozed so now you have to go to Bown for any brews (or Lucky 13 on Eckert). Check our Bier Thirty, they have a couple good taps. Obviously, if you want to go downtown, there are many more options.

Welcome to Tree City!

(I'm mainly posting here to see if anyone has any other information on the raptor closures...sorry if this post was rather insubstantial)

Jay, yeah they should start the raptor closures any time now, but it's only certain parts.

Sean, sorry you haven't got more replies on this last one.

Boise is awash with eateries, brew pubs, etc. Grab a free weekly newspaper (cleverly titled Boise Weekly) from a Boise Weekly news box almost anywhere. They will have an extensive list of events, music, etc. New ones come out late in the day Wednesday.

Downtown core, restaurant central, a few blocks any direction from Capitol boulevard and Main Street. Just decide what sort of food you want. The whole thing can be crowded and slow right at lunch hour. Go early or later to avoid crowds.

Bar Guernika is Basque. Sandwiches, hand cut French fries, Basque dishes, and, at least in the past, Boise's best grilled cheese sandwich.

Boise is the kind of place you can ask for a grilled cheese for your kids, by the way.

Personally, we like Bittercreek alehouse/Red Feather lounge, because they are super committed to local food.

Westside drive in, either one. Ritzed up, homemade, drive in fare, but huge menu.

Guru donuts on Capitol will sugar up your kids but good.

Brew pubs, geez, get someone to help. I know of several, and I'm not even a drinker.

Stuff to do, with kids, Discovery Center is hands on science, fun, but a bit pricey. They have a full size skeleton of Sue, the t. Rex, right now. We have a small zoo downtown, so very doable for little kids. Inside, Planet Kid is pretty fun, old, but affordable huge indoor soft playground. Lots more interesting than the McDonalds type things. Easy to spend a couple hours playing, be forewarned.

If it's nice, loads of parks. Camel's back runs right into the foothills, but there are parks all over town.

The MK Nature Center is an outdoor, walk through re-creation of an outdoor mountain stream, with viewing windows. Pretty cool. Big fish! Just off the river and greenbelt.

Loads more, of course. The greater area is half a million, after all, from Ontario, Oregon to Mountain Home, Idaho.

What's your wife interested in? Apart from you getting it done? Whatever it is, we probably have at least some of it, and happy to help on that end, too.

You really, really want that climbing, dontcha? :-) It is definitely.. maybe. Supposed to be rainy, but our rain isn't like some places and won't necessarily mean a no go. You should at least be able to get out there and check it out, do a little reconnaissance, even in the rain, if it isn't any good for climbing.

Best, Helen

If you score the housing first, then you'll want to check out those spots, parks, eats, etc, around your neighborhood, especially playgrounds.

Thanks Jay and Helen. I figure at the very least I'll hike around a bit.

Update: Blue skies!

Unpolished up, Boise, late February. Most of the right side is Boise State University. Capitol building at far end of Capitol Boulevard.

Local skiing is the all white bit just left of center (Bogus Basin), towers are visible if you look closely.

Trail system all the way up the foothills, a long ways east and west.

Fifty plus total miles of greenbelt paths, both sides of the river, which is the treeline at the lowest point (just blocking part of the tall buildings.

Spire on the "skyscraper" just left of the boulevard is the highest manmade spot in Idaho. Our Gotham is thriving!

Best, H.

But don't tell anyone.

Well, it's official! We're moving. Found an apartment off the greenbelt. We'll be unloading our pod either April 10th or 11th, and I'll stay until the 18th before heading back to NY to finish out the school year. I'm hoping to get the unpacking done with some time to get out and do some outdoor stuff...some April questions:

1. Will the Black Cliffs be open? When I left in February, the closures were just beginning. How long do they usually last?

2. How is City of Rock and/or the Sawtooths this time of year? I'm trying to convince some buddies to drive my wife's car out there with me and I'm trying to sweeten the pot. The Black Cliffs are nice, but not 35 hours of driving nice. (PS- If you know of someone who is interested in the drive, let me know...)

3. If none of the above, what is there to do in April?

Thanks to everyone for all of the great feedback ! I'd like to especially shout out Helen and Mike Wrench, who both made the time to meet up with my family while we were out in February. Great people out in Boise!

TommyWiggins wrote: 2. How is City of Rock and/or the Sawtooths this time of year? I'm trying to convince some buddies to drive my wife's car out there with me and I'm trying to sweeten the pot.

I'm in SLC, so no first hand info but..... April can still hold a lot of snow, and roads can be difficult to impassable. It all depends on how much snowfall occurs in March and overall weather. City of Rocks posted this on their FB page 4 hrs ago:

ROAD CONDITIONS: unfortunately roads in City of Rocks continue to be difficult. Access remains open to Bath Rock for high clearance all-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles. The road is deeply rutted between Camp Rock and Treasure Rock, 1/4 mile south of Treasure Rock, and just beyond campsite 5. Melting has occurred and then refrozen to form sheets of ice in some patches. The road continues to be one lane with white spots and parking areas at the Tracy homesite, Camp Rock, Register Rock, Elephant Rock, lower camping loop, Flaming Rock, and finally at Bath Rock. The City of Rocks Road beyond Bath Rock is still covered by several feet of snow, and Emery Pass is likely to remain closed for at least a month. Castle Rocks State Park is easily accessible and partially snow free. Smoky Mountain Campground is quickly melting and becoming snow free.