Hi! I’m happy to say that this week I successfully made it from Australia to the US to house-sit without hitting any travel obstacles. I’m a Kiwi and usually sit through national agencies KiwiHousesitters and AussieHousesitters. I joined Trustedhousesitters recently to open up some more international opportunities. This is my first US sit and so far it is going wonderfully!
My sit here in Boise, Idaho ends on the 3rd August, and my next sit in Lakewood, Colorado starts on the 6th. So I have these couple of days to travel and fill the gap between the sits. I was originally planning to fly Boise to Denver, but then was thinking, I could maybe bus and stay at a hostel somewhere along the way, if there are some interesting nature places I could visit. I’m a trail runner and I would love to explore any interesting trails that I can run. Mountains and long hiking trails are great - I love spending all day in the wilds! I will often run multi-day hiking routes in a day. If anyone has any ideas or advice, I’d be super grateful
We use the Rome2Rio app when researching travel options. Looks like bus and/or train will get you there with some interesting stops along the way. Figure out which stops might have hiking (don’t know that information) and decide where you will spend those extra days. Happy travels!
@Emily2509 Welcome to the US! We road trip all over the states and use Alltrails or Roadtripper to find interesting places to visit / hike along our routes. The Salt Lake City area (and Utah in general) has lots of beautiful outdoor areas for rafting, kayaking, and running. Northern Utah - Antelope Island, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Park City, or if you detour to Southern Utah - there’s Zion & Bryce National Park (the Narrows are our favorite!). The I-70 runs from Utah into the Denver area. It’s a beautiful mountain highway through Colorado with so much nature and hiking trails! Sapphire Point Overlook is one of my favorite views All over the Vail/Breckenridge area in general is amazing for outdoor activities.
If I were making the trip, I would rent a car. There is amazing scenery between Boise and Denver area, whether you go via Wyoming (Jackson is beautiful, I hear) or through Utah and Salt Lake City. There are a lot of great ski areas near SLC so they would have wonderful trail running in summer, presumably. I would splurge on a car to make the most of the opportunity.
The first thing that comes to mind is Bend, Oregon. Smith Rock is a big destination for hiking/trail running. Check the temps–it’s been reasonable in the PNW but the temps there can get really high.
@Emily2509 Welcome to the US! Great suggestions by @Mal and I second using Alltrails, the filter functionality can pin point exactly what you’re looking for and GPS works offline. I spend a lot of time in Jackson, WY and while incredible I think it warrants more than just 2-3 days. Provo near Salt Lake is a wonderful area and there’s some good elevation there, but Frisco/Keystone/Breckenridge CO has an abundance of timberline hikes with considerable distances that you can link for a multi-day adventures.
If you head towards Appalachia check back in, we’ve got some great hikes with a totally unique topography here as well! - Rebecca
Check out greatruns.com as there may be a run listed for the area? Trailforks may also be of use.
You could always ask on Wildthings FB Redirecting... as tis not just kiwis posting there. When & if you’re ever back in NZ, check out the awesome trail list!
Hi @Emily2509 welcome to our community … you’ve had some great welcomes already but I have a question, when you were looking for your first sit in the US how and why Boise, secondly, what has surprised you the most about Boise and what pets are you looking after?
Lots of questions but we like to get to know our members as much as possible.
@Bex502 thanks so much!! I actually have AllTrails though I haven’t used it much before as there doesn’t seem to be so much on it in NZ. Looks like it might be more popular in the US! Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll look into going via Wyoming versus Salt Lake. Even though I have less time, something is always better than nothing!! I’m not sure where Appalachia is (my US geography is shocking, I have to do something about this) but I’ll look that up too!!
In addition to Alltrails, people here use Strava and Mapmyrun a lot. There are a few others: Trail Running? There's An App for That - Trail Runner Magazine. I’m a runner and hiker, just not a trail runner but many of my friends run trails. Have fun!
Hi @Angela_L ! Thanks for the welcome, I’m stoked by all these suggestions To answer your questions, I was searching by a few parameters: sit length 2wks+ (as I’m working remotely, it’s easier if I don’t have to set up and pack down super often); somewhere close to nature with good trails to run (turns out Boise has a great trail network on the hills and this sit is right by them!); and including use of a car as I’m coming from overseas and it’s so much more convenient to have use of a car for things like errands and accessing trailheads that are a little further away (sadly this cuts out a huge proportion of sits). This particular sit in Boise fit the bill perfectly and I was so happy to be accepted for it. I’m looking after two beautiful cats here. What has surprised me most about Boise? Well, I’ve not been here long but this is the first time I’ve been to a “high desert” climate. Early this morning I ran on a sandy trail through the dry grassy hills and the sky was amazing with big atmospheric clouds, the morning light shafting through them and edging the contours in gold. I’m surprised by how long the days are and how beautiful the temperature gets once the sun is setting in the evening, yet the light lingers on and on. I’ve also already had some entertaining times driving on the right I’ve done it before in South Korea but it’s been a while!! I’m getting used to it again!
Thank you and beautifully written … If you said you were a writer I would not be surprised.
I lived in Canada for many years, traveled all through the States and Europe so used to driving on the “wrong” side but there are still moments when I return and will suddenly realize I need to move over and when driving a standard I have been know to try and change gear with the window winder (in the days of non electric windows)
But generally we adapt very quickly, just remember to always keep the sidewalk on the passengers side of the car .
I just googled the route between the cities and 2 places that I’ve been to stand out. One is the mountains north of Salt Lake City (Ogden Utah and there abouts), lots of great hiking there. The second is Rocky Mountain National Park. I just got back from there and the hiking is amazing. I did the Sky Pond hike from Bear Lake while there…simply amazing. There are also many hikes outside of the Park (check out the area around the Stanley Hotel as a local guide said it had good hikes). Once you get to the park the bus service is good and can get you to just about anywhere you would want to hike in the park. The town near there is Estes Park, Colorado. Enjoy your adventure!
All over the Vail/Breckenridge area in general is amazing for outdoor activities.
