Boise, ID

While flipping through my copy of the Boise Weekly one afternoon in late June, I came across an ad for the 8th Annual Star Party at Bogus Basin. The event was free and as my cohorts and I were feeling skint, (as many teenagers find themselves in the summer months) we decided to check it out, pitching in for gas money and heading up to the Boise National Forest for an evening of star gazing. I myself not a huge winter sport enthusiast was excited to go take a look at the Bogus ski resort I had heard so much about over the years.
It took about a half-hour of slow and steady driving up the winding Bogus Basin road to get to the resort, but once there I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout. It seems quite a few families had come to enjoy the evening as well, attracted by the promise of a Ranger-lead nature hike and the chance to behold the night sky through telescopes commanded by the Boise Astronomical Society.

While we had arrive slightly too late for the 7:30 pm guided nature hike their was still time enough to explore some of the surrounding marked trails on our own, having brought our sense of adventure and a pair of hiking boots. Bogus Basin, while abandoned by skiers during the summer, would be a great place for hikers to investigate. Marked and mapped out are a variety of snowshoeing trails that are easily accessed by the main highway. While slightly overgrown, they are not difficult to walk and have extremely beautiful views of Boise Mountains to the north, and the entire Treasure Valley below. The Basin trails also include a Frisbee golf coarse and if your lucky enough to visit in late June as we were, you’

ll have the opportunity to view some of the beautiful blooming flora that seem frozen in a spring-time brilliance.

Back up at the lodge area we explored the main event of the evening. The Astronomical Society had set up a dozen telescopes to view the clear evening sky. All around many people had remembered to bring folding chairs, blankets, and snacks for a late evening (an oversight on our part). While it was warm for most of the evening towards midnight it got slightly chilly so I would recommend bringing a sweatshirt if you ever decide to attend this event or take a night hike. The Astronomical Society also recommends that visitors also bring a flashlight covered with red cellophane to prevent your pupils from dilating during viewings. My friends and I found this to be a very good suggestion, as many of the visitors that had regular white light flashlights had a tendency to blind us by accident.

The Society members did an excellent job of describing to us what to look for when viewing the planets they had focused their telescopes on. That evening we were able to view a solar prominence, the moons of Jupiter, and the fantastic rings and colors of Saturn from different angles, and even a very distant star cluster, all while an expert astronomer took us on a tour of that evening’s visible constellations. This has to be one of the highlights of my summer so far and I highly recommend any interested hikers to make a visit to the Bogus Basin trails. It would be a great spot to hike and then spend the night at a nearby campsite, and is a great event to take your kids to, if only to illustrate the beauty of the night sky.

To get to the resort go north on Harrison Boulevard. Go straight through the stop light at West Hill road. From there Harrison turns into Bogus Basin, which you should follow for approximately 16 miles. It should take approximately a half hour or so to reach the resort but, it is well worth the drive.