Coming Soon: The First Uncharted Podcast

Oh, Meadow Lake and your nameless mountain. I love you so.

NOTE: Here's my bit for the first Uncharted podcast. Go here for more information, and to wait on tenterhooks to hear my nasally voice. Whee.

Hi folks. This is Brian Davidson, head word nerd at Uncharted.

Got a question for you: Where are you going this year?

I've got a few places in mind.

First of all, I want to climb to the top of the Big Southern Butte, two overlapping volcanoes in the desert outside of Arco, Idaho. Why? I love sagebrush, and I'm sure I'll find plenty of it up there.

The butte is a serious landmark in central Idaho, dominating the landscape for miles. I work in its shadow and, when I'm on break, I often go outside to stare up at the butte, watching the peak's lenticular clouds come and go, and counting the days down until most of the snow is gone from its slopes.

I've never climbed it. But the view's got to be impressive from up there. Maybe, with a good set of binoculars, I'll be able to spot the little double-wide trailer I call home for forty hours a week. And maybe I'll see a few kestrels, rabbits, lizards, and golden eagles, many of the critters that call this part of Idaho home.

I'm also going to go to Idaho's City of Rocks National Reserve this summer if it kills me – and it might, especially if we meet the Boat Shoes Lady again.

We tried to go camping in the area a few years ago so we could go climb the weird rock formations that give the reserve its name, but we washed out. We happened to camp too near a lady who was indignant we had the temerity to camp in her vicinity. She came stomping over in her boat shoes to try to scare us off. When that didn't work, she went back to her campsite and turned up her Gordon Lightfoot music really, really loudly. We stayed long enough to eat our dinner, then packed up and went home. It was way too late to find somewhere else to camp. Camping's fun – and the rock climbing, too – but not if you've got the Boat Shoes Lady for a neighbor. By the way – I love Gordon Lightfoot. We were just scared of the boat shoes.

But we're going back. We'll climb to the top of Bath Rock and look into that odd little pool atop that pillar of rocks and wonder who was the first person to climb up there to find the water there in the first place.

Finally, we're going to Meadow Lake again. I've written a bit about this wonderful little Idaho alpine lake at Uncharted, and my wife has as well. Climbing over the quartz rocks that have tumbled down the mountainside and hiking the trails that weave through this little valley completes my summer.

So, where are you going this year? Let us know at www.uncharted.net. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.