Idaho

Illegal Hitch Hiking in Idaho – The Trek

Published

1 year ago

August 24, 2024

Illegal Hitch Hiking in Idaho – The Trek

This morning I wanted to sleep in but heard Syrup pop his sleep pad at 6:20am. I guess he didn’t get the memo that we were going to sleep in this morning. So I started slowly packing up and getting ready to hike. Just after 7am everybody was ready to go. We only had about 10 miles until we would get into Macks inn. And from there we could hitch into West Yellowstone.

Brushing my teeth as we did our road walk.

When we left camp we only had to walk .2 miles on trail. Then we got into the most perfectly manicured dirt road I’d ever seen. It had a slight downhill decline too. We would be walking along that for the entire rest of the way to town. It doesn’t get much better than that.

9 Lives up ahead along the road.

I had service so I did some stuff on my phone as I walked. Then I talked to my mom on the phone for a while. The time flew by and by 10am we got into town. Our first stop was for food of course. The trail went right past a subway and all of us had been talking about it for days. Everybody headed inside and dropped our packs. Then I ordered a steak and cheese sub with all the fixings.

My loaded subway sandwich. We had been dreaming about subway for days.

After we got our food we asked for a piece of cardboard. Then made a sign saying “West Yellowstone” so that we could attempt to get a hitch. We walked across the street to the nearby grocery store to grab a couple of things after that. Then began hitching. While I held up the sign I remembered something though, hitch hiking is illegal in Idaho! And I was pretty sure that we were in Idaho right now.

Within the first 10 minutes a car pulled over. It was actually a guy who we had texted earlier about maybe shuttling us to West Yellowstone. Originally he said that he couldn’t fit all of us. That’s why we were hitching. But now he said he thought he could try to get all 5 of us in. We were super grateful for that. In the end Sidequest and I went in the truck bed and everyone else fit inside the cab. The ride to West Yellowstone was only 14 miles from Mack’s inn, so it was short and sweet. Before we knew it we were in town.

Sidequest and I loaded into the truck bed with all of the packs. The bed was raised so it was like we were sitting on top of the bed practically.

West Yellowstone is a lot like Gatlinburg on the AT. It’s a big tourist town with everything that you could think of. Luckily we got into town on a Tuesday, so it was much less crazy. Our first stop was the visitor center to ask about permits. We’re going to come back tomorrow and actually get them. But we had a couple of questions. Then we made our way through town.

Talking to the Yellowstone ranger about permits.

9 Lives and I have been talking about boba tea for days because we heard there was a store in West Yellowstone. So we headed to a place to get that. Lately on trail we have been in tiny towns so the variety of food and drinks has been limited. I’ve been dying for something like this! I got a Thai tea and everyone else got something too. Then we sat outside and enjoyed. After I finished I got a taro smoothie for round 2. I just couldn’t resist.

A Thai tea from the shop in west Yellowstone.

Tea&Brown, where I got so many drinks while we were in west Yellowstone.

Check in time for our room was 2pm so we had a little bit of time to kill. While we sat outside we heard someone holler over, and to my surprise it was Sprinkle! She was down on the Florida trail earlier this year. It was so cool to see her again. She works in the area doing tours. We talked with her for a bit and she even offered us some drinks. Sadly she has to work these next couple of days so we can’t hangout. But hopefully we’ll be able to see her again while we’re still in the area.

Sprinkles truck and the cool platform she made so that she can camp in it. The car was loaded with packs because she was helping out a few other hikers.

Shortly after that we checked into our motel room. Then everybody showered and we got our stuff together to do laundry. While we were hanging at the room a bunch of our friends showed up that we haven’t seen in weeks. Nana Man, Dirty, Just in Case, and Giggles all came by the room. Plus a couple other friends that they have been hiking with. It was so nice to see everyone again.

Nana Man in one of his many fantastic outfits, with his cane of course.

Then once everybody showered a huge group of us walked to the laundromat together. While the laundry was going we all hung out. I got a little bit of writing done and everyone else did some drinking. Then once we were done we dropped our stuff back at the room and headed to an early dinner.

The laundromat where we hung out for a while.

Dirty and his new straw hat. It feels like forever since we’ve seen these guys!

There was apparently a wicked good BBQ place in town but it was closed. So we went to the Slippery Otter. The name alone was enough to get us intrigued. I was pretty hungry but not really in the mood for bar food. High Profile and I split an order of jalapeño wontons to start. Then I got a big salad and an order of sweet potato fries for my meal. It wound up being the perfect amount of food since I wasn’t starving.

The Slippery Otter Pub where we went for an early dinner.

It was so nice getting a meal with this whole but crew again. It was High Profile, 9 Lives, Sidequest, Syrup, Nana Man, Dirty, Tigger, and myself. We hung out there for a while eating and talking. Then headed out after that. Everyone else wanted to go to another bar but I wasn’t in the mood to drink. So I went to get ice cream with HP. I also realized that since everyone else was gone I would have the motel room to myself. That meant I could probably get some voice recording stuff done hopefully before everyone came back. But of course, I started to work and within 5 minutes Syrup came back to the room. That was totally fine, but I was disappointed that I didn’t manage to get anything done beforehand.

The Slippery Otter Pub in West Yellowstone.

I really wanted to get some work done so I decided to walk down the street. I was hoping that I could find some place quiet to work. In the end I sat on some cement blocks and got a bunch of work done. But within the next half hour it began to drizzle. Luckily I was under an over hang, because before I knew it it started pouring. There was a lull in the rain and I used my opportunity to run back to the motel.

I got an ice cream with High Profile and ate it back at the room.

Thank god I got back when I did. Because almost as soon as I got back the sky opened up and began dumping rain! It sounded and looked terrible out. So I hid in the room with Syrup just relaxing. It felt so good to lay in bed and do nothing at all. But I did manage to get a lot of writing done and a few videos made.

Everyone else came back to the room not too long after that. The guys said that they probably wanted to hike out with us in a couple of days. We haven’t hiked together in 2 weeks, so I would absolutely love that. I missed these crazy guys!

The City Center Motel where we would wind up staying 2 nights in West Yellowstone.

Then later on in the evenings a bunch of us ordered Chinese food. HP and I walked to pick it up. Then came back to the room to eat. I got crab Rangoons and Mongolian beef with rice. It’s been so long since I ate anything besides burgers and American food. I was excited for some variety. The crab Rangoons were great and I ate all of those quickly. Then I’ll have a bunch of leftovers for tomorrow.

Later on in the evening I got a bit more writing done. The guys left our room and went to tent somewhere in town. We told them that they could sleep on our floor, but they wanted to tent. I wound up staying up way too late doing some work on my phone. Then eventually called it a night. Tomorrow we’re taking a zero day! So I can sleep in as late as I want and chill all day

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Idaho

Idaho lawmakers, advocates push for CPS reform ahead of legislative season

Published

9 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Idaho lawmakers, advocates push for CPS reform ahead of legislative season

As Idaho lawmakers prepare for a new legislative session, child welfare reform is emerging as a priority for some legislators and advocacy groups.

A local parents’ rights organization and a Canyon County lawmaker say they plan to introduce legislation aimed at changing how Child Protective Services operates in Idaho — legislation they say is designed to better protect children while keeping families together.

Supporters of the proposed bills say one of the key issues they are trying to address is what they call “medical kidnapping.”

In a statement of purpose, supporters define medical kidnapping as “the wrongful removal of a child from a parent when abuse or neglect has not been established.”

WATCH: Legislator and advocate explain reforms to CPS

Idaho lawmakers, advocates push child welfare reforms ahead of legislative session

Republican Representative Lucas Cayler of Caldwell says current Idaho law defines kidnapping, but does not specifically address situations involving medical decisions made by parents.

“Currently, kidnapping is defined in Idaho statute, but medical kidnapping is not,” Cayler said.

RELATED| Idaho legislators request Health & Welfare pause childcare grants ‘pending fraud prevention measures’

Cayler says supporters believe these situations can occur in hospital settings — when parents seek medical care for their child but question a test, refuse a treatment, or request a second opinion.

“Our children are one of our most valuable parts of our society, and a child’s best chances of success and happiness is with their parents,” Cayler said. “We shouldn’t be looking for reasons to separate families over specious claims of abuse or neglect.”

Kristine McCreary says she believes it happened to her.

McCreary says her son was removed from her care without signs of abuse — an experience that led her to found POWER, Parents Objective With Essential Rights. The organization works with families who believe their children were unnecessarily removed by Child Protective Services.

“We’re seeing CPS come out and remove children when they shouldn’t, and not come out when they should,” McCreary said. “We have a serious issue.”

McCreary says POWER is urging lawmakers to take up the issue during this legislative session.

RELATED|Governor Brad Little celebrates a ‘productive 2025 legislative session’

Supporters of the legislation say the concern is not whether child protection is necessary, but whether it is being applied consistently.

“We’re hoping that with our bills, we can correct those issues, to protect families, prevent harm, and create accountability,” McCreary said.

Cayler echoed that sentiment, saying families should be afforded the same legal standards applied in other cases.

“You and I are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and in many cases we’re finding that standard isn’t being applied consistently,” he said.

The Idaho legislative session begins next week. The proposed bills are expected to be introduced in committee before moving through both chambers of the legislature. If approved, they would then head to the governor’s desk for consideration.

(DELETE IF AI WAS NOT USED) This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Idaho

Local school administrator named Idaho’s Superintendent of the Year – East Idaho News

Published

21 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Local school administrator named Idaho’s Superintendent of the Year – East Idaho News

REXBURG — A local school administrator has been named Idaho Superintendent of the Year for 2026, recognizing his work at Madison School District.

According to a news release from the Idaho Association of School Administrators, Randy B. Lords Jr., the superintendent of Madison School District 321, was selected to represent Idaho as a nominee for the National Superintendent of the Year award.

He became superintendent for the district in 2021, where he has focused on improving academics through new programs and fostering the well-being of students and staff.

Lords was chosen, according to the release, due to his work on three main points:

His support for career and technical education programs for students and for the use of an artificial intelligence-literacy program.
His work on fiscal responsibility, with a focus on the district’s future growth and maintenance of its facilities.
His work to improve parent and community involvement with the school district.

The ISAS executive director highlighted in the release Lords’ work to navigate the intricacies of leadership and improve the district’s academics.

“This recognition deeply humbles me, but this award belongs to the incredible faculty, staff and students of Madison School District,” Lords stated in the release. “Our success is a testament to the collaborative spirit of our community. I am honored to serve our families and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure every student has a world of opportunities at their fingertips.”