Beautiful Idaho - Sun Valley and The Sawtooth's

8/29/11 Day 24- Yes, we did survive the southeastern Idaho thunderstorm! It recurred about midnight for a couple hours of earplugging roaring thunder. What an experience for these northwesterners. By morning the sun came out and dried our tent and tarp so we could pack "dry" this time. It only took Mark one nanosecond to say "yes" to getting a hotel in Sun Valley, ID for tonight! We said good-bye to Downey and headed towards Pocatello and American Falls. We started to feel like we were getting close to home with this glimpse of the Snake River. The largest reservoir on the Snake is here at American Falls.

The area is also an early campsite on the old Oregon Trail. It was fun to crisscross paths with the Lewis and Clark and Oregon Trails on our journey. Massacre Rocks State Park is close by which was a likely ambush spot. There are inscriptions made by Oregon Trail emigrants nearby. At Twin Falls we headed north on highway 93 to Shoshone on this windy afternoon. From there through Hailey there were lots of open range, cattle ranches, occassional horse farm and the Big Wood River.

From Shoshone and the lava fields, north on highway 75, took us into the Pioneer and Sawtooth Mountain ranges and to our destination of Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho. This is a downtown shot of Ketchum. We are still keeping the "altitude" with the elevation here at 5,821 ft. The town has about 3,000 residents and was very welcoming to visitors like us! We found that we were a little late in the summer season so luckily it wasn't very crowded. The local kids had already gone back to school.

Italian dinner at Rico's was a perfect outdoor meal and great alternative to hot dogs on the one burner stove! It was great fun to be tourists and unload clothes in a real dresser at the hotel.

Our little Tyrolean hotel was right at the base of Bald Mt. ski lifts as you can see in the background. Our room had this view, too. We didn't get up on the gondola at this mountain but there were promises for the next time! We decided immediately that we would stay a second night so we could "enjoy" the town for a whole day and really relax. Good decision! The weather was just right at 70- 80 degrees during the day but would have been cold at night to camp.

8/30/11 Day 25- Second day in this cute town of Ketchum. It used to be shipping and smelter town for the local mines in the late 1800's. They celebrate this era during Wagon Days which is over Labor Day weekend. We missed that and the last of the theater arts and music concerts ended 2 days before we got here! Quiet on the western front.... After an afternoon of sitting in the town square, journaling, and people watching we went for a swim at the hotel and then to dinner at the Pioneer Saloon. This place was recommended by the locals and it was a great choice for a good steak dinner! Two guys sitting next to us were from Walla Walla and were on a motorcycle trip, too. It was fun visiting and sharing stories. One of them invited us to stay with his family if we are ever in their area wine tasting! Great to have connections. Thanks, Tim! We sauntered about town debating about staying another day but decided to move on tomorrow morning. First and only day that we didn't start the motorcycle! We have exactly 15,000 miles on the bike since we bought it last August and have logged in 4,260 miles so far this trip. It has been a gem and trouble free thus far! Oh, those blessings in disguise :)

8/31/11 Day 26- Out of the hotel and onward north on highway 75 into more of the Sawtooth National Forest and Recreational area. At Stanley you can see the range of the Sawtooths very well. It drops into the Boise National Forest, too.
The Sawtooth National Forest has just over 2 million acres and the Recreation area about 756,000 acres. This area has the Sawtooth Wilderness, the White Cloud-Boulder Mts., part of the Smokey Mts. as well as 5 major lakes, 300 smaller lakes and the Salmon River.

The views were more spectacular than we imagined. The jagged edges of the peaks are so aptly named in the range. Some of the peaks reached 12,000 feet and Galena Pass was at 8,990. Great weather, scenery and an awesome driver of this machine! He gets to look at pictures later to see what he missed as he circumnavigated the routes!

Another "cropped" picture of the Sawtooth mountains as we work our way to Lowman where we will veer off onto highway 24.

I'm a sucker for road and sign pictures- they help mark our place in time to where we've been, what pictures I'm taking, and they can impart some history.
Following the Salmon River and then to the Payette River we go on our version of the "wagon train"!

Beauty unfolded in the back country of southwest Idaho. Following the Salmon River along the edge of the Boise and Payette National Forest and the Sawtooth Range.

Around Banks, ID we stopped for a picnic on the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Payette River. Another perfect spot for a break and a chance to skip out onto the river rocks! All the little towns around here are closed up either due to the economy or it's out of season on this last day of August. That's ok with these campers as we move north on highway 55 towards Lake Cascades.