Sawtooth Mountains

Well, for the past week I’ve been enjoying a cellular-free life in the mountains with my sister in law, Alyse! After I picked her up in Twin Falls, Idaho we headed North into the Sawtooth Mountains and to a tiny little mountain town called Stanley!

This area is beyond gorgeous! So many trails, nice people, Bald Eagles, streams, rivers, mountains, hot springs, stars and blue skies!

I successfully backed into my camping spot! Assisted by the nicest camp host ever, Jim!

This campground was perfect! Only 10 spots with a lot of distance between campers and it was right on the Salmon River. We went down to the river almost everyday to play fetch with the pups! Gonzo loved it! And Sophie loved it because there were so many things to sniff!

On our way up into the mountains we went through Sun Valley. The specific town is called Ketchum and it’s a beautiful resort town. If you are looking for a little less peace and quiet but still want to go to the Sawtooth’s this is the area for you.

Anyway, on our way in we saw advertisements for a Brewfest on the following day. Since I already wanted to check out this area and I love beer it sounded like the perfect event!

The Brewfest was awesome and dog friendly. So many nice people, dogs and delicious beer! It was a perfect day! I kind of want to make it a summer tradition.

We started the following day by hitting up one of the many hot springs in the area. Boat Box! It was so cool and HOT! We referred to it as Sawtooth’s Cauldron.

That night the camp hosts asked us over for a home cooked Italian meal and wine! It was so fun visiting with them and getting to know them. Such nice people!

After dinner we walked down to the boat drop, watched the sunset and looked for pretty rocks!

The following day we headed out on a wonderful 8 mile hike! It started out in a beautiful field, then went deeper and higher into the mountains. Alyse and I even had to cross a rushing, rocky, freezing cold, crystal clear mountain stream two times on the way in and two times on the way out! It was quite fun once we got the feeling back in our legs! The end of the trail brought us up to beautiful Bridal Falls! I love a good waterfall!

Since there is so many amazing trails in the area we also spent the next day hiking except this time we had Sophie and Gonzo with us! We all hiked the 8 mile Bench Lakes Trail. It has to be one of my favorite trails that I have ever hiked. Steady incline the whole way, only a few switch backs. Picturesque views of turquoise blue Redfish Lake. A good amount of shade. A nice breeze. Snow-capped mountains in the background. And at the end were two alpine lakes that the doggies got to cool off in.

I will say I thought we were going to have to turn around because about one mile in I wasn’t sure if Sophie was doing well. She was panting harder than usual and kept laying down. I let her rest, gave her water, took her off leash and took her harness off. After that she was leading the way and tearing up the trail. Night and day difference! I had a smile on my face the whole time knowing she felt better!

Day 5 made for another perfect day in the Sawtooths! White Water Rafting! We went through the company, White Cloud. They were great we loved our river guide, Will. And our two fellow rowers, Leslie and Debbie; sisters from California on a three week long road trip! So fun getting to know all of them! We decided on a half day tour on Salmon River through some class II and III rapids. It was delightful! And I didn’t fall out! So that’s a win! Ha!

On the way home from rafting we took a detour to the Gold Dredge. It was interesting to read about the area’s gold rush and to see how much the area still suffers today because of it. The area of Yankee Fork was completely destroyed over 15 years back in the 1930s when they were dredging the beautiful river and Salmon spawning grounds for gold. For seven miles there is nothing but massive piles of stone on either side of the road. The government is working in some areas to restore the area. It was crazy to see all the earth movers rebuilding the riverbed. They will then plant native plants and trees. Lastly they will reroute the river into the newly carved path and hopefully the salmon will return after almost 100 years of absence. Below is a picture of the dredge that did all the damage for only 11 million dollars worth of gold.

It shouldn’t go without mentioning that Alyse and I got to eat some wonderful food in the area!

The cutest coffee shop, Peaks and Perks!

Delicious Redd Square!

And yummy Sawtooth Luce’s!

All in all it was a great stay and I can’t wait to go back!

#97 – For Alyse being able to come out and stay with me.

#98 – To Will for navigating us safely through the rapids!

#99 – To those who believe in restoring nature.

#100 – To Jim and Cathy for inviting us into their home for a delicious meal!

#101 – To so many of the lovely locals who shared their favorite spots with us!

“If we are going to whittle away at nature, we should recognize at the very beginning that such whittlings are cumulative, and that the end result will be mediocrity.”