North to Idaho

Aug. 4-6, 2002

Aug. 4: We left Salt Lake City and headed north into Idaho. Why Idaho? Because we had not spent much time there in the past - only one quick trip across it in 1969. So we thought it was worth a visit. We drove to the Sun Valley area and camped there for the night. Sun Valley was disappointing; since it is a well known ski area, I expected rugged and beautiful mountains. Instead, we found mostly large hills covered largely by sagebrush and very few trees. The hillsides are steep and, given snow in the winter the skiing could easily be good, but, in summer they are not very impressive.

Aug. 5-6: We stopped at the visitor center for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area just outside Sun Valley and discovered a delightful Idaho treat; they loan audiotapes that describe the features and history of the area as you drive through it. We enjoyed three of these tapes on our way north to the town of Salmon, ID. After crossing the Galena Summit we had views of the Sawtooth Mountains. Now those are real mountains - rocky and sculptured by glacial action.

Redfish lake in the Sawtooth range. It is a beautiful high altitude lake right up against the mountains. The name arises from the sockeye salmon who are bright red when they return to breed. The story is that there used to be so many sockeye that the water would appear to be red.  The sockeye would migrate down Redfish Creek to the Salmon River and then down to the Pacific Ocean. After a few years the sockeye would come back to breed in the lake. Now the sockeye are almost extinct due to the dams on the Columbia River; many of the salmon are killed by the power plant turbines so there are very few salmon in this area compared with earlier times.

The Sawtooth mountains and the Salmon River. The headwaters of the Salmon river are largely in the Sawtooth range. The town is Stanley, ID.

In this area the Salmon River is very accessible, following Idaho 75 and US 93 as it flows north. Rafting the river is a very popular activity. Further north the river heads west and flows for 150 miles in the second deepest canyon in the US until it joins the Snake river. That area is very inaccessible and once you start down it, there is no way back, so you have to ride the river to the end. It is also a much more challenging stretch of the river since it has picked up water from several tributaries. This gave it the name, "The River of No Return".

We took a side trip to Custer, which is one of many ghost mining towns in the area. Custer was started in 1879 when gold and silver was discovered in the area. By 1896 it was a booming city of 600 and by 1910 it was a ghost town. Now it is a low-key, but interesting, place to visit that gives you a glimpse into mining town life in the late 19th century.