Twin Falls and the Sawtooth Mountains

For some reason, Wild Man had it on his agenda to visit Montana this summer. I’m still not 100% sure why… Maybe it’s the big skies, Rocky Mountains, wide open plains, blue ribbon trout streams, or maybe it was just the fact that Gramps Greg hailed from Montana. Regardless, I was happy to put together a road trip across the Mountain West, so early Monday we bid Mum goodbye from Powder Haus and set off east across the high desert of Nevada and southern Idaho. It was a lot of driving to start the adventure: more than seven hours behind the wheel from Donner Summit to Twin Falls in southern Idaho. It actually went by pretty quickly though, especially given the kids had the foresight to make themselves a box of road trip games from the dollar store before we left. There were a lot of rounds of Mad Libs (the best result pictured below), as well as plenty of That’s Your House, Blackout, Guess Who and Guess This Song (Lilia schooled Max and me…). The high desert was quite picturesque as well: endless plains of salt bush accented by striking mountains and buttes along the way. And, of course it was great to see petrol prices drop by more than 30% as we left California!

The kids’ Great Uncle Al lives in Wendell, so we made sure to let him know we were on our way through southern Idaho as part of our trip. Before dinner with Alan we took a detour for a refreshing swim at the top of awe inspiring Shoshone Falls just to the east of Twin Falls, such an incredible amount of water plummeting over the cascades. It was great to catch up with Alan over a few beers and scrumptious food at Anchor Bistro and Sports Bar, he always brings a smile to our faces with never ending wise cracks and good conversation. We shacked up at the Twin Falls Rock Creek Park on night one, all enjoying crawling into our respective sleeping quarters for the first time and gazing at the high desert stars from our beds.

I’d been told by multiple (trustworthy) outdoor-lovers that the Sawtooths in central Idaho should be a multi-day stop on our trip: mountain biking, hiking, open camping, big rivers and incredible mountain lakes, I didn’t need much convincing. We cruised through the desert north of Twin Falls, eventually the rocks transitioned to irrigated fields and the towering Sawtooths south of Ketchum came into view. We got stuck in some abhorrent construction traffic as we passed through Ketchum – the town adjacent to the famed Sun Valley ski resort – after which it was open roads as we climbed through some stunning mountain scenery on the road north.

We made a stop at Galena Lodge to put the bikes to work on some Idaho dirt after a day-and-a-half in the 4Runner. Galena is an XC ski resort in winter and popular MTB destination in summer, our lungs were definitely feeling the elevation given the resort’s base is at 7,300 feet but it was well worth the burn. The lodge had more than 40 miles of (free!) singletrack on offer, an awesome array of everything from semi-technical descents to machine-formed flow. The kids had a ball (even Lilia was grinning from ear to ear, who has lately started accompanying any requests to exercise with extreme pouty face and excessive eye rolling…). The trails were in excellent condition and the high country dirt was in prime form for the three descents we rode. A great stop on our way into the Sawtooth Valley…

From Galena Lodge we climbed over Galena Summit, where we were rewarded with our first breathtaking vista of the Sawtooth Valley and Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Rolling high plains flanked by the striking rocky peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains as far as the eye could see… Beautiful country. Remote Smiley Creek was a fun leg stretcher on our way north, after which we motored around on a handful of dirt roads searching for a spot to call home for the night. The Sawtooth Valley is almost entirely national forest so dispersed (bush) camping is permitted almost everywhere. The secret’s definitely out on the incredible riverside camping to be had in the area, though: we lost count of the number of groups of campers, trailers and RVs spread throughout the valley tucked into the forest alongside the Salmon River and Alturas Lake Creek. I will admit we were all getting a little frustrated trying to find a spot of our own, but eventually we nabbed a picture-perfect campsite just to the east of Pettit Lake. The kids spent the late afternoon fishing (and skinny dipping) in Alturas Lake Creek below our campsite, and we all enjoyed a roaring fire after annihilating the burritos I’d premade back in California. A memorable spot for night two, although Lilia sleepwalking from the rooftop tent at 1AM when it was 42°F/6°C outside is not something I ever need to repeat.

For our second full day in the Sawtooths it was my birthday. My request: a hike (with no complaints) to picturesque Alice Lake high in the mountains above Pettit Lake. Alice Lake is often featured on postcards of the area and is a quintessential example of the best of the Sawtooths: mountains reaching to the sky, turquoise water and nothing but the sound of the outdoors. It was a grueling hike up from the Tin Cup Trailhead next to Pettit Lake, a roundtrip of more than 12 miles/19 kilometers with more than 1,600 feet/500 meters of elevation gain. Our climb started as a meandering walk through some beautiful pine forest alongside Pettit Creek, at about halfway we emerged from the woods and started the steep ascent through the scree up to Alice Lake. The jagged peaks of the mountains to the north of the trail actually reminded us all of the striking granite from our time in Canton Valais, it was some stunning mountain scenery. By the time we made it to Alice we were all ready for calories, and Max and I braved the absolutely icy turquoise water to get the dust off our legs and feet. The water was so cold, the kind of water that actually hurt, neither of us could stay in for more than a few seconds.

As we started our descent the sun was high and altitude was starting to take it out of us, we were thanking a higher power we’d started walking early before the mercury rose. It took us about an hour less to descend than climb, and that last mile was definitely tough in spite of it being flat trail alongside Pettit Lake: sore ankles and arches, the sun beating on us, time to finish up… Almost six hours from start to finish with a break for lunch and a swim in the middle, it was a very memorable journey with some amazing scenery. I was exceedingly proud of the kids for motoring along with me with nothing but smiles for my birthday. We all definitely earned our milkshakes and ice cream in Stanley that afternoon!

Highway 75 heading east out of Stanley is often dubbed the Hot Spring Superhighway, owing to the sheer number of springs that spew out of the mountains into the picturesque Salmon River. I’d bookmarked most of them on my maps app before our trip, and we enjoyed soaking our tired legs and feet in a couple following our Alice Lake hike. It was a fabulous way to relieve sore muscles, with nothing but the sounds of the Salmon River cascading by. Max also threw a few lures into the Salmon as Lilia and I soaked in Sunbeam Hot Springs, managing to snag a couple of small trout as we relaxed. As we motored northeast and left the main swath of the Sawtooths behind the trees slowly disappeared and we worked our way back into the high desert. Birthday dinner was in Challis – a remote ranching town that had certainly seen better days – at Challis Roadhouse, where we all devoured some fried comfort food and burgers after some serious calorie burn earlier in the day. The array of campsites in Custer County north of Challis was impressive, we eventually shacked up at an almost empty Idaho Fish and Game spot alongside the charging Salmon River near Spring Gulch for the night. Max was back at it with his spinners – no trout this time – while Lilia and I watched from our chairs, enjoying leftover chocolate birthday cake from a few nights prior. A great day, definitely a birthday to remember!

When I told Scott Welch earlier this summer we were heading into the Sawtooths he said we had to make the trek up to Goldbug Hot Springs in Lemhi County. I didn’t do my research on this one and the hike was a lot longer than I’d anticipated (something which was certainly not appreciated by the kids, especially Miss Lilia). That said, the roughly 3.6 mile/5.8 kilometer out and back climb through the high desert was well worth it, in spite of how exposed it was. The hot springs were tucked into the jagged peaks of the Salmon River Mountains, a magic series of pools fed by striking waterfalls with panoramic views of the desert mountains as we sat there. The water was so clear it was hard to actually see there was any water at all until we touched it and made ripples. Relaxing but quite hot, the water would have easily been 105°F/41°C. The kids couldn’t stay submerged in the springs for few than a few minutes at a time and I actually got light headed from the heat at one point. A very worthwhile trek and great way to cap off a few days traversing Idaho from south to north, thanks Scott!