The Beginning of the River of No Return

About 2 weeks ago I procurred a 3 day weekend. Ah, what to do with myself... Road Trip! I decided to explore the high mountains of central Idaho.


After oversleeping, I drove down the few hours through intermittent rain and snow showers to the headwaters of the Salmon River aka "The River of No Return". This river is named due to the fact that it is so rough with whitewater rapids, and so winding that it was thought to be un-navigable by canoe. It begins from snowmelt coming off the majestic Sawtooth Mountains (see above freshly dusted with new snow).

The snowmelt collects in beautiful alpine lakes (such as Stanley Lake seen above) that spill over into cascading whitewater streams that collect together in the Sawtooth valley to form the river. I actually stayed in a cabin in the town of Stanley near this lake, population 70, elevation 6,250 feet. Despite its small size, there were quite a few outdoor outfitters who would take tourists on whitewater trips down the river for days into the untrecked wilderness surrounding this area. In fact Stanley is so isolated that it is surrounded by the largest roadless wilderness area in the entire lower 48 states.

Probably because of its isolation, the whole area is remarkably lacking significant development (at least compared to my experience with similar beautiful areas in Colorado.) Consequently, there was plenty of wide open unspoiled beauty to just soak up as I did at Little Redfish Lake (see above). I didn't really bump into anyone or talk to anyone all day. Just me and God and His creation. It was awesome in the definitive sense of the word.

Of course, the glorious weather added to the overall experience. The aspens were just starting to really show some color (see above at Fourth of July creek), and the sky was a deep October blue (I know, it was really September). The air smelled of autumn for the first time (for me) this year.

I had purchased some apples from a roadside orchard on the trip down. They were ok, not up to the standard of fresh Wisconsin/Minnesota apples (i.e. honeycrisp - my all time favorite apple variety, worth every penny of its $2 per apple price with the perfect blend of sweetness and tart, and a crisp firm texture that causes juice to escape from one's mouth with each bite...but I digress). Nonetheless, the deer (see above) found them appealing.

Late that afternoon, I made my way down to the town of Ketchum, home to the first destination ski resort in the United States - Sun Valley. I paid homage (and ate a wonderful black bean burrito at Ketchum Burrito), however I wasn't overly impressed with the town. It seemed pretty much like other ski towns I've been to, not too different from Breckenridge or Aspen. I'll have to try out the slopes sometime in the winter.

The next day, I followed the Salmon river downstream (actually towards the Continental Divide before it curves around through roadless wilderness to the west) to the small town of Salmon, ID. This was the birthplace of Sacagawea, the Shoshone teenage girl who saved the Lewis and Clark expedition several times all while traveling with her newborn baby. The photo above is from the Sacagawea Interpretive Center grounds looking east at the Continental Divide where Lewis and Clark passed over and found the Salmon River. Unfortunately for them, it was un-navigable, and so they went back over the Bitteroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana and eventually came down the Clearwater River very near to where I have been working this autumn. (I've enjoyed following the 200 year anniversary of that momentous expedition as re-inactors have been traversing the same route through Idaho while I've been here).

After lingering a little too long (I get into details too much when visiting museums), I headed north through the Bitteroot Mountains to Missoula, Montana then back home. Altogether it was a great weekend filled with history, adventure, wildness, and beauty. Pretty much the reasons why I travel.