Twin Separation at Twin Falls

Don and I part ways temporarily after Craters of the Moon.  I am headed to Boise to see good friends known on this blog as “Tom the Awning Fixer” and his lovely bride Corinne, who graciously hosted me for a bit of Boise driveway surfing and a fabulous dinner.  (No photos, as I all but changed the names to protect the innocent.)  Don went on to wander in the forest, trying to prove J. R. R. Tolkien’s theory that “Not all who wander are lost.”  Or are they? Continue reading

Stranger in a Strange Land

As we leave the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Sun Valley, I tell Don, “Take one last look at that beautiful snow, as we won’t be seeing that again for a long while!  We are headed for the bowels of the earth.”   In just a short, two hour drive along the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway, I am in scenic shock. Continue reading

The Sun Also Rises

So yes, the sun did indeed rise again.  So why don’t I feel better?  I will not allow hate, racism, xenophobia or bigotry into my life. Whomever resides in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is not First Cause to my experience. (Insert safety pin here.) Enough.

I have written often about the beauty of Idaho’s Scenic Byways, and the Sawtooth Scenic Byway has to be the most beautiful of all!   As we head out of the Sockeye Campground and turn south through the Sawtooth Valley Continue reading

Solitude in the Sawtooths

As suspected, the Stanley Visitor Center in “downtown Stanley” is closed for the season. I ask one of Stanley’s 63 residents, a handsome man next door doing some carpentry, if he knows of any campgrounds in the area that are still open. He directs me down about a mile out of town to the lovely Stanley Ranger Station for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Much to my relief, the Ranger explains that are several campgrounds still open. Continue reading

Stanley or Bust!

After reading friend’s blog posts all summer from the Sawtooth Mountains, I have my heart set on seeing that mountain range.  I’ve been planning this route across the Banner Summit and down into Stanley for months.  But the strange weather patterns that pummeled the Northwest coast are now moving across the mountain range, Continue reading

Fall in McCall

Mother Nature, along with Typhoon Songda, seems determined to deprive me of living the lines to my favorite poem, Helen Hunt Jackson’s “October’s Bright Blue Weather.” “Oh suns and skies and clouds of June and all ye flowers together, you cannot rival for one hour, October’s Bright Blue Weather.”   Though they may be able to deprive me of my October blue skies, they cannot rob me of my favorite season of the year, Fall. Continue reading

Heaven and Hell in Idaho

One of the sights in Idaho on my wish list is Hell’s Canyon, a 10-mile wide chasm carved by the Snake River, dividing Oregon, Washington and Idaho.   At 7,993 feet, it is North America’s deepest river gorge.   There are only three roads that reach the Snake River in the canyon – two from Oregon and one from Idaho.  But the road in Idaho at Pittsburgh Landing is not in the steep canyon section.   The only way to see the deepest sections are by boat or from a lookout.  I originally envisioned myself careening down the Snake River wearing a helmet and wielding an oar over Class III and IV rapids.   But I also envisioned myself here in August.  At this time of year, the white water rafts are in dry dock while the River Rats scurry south for the winter.  If I wanted to peer into Hell’s Canyon, I would have to resort to “Overlook.” Continue reading

Following Idaho’s Rivers and Scenic Byways

Ten years ago, while vacationing on a tiny island off the coast of Belize, Tobacco Caye, I met a man who waxed poetic about Idaho’s Salmon River.  I can still remember his vivid descriptions of rafting this wild and scenic river through canyons, rapids, and some of the largest wilderness in our country.    He talked of pristine white sand beach camping under star-filled skies, Continue reading