Sawtooth Mountains

This was the biggest trip I took this  summer.  I went into the Sawtooth Mountain Range in Idaho  to Redfish Lake, Stanley, Salmon and then back home.    This trip had some special meaning to me for two reasons.  One it is the longest trip by far, I have been on since I got my little "Flying R" mini trailer and two--I will explain that later.






I love this little trailer.  It is well built with  1/2  inch plywood. Nice tires and axle. While there is no kitchen there is storage in the back for my camp stove, pots and pans, etc., but I really don't cook very much when I travel.  I usually keep my food in the jeep for convenience. It is just the right size for one person.  I have a DVD player, although I rarely use it, a heater and  fan for when I can hook up to electricity.

So anyway, I left Tuesday morning with the idea I would make it into Redfish Lake for the first night.  The first leg of the trip is about 300 miles, which is a pretty hard drive. That is about the longest drive I did in Iceland. Part of it was on Freeway, which I hate and the other half on state highways.

The trip there was pretty much uneventful.  I did pump gas out of this little baby somewhere between Sun Valley and Redfish Lake.  It really made me smile and it was pump first pay later.  I think it was in the small town of Galena.

Which was lucky, because I had about a quarter of a tank left.  I meant to get gas in Sun Valley but forgot. (I bought a cute bird house there instead.)

Redfish Lake really is as pretty as everyone says.  A good portion of it they keep roadless.  I found one campsite in the least desirable campsite of the bunch and I was glad I found a place.  This is Tuesday people, why are the campgrounds so full!   This was my camping spot the first night in the Mount Heyburn campground. Nice campground, quiet, shade and a clean  outhouse.

               
It was about four so I ate some flat bread, some cheese and a little chicken salad.  I really don't eat much when I travel.  The sunset was Ok but there were no clouds so really not all that spectacular.  I got up to take the sunrise and still no clouds, but this one was a little bit better, because the mountains faced South and there was a bit of Moon.

Redfish Lake Sunrise

I was going to spend another night at Redfish Lake, but decided to try Stanley Lake for the next night.  Stanley Lake is not far from Redfish Lake and is more secluded and less busy.  For one thing, there is not a lodge at Stanley like there is at Redfish, so there are only campers there.  I am hopeful I can find a great place to camp.

I love Stanley.  What a small unpretentious little town.  And by little I mean little, less than 100 people who live there full time.  Of course, there are more people in the summer months.  Stanley is right on the intersection of three  great scenic byways in Idaho--Ponderosa Pine, Sawtooth. and Salmon River.  I will be traveling on the Sawtooth and the Salmon River.  The Ponderosa heads to the Boise area, and I will not be going that way.  There is rafting, horseback riding, climbing etc.  Lots of outdoor stuff.

Stanley Lake is heavenly and I found a great spot.  Right next to the lake and looking right at McGown Peak.  I had to turn pretty tight to get into the campground, But I am getting really good at backing this baby up, thanks to my son who gave me a lesson before I left.  Now I am not afraid of finding a campsite because I don't need a pull through.    

So on the agenda today is finding natural hot posts to sit in.  I bought a book at the Redfish Lake Lodge  called  "Hiking Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest."  Are there are a lot in the Stanley area.

  So here I go.  

   

First hot spring on the list that I visited is called Boat Box or Elkhorn Hot Spring.  If you didn't have directions or know this was there you would not even have an idea that it is just off the road.  The directions in this book were extremely accurate.  

      

Boat Box Hot Springs  is pretty hot. The book said 136 degrees.  First you have to put the end of the hose in the tub, then use the green bucket to put in water from the Salmon River.  You have to put in quite a few buckets of water to get the temperature right.  It was just a bit too hot, but I sat in anyway.  I am guessing it was at least 110 degrees. One of the the things I don't like about camping is not having a shower so let me tell you, this felt pretty nice.  The Salmon River Road is just to the left of the first picture, but the bank is so steep that you can not see the tub from the road.  This one reminded me of a community hot tub I sat in in Iceland.

The next spring I found was called Basin Creek.  It wasn't far of the road, just a 5 minute walk but it did not look nice enough to go through the effort of getting in and fixing the rocks.  If I had been with someone else to help share the load, maybe.

Basin Creek

Me at Sunbeam Hot Springs
Swimsuit required!

The next springs was a really nice one. Sunbeam Hot Springs.   This was also just off the road, and in the past had been a bathhouse.  Part of the old  bath house is still standing and has been restored somewhat.  There is also a restroom here, so I didn't have to change in the jeep or keep my wet swimsuit on.  This one is very hot, but it is easy to adjust the temperature by moving the rocks to let more river water in.  There were several people sitting in this one.  The gravel where I was sitting would get pretty hot and I would have to adjust my weight.  This one is probably my favorite of the trip.

Sunbeam Hot Springs.  I took this the next morning when there were
no people there.  It looks unassuming, but it is very nice.

After sitting in these hot springs I was on an adventure to find the Land of Yankee Fork.  I remember reading about this when I was in 4th grade studying Idaho history.  I was looking for the ghost towns of Custer and Bonanza.  First stop Bonanza.
The cemetery at Bonanza was one of the prettiest and well kept broken down cemeteries I have been to, if that makes sense.

Headstones in Bonanza

And perhaps hauntingly beautiful are the many headstones with a simple carving "Unknown."  I reflected on the many people who died while taming the Great West.  Those who perhaps made their fortunes and then lost them or maybe never even won them at all.  The men certainly, but also the women and children who followed their Husbands and Fathers into the "Unknown."

Hike in the Wasatch Mountain

My little town of
Willard Utah.  Way down below.  

Hi All.

I have been on many adventures since my Iceland trip, but just can't seem to find the time to catch up/  So I am starting with my last one and working back.  This will bug me because the date won't be right, but if I don't do this I will never get caught up.

Yesterday, I took a beautiful hike in the mountains behind my house.  There is a very rough dirt road that travels the back of the mountain and offers an incredible view from the top of Inspiration Point.  Unfortunately the gate was closed halfway up, to protect the mountain goat mating season.  LOL.  Did they just become shy?  The goats have been there for years and they have never closed the gate before.  But I took advantage of this and instead went walking.  Note to me:  Always take your water with you because your 5 minutes walks always turn into 3 1/2 hour hikes!

The wildflowers were exquisite.  In one square foot I saw 5 different kinds of wildflowers.  I saw service berries, elderberries, and thimbleberries.  Al of these are great eating.  The service berries were not quite ripe yet and the elderberries and thimble berries were still in bloom.  I usually dry some service berries and put them in pancakes and sometimes soup or stew.  About two weeks ago I noticed that some of the bushes in the Walmart parking lot were serviceberries so my son and I picked some.  You never know where wild food will show up!  The thimbleberries are a great trailside snack and elderberries make good jelly and you can also use the flowers by covering them with a batter and then deep frying them.  The flowers can also be used to make a fizzy drink by adding water and sugar and then letting it sit for a few weeks.  The one time I made it the kids loved it.   Apparently this is quite popular in the UK.  Of course, mine was the "virgin" recipe with no alcohol content.

Elderberry Bush

The wildflowers included several varieties of penstemon, baskets of gold, goat's rue, salsify, (edible) different species of buckwheat, cow parsnip, biscuit root, (edible) chickweed, (edible) wild strawberries (edible) wild geranium, lupine and many, many others.

The views are unmatched.

View looking to the North into Box Elder County.

Willard Peak the highest peak in Weber County, not Box Elder county.

This was a great hike and a super way to spend an early morning.  Because as Thoreau said in Walden

  “Morning brings back the heroic ages. There was something cosmical about it; a standing advertisement, till forbidden, of the everlasting vigor and fertility of the world. The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden