I had no grand travel plans, but it had been a while since I traveled. I scheduled a weeks vacation in September. I had not made figured anything exciting out and rather than cancel the vacation I looked over my list of quick places to visit and found a cheap flight to Boise to hike in the Sawtooth Mountains.
I arrived in Boise late on a Thursday and found a room at the Modern Hotel downtown.
The next day ran along the Greenbelt and along Boise State University in time to see them board a bus for their away game. The team became famous for a few major upsets in recent years and their blue field.
There was an art fair going on while I was there
There are a few breweries downtown and they all seem to allow dogs to chill with you at the bar.
The following morning I headed out to stay at redfish resort, about 2 hours east of Boise. I was staying in a cabin the first night. I did not hike that afternoon but went for a swim in the cool lake and watched the wedding that was taking place. I wish the reservation people told me there was a wedding because it kind takes away from the tranquility when Back Street Boys is blaring at 11pm.
The next morning I drove to the town of Stanley and found the trail head for the Iron Creek Trail up to Sawtooth Lake. I should say that when flying in to Boise I heard all about the smoke blowing in from the West and how visibility was a few hundred feet. The first night in Boise my eyes did burn a bit but after that I did not feel the smoke was too bad. I got lucky as some wind had blown it away for the entirety of the trip. I mention all this because when starting the Sawtooth hike fog was all around. I thought it might be smoke and ruin the hike but it burned off in a couple hours to allow great views, especially when I climbed above it and looked down upon the fog as if I was above the clouds.
I hiked a bit past the main lake, through a boulder field to a smaller lake. I sat by the water for an hour, reading a book before heading back down the way I came
It was approx. a 12 mile hike. Not too challenging but enough to get the blood pumping on the switchbacks up the side of the mountain. I returned to the cabin and had to switch rooms to a spot in the main lodge. It was a modest, without a bathroom but perfect for my needs
I swam and sat by the water again. The next morning. I hired a boat to take me across Redfish Lake for a hike up to Alpine lake
A similar hike to yesterday. I was moving quick today as I only had 3 hours to make it to the top and back for the shuttle back. About 11 miles total.
I made it back down with 15 minutes to spare and caught the boat back to the lodge. The next day I drove south through Sun Valley and flew out in the early afternoon.
A quick trip, but enough to get my nature on and challenge my stamina a bit.
Until Next Time,
Darren
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