Wandering Retirees

Hailey, ID and the Sawtooth Mountains 

Today we headed up ID Rt 75 into the Sawtooth Range of the Rockies to Stanley, ID, and Stanley Lake. We saw what we consider the usual spectacular sights we’ve come to appreciate in this part of the country. The road winds through the twisties of mountain passes and descends into gorgeous rangeland through the rounded valleys ground out by the glaciers that covered the land as recently as 10,000 years ago. The road also follows the course of the Salmon River, running full to overflowing with winter runoff and recent rains. The Salmon flows to the Snake River, which joins the mighty Columbia River and, ultimately, empties into the Pacific. 

Stanley is a cute little town with a posted population of 63. Yep. By comparison, Dickens Drive has more residents. There are about 40 shops, stores, restaurants, and outfitters for the outdoors tourists who flock to the area. The area is very popular with campers, hikers and off road vehicles. In the absence of child labor, they must employ a lot of folks from the surrounding area. Nice folks, though. And the scenery all around is breathtaking. Not a bad fringe benefit.

The ride was about 160 miles round trip, with a bunch of stops to take pics and bask in the sights. The area, known as the Idaho Batholiths, an area of solid granite that has been pushed up by tectonic forces from the Pacific Plate sliding under the Continental Plate, and from the force of molten magma surging below. The magma didn’t burst through here in volcanos, but created a bulge in the earths crust. Deposits of rare metals and gems were found in these mountains, so it’s no surprise that mining was an early draw to the area.

The mountains were recently (in geological time) carved by glaciers and not enough time has passed for erosion and gravity to pull down and smooth the rough edges. As a consequence, the Sawtooth Mountains are the definition of rugged. It is so striking to see these towering crags jutting out from seas of green grasses and trees. And seen in series, they do resemble the blade of a giant saw.

We passed through Sun Valley on our way. It’s a very popular ski resort in a stunning setting. We saw a few of the trails on the north face of the mountain, some still with snow. Which almost didn’t stand out because of the great number of mountains that retain their snow covered peaks year round.

Tomorrow it’s off to Driggs, ID and the Tetons. And on the way, we plan to stop at Craters of the Moon Nat’l Park, where volcanic activity took place only about 2,000 years ago. See you on the morrow.

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