Stanley and Ketchum, Idaho - Sawtooth Relay

One of my favorite places in Idaho is the Sawtooth National Forest between Stanley and Ketchum, where the Salmon River flows through peaceful, rolling farm fields and the jagged Sawtooth Mountains pierce the sky to the west.  Despite the incredible beauty of the area with its snow capped peaks and alpine lakes, it retains a quiet, relaxed atmosphere free of the crowds that can be found in nearby places like the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho

Keith suggested that we run the Sawtooth Relay on June 14 and despite having only four interested runners instead of the typical six for the relay, we entered the race and decided to spend a few extra days in the area to camp and hike.  Keith, Melissa, and I headed up to Ketchum on Friday afternoon and set up camp for the first two nights at North Fork along the banks of the Big Wood River.  Our fourth teammate, Lindsay, met up with us later on Friday evening.

Melissa and Keith

Sunset at camp

On Saturday morning, we drove north to Stanley for the start of the relay race.  The race traveled along Highway 75 for 62 miles and finished in Ketchum, not far from our camp site.  Our team was assigned a very late start time and we passed dozens of runners along the way to Stanley.  We began to worry that we'd be the very last team on the course but were relieved the find several teams starting with us and after us at the start line.  While most teams had six runners to cover the 62 miles, we only had four and this meant we'd each run three legs of several miles each.

Sawtooth Relay start line in Stanley, Idaho

Our Team - "Stoli Would Not Be Pleased"!

The scenery along the course the absolutely spectacular and the weather was perfect with a few clouds, no rain or snow, and comfortable running temperatures.  The other teams and volunteers were a lot of fun and everyone was nice and friendly.  It felt like the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back, without the overnight runs and the excessively long periods of time sitting in a van.  The miles passed by and we had a blast cheering each other on, running hard but not taking anything too seriously and enjoying a few beers along the way. Eventually we reached Ketchum and the fun after-party where lots of food and beer were waiting for us.  We were shocked to learn that our team came in 20th overall and 5th in the coed division with a total time of just under 8 hours.

Keith

Melissa

Me

Lindsay

Celebrating back at camp

On Sunday, we packed up camp and headed north to Stanley where we planned to camp for a couple more nights and do some hikes in the Sawtooths.  After setting up camp, we did a short hike around Redfish Lake before heading to the lodge for an outdoor concert.  Unfortunately, the weather went downhill and a torrential rainstorm hit, forcing us indoors to the bar which offered spectacular views of the storm and the lake.  Eventually the storm cleared and the sun came out, making for some great views of the Sawtooths.

Keith and Melissa at Redfish Lake

Redfish Lake Lodge

 At Redfish Lake

 Keith at Redfish Lake

 Redfish Lake

Sawtooths after the storm

We awoke on Monday morning to the sound of rain on the tent, and the downpour continued throughout the morning with colder temperatures and fog.  It became apparent that we weren't going to be able to hike, even if the weather cleared, because the snow level had come down to the valley floor.  We headed over to Stanley and had a wonderful breakfast with hot coffee at the Stanley Baking Company before packing up camp and heading back to Salt Lake a day early.  The mountain pass that we had run over a couple days earlier was covered with snow and we were thankful we had such a great day for running the Sawtooth Relay!

Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho - Hiking

Jake and I passed through the Sun Valley and Stanley, ID area on the way to Loon Creek two years ago.  We were both surprised how amazingly beautiful the Sawtooth Mountains were, and what a fun town Stanley seemed to be.  Unfortunately, we were short on time and our stay in Stanley was very brief.  Last year, we discovered that Stanley holds an annual music festival and we decided to make it a point to visit the Sawtooths in 2011 for the festival and some backpacking.

We left Salt Lake on Thursday evening for the 6 hour drive up to central Idaho.  Because we'd be arriving late, we made a camping reservation just outside the town of Ketchum at the Easley Campground.  The camping spot was adequate and apparently there were some hot springs at the campground, but we arrived too late and left too early to check them out.

We spent Friday in the town of Ketchun, ID enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, doing some shopping, and picking up some last minute supplies for the music festival.  Ketchum reminds me a lot of Park City, UT and it definitely caters to the Sun Valley crowd.

Jake at the Easley Campground near Ketchum, ID

Ketchum, ID

Art in Ketchum, ID

We drove up to Stanley, ID from Ketchum later in the day of Friday to get our camping spot for the Sawtooth Music Festival.  The festival is held in a large field above the small town of Stanley.  The camping is in pretty close quarters and it's not the nicest place I've ever camped, but the views of Stanley and the Sawtooth Range and phenomenal and it was easy access to the music stage.  Bands played on Friday night and Saturday evening.  We met up with Zach, his sister Emily, and Emily's friends Friday evening and enjoyed a great night of music and tasty beverages.  A horrific lightning storm moved in on Saturday night and unfortunately shut the festival down, but the lightning gave us quite show!

Jake and Emily making bingo cards

Our festival group festivalling

Sawtooth Music Festival

More Than Lights performing at Sawtooth Music Festival

Sawtooth Music Festival

View from the Sawtooth Music Festival

Stormy sunset over the Sawtooths

Due to the thunderstorm on Saturday night and the threat for more stormy weather, Jake and I cancelled our backpacking plans and decided to camp down in the lowers elevations and do day hikes from our camp spot.  We camped at Iron Creek and spent the rest of Monday hiking around Redfish Lake, a popular lake in the Stanley area.  Our hike around Redfish lake was, of course, cut short by another thunderstorm.

On Monday we hiked to Sawtooth Lake, which was one of our destinations on our planned backpacking trip.  This was definitely a highlight of the trip - the views from the trail were beautiful all the way to the lake and Sawtooth Lake was absolutely stunning.

Morning in the Sawtooths

Hiking to Sawtooth Lake

Alpine Lake on the way up to Sawtooth Lake

Hiking to Sawtooth Lake

 Still a lot of snow near Sawtooth Lake

 Sawtooth Lake

 Hanging at Sawtooth Lake

Sawtooth Lake

Horseshoe Lake - Challis National Forest, Idaho - Backpacking

Backpacker Magazine published a "Rip and Go" article in their September issue about Loon Creek and Horseshoe Lake in central Idaho. The article caught Jake's attention (probably because of the pre-selected food menu that came along with the complete how-to guide for this hike) and he decided we should do the trip. Despite my constant efforts to drag people across the deserts of Southern Utah, I occasionally give in to these green alpine hikes because they are always better than the other option - no backpacking trip at all. I enjoy exploring new places and since none of my previous outdoor adventures had taken me to Idaho, I agreed it would be a perfect trip for Labor Day weekend.

We left Salt Lake Friday afternoon and headed to a town called Stanley where we planned to camp for the night. The drive was about 6 hours and we passed through some very nice towns as we approached Stanley. Not the typical small podunk towns scattered throughout Idaho - these were high class, high end resort towns in the Sun Valley area. It was immediately decided that this place was worth additional trips to check out the towns. We camped overnight in a developed campground just south of Stanley and awoke the next morning to find ourselves surround by gorgeous jagged mountains (the Sawtooth Range) and Salmon River flowing through the valley.


The Sawtooth Range near Stanley, ID

Taking down the tent in the morning

The Sawtooth Range and the Salmon River

We made a brief stop in Stanley to see the town and get some coffee before making our way to the trailhead. The town had some amazing views of the Salmon River and Sawtooth Range, and seemed to be filled with cabins and homes catering to wealthy people on fishing vacations. I bet it absolutely sucks there in the winter, but it certainly looked like a gorgeous place to spend the summer. The road to the trailhead was rough, winding, and steep. By the time we made it to the ranger station where the trail started it was already early afternoon.


Jake in Stanley, ID

The Salmon River

Ready to start the hike

The hike followed Loon Creek for about 9 miles up to Horseshoe Lake. Several river crossings added to the adventure, and a hot spring along Loon Creek made for a good rest stop. The hot spring was a bit on the shallow side, and not extremely hot. I tried to love it, but it was just OK.


The first river crossing

Trying to love the hot spring

Taking a break

Arriving at Horseshoe Lake at sunset

We spent Saturday night and all of Sunday at Horseshoe Lake. We decided to hang around the lake and relax instead of exploring any farther because the weather seemed a little stormy on Sunday afternoon. It got fairly cold (a hint of winter in the air at 8,000 feet!) but there were just a few passing showers at night. It was decided that Jake and I have very limited knowledge of card games, and Jake's whiskey wasn't the best I've ever had.


Horseshoe Lake

Horseshoe Lake

Happy tent near Horseshoe Lake

Horseshoe Lake

Jake makes sure the bears don't come looking for dinner

We headed back to the trailhead Monday morning for the journey back to Salt Lake. Between the hiking and the driving, it was a very long day, but very much worth it.


Jake is a big fan of this picture

End of the hike

Heading back to Salt Lake