Idaho

September 17-23, September 30 and October 1, 2020

TL;DR: Idaho is a stunner! Who knew? Pretty much everywhere we went in Idaho, we loved, from the hot springs to the small town of McCall to one of our top five hikes at Petit Lake.

The sights

Shoshone Falls/Twin Falls

On the Snake River in south-central Idaho, Shoshone Falls is three miles from Twin Falls and has been called the Niagara of the West.

Indeed, the Niagara-style waterfall is in the middle of a giant canyon. We tried to find the Rim Trail but struck out. So we just kept walking and eventually found a path and some gorgeous overlooks.

We also went to Evel Knievel’s jump site (!). He never actually made the quarter-mile-wide (500-foot-down) jump over Snake River, and crashed because of a parachute malfunction, but only suffered a broken nose. Apparently he holds the world record for 433 broken bones!

We also saw a lonely kayak in the canyon, which looked super awesome.

Sun Valley

Sun Valley was lovely! Had the most beautiful dispersed spot about half a mile from a picturesque bike path that went all to the way to and through Sun Valley. Gorgeous houses and views on the way along the Big Wood River. Sort of reminded us of the side of Truckee River in Tahoe, and also Jackson Hole.

Bald Mountain looked cool and is supposed to be a really good ski mountain when the snow is right. Apparently it’s on/off whether or not there are good ski days since they get less precipitation.

In Ketchum, we had a few beers and soft pretzels and beer cheese at Sawtooth Brewery, which had a nice outdoor space; also went to Warfield for some truffle fries and beers (carb load?). Basically warming up until we could go to The Pio (see Roadfood).

Petit Lake to Alice Lake Hike

On the drive to the trailhead, we saw lots of Aspens turning bright yellow and Sawtooth ridges everywhere. It got as low as 26 degrees en route, and was super foggy right before the entrance (we were crossing our fingers that it was the right place!).

Once we got there, the trail starts out along Petit Lake, which was beautiful and had lots of smoky magic on it. Super clear water with green edges like Glacier and Tahoe. Lots of fallen trees everywhere.

Lots of black-tailed squirrels chirping at us and throwing nuts.

Climbed up a rocky valley where we were treated to some epic views.

Then the trail wound through a really cool aspen grove.

Got to Twin Lakes first, which was super beautiful with the mountains behind it and the clearest water. Lots of really pretty yellow/orange/red shrubs and leaves. Not a ton of wildlife but a few fish and birds. Felt a lot like the Hidden Lake hike in Glacier.

Made it up to Alice Lake. Not bad.

Walked along the edge and had our lunch with the prettiest view.

And the hike down was just as enjoyable. Definitely one of our top five hikes, ever.

Boise

The highway on the way to Boise was super pretty until about 20 miles out when it switched to standard farmland. Walked around a bit, but most things were closed except for a great sandwich shop, Lemon Tree (see Roadfood). Looked like it could have been pretty lively if there wasn’t a pandemic, and the park we enjoyed our sandwiches in was very lovely.

McCall

Jess looooooved McCall. Really cute contender for possible future living space. Went to the Salmon River Brewery, which was adorable. Sat up on the roof overlooking Payette Lake.

Lovely little town square type of area with an amphitheater and marina-front park. Kind of reminded us of Tahoe 20 years ago. Decent amount of boats on the lake and nice houses on the water.

The lake is six square miles and 70 feet deep, and the town has a population of 3,500 (small!). There’s also a ski mountain seven miles away that looked pretty cool. They had a $400 “first timer” season pass, and $600 otherwise. And during summer they have XC mountain biking, frisbee golf, farmer’s market. Interesting.

Jerry Johnson Hot Springs

Oh man. Thank you to Shawn for this hot tip. It was raining when we arrived but we decided to go for it. Got bundled up, brought some beer, then hiked across the bridge toward the hot springs. Saw a sign that told us just about everything we needed to know:

The walk was rainy but super pretty and lush. Lots of ferns and lightning-ed trees. Saw the first spring about a mile in but someone was in it. Saw another one, kept going… saw a few (very nude) bathers just lounging.

Then we found a really sweet one that reminded us of Queen’s Bath in Hawaii, and decided it was the perfect one.

Decided to go for it and do a nude dip. It was gorgeous. Lightly raining. The spring was a perfect temperature. Shallow but deep enough to cover us. Inspired us to want to put a natural pool in our future house.

Also, apparently Jerry Johnson was a prospector for precious metals in the area during the 1880s and 1890s. The more you know.

Coeur d’Alene

Pretty cute little town, though we did get attacked by hoards of gnats at one point on the bikes, which was very annoying. Saw Tubbs Hill and two small parks in town, and marveled at the cool old houses by the water, which reminded Bri of Charleston. Pretty downtown area. Very well landscaped. Parked our bikes on Sherman Street and went to Crafted (see Roadfood). Would probably be a fun place to walk around if the pandemic wasn’t in full swing.

Sandpoint

Another pretty cute little lakeside town in Idaho. A little unsettling that they didn’t have a city-wide mask mandate, but we had a nice enough time walking around and eating our food from City Beach Organics (see Roadfood) right on City Beach.

Details, details, details

Highway 12 is 100 miles along the West Fork Lolo Creek. Super pretty clear river with lush greenery, lots of rocks, and deeper spots where you can see drop-offs from big boulders.

Driving through Clearwater National Forest reminds us of the Black Hills in South Dakota. This time of year, this drive—with the water and trees and plants and animals—is one of the prettiest 100-mile drives we’ve done. Everywhere you look is so epic with the rocks and mountains and foliage.

And then this happened…

We randomly texted our SF friends, Brian and Lauren, who have a place in Sun Valley to tell them we were there—and they were, too (with their two kiddos)! Was so amazing to see them.

Bri thinks the water pressure at one of the campgrounds caused a leak in the department where Layla’s hoses/pump are, but some Ptex tape seems to have fixed it for now.

Now we know

Irrigation systems are fascinating and expensive, and very plentiful in these parts.

Road food

Stiff margs, huge baked potatoes and quite the crowd at The Pioneer Saloon in Sun Valley.

Amazing sandwiches, like the massaman curry bahn-mi and Frito-accented Peruvian with sausage at The Lemon Tree Co. in Boise.

The most incredible East Indian take on huevos rancheros at The Fogglifter Cafe in McCall.

French fries drenched in blue cheese, brioche pretzels with red pepper syrup and beer at Crafted in Coeur d’Alene. (Review publishing soon!)

Chewy homemade tortillas and smoothies at City Beach Organics in Sandpoint. (Review publishing soon!)

Where we stayed

Night one: BLM parking lot right by highway Animal Crossing in Wells

Fun fact: The crossing saves 100-200 mule deer a year.

GPS coordinates: 41.205807, -114.854139

Night two, three: Dispersed spot at Lake Creek

Lots of magpies everywhere but extremely gorgeous and insane that it’s completely free (and empty).

GPS coordinates: 43.737285, -114.360773

Night four: Dispersed spot off Forest Service Road 210 near Redfish Lake

Good snag after a big day of hiking. About 2 miles away from Redfish. The lake was very pretty and big, felt more commercial compared to Alice and Pettit. Lots of boats on the water and windier. Spotted a bald eagle out the back window right before it got dark.

GPS coordinates: 44.166537, -114.897325

Night five: Site 195, Ridgepoint Campground, Lake Cascade

Pretty choice spot!

Night six: Campsite 95 at Chokecherry, Ponderosa State Park

Really pretty campground with huge Ponderosa pines and we were just across the street from the lake and next to a great bike trail.

Night seven: Dispersed site on side of road in Clearwater National Forest

We were going to stay at Knife’s Edge campground, which is 5 dispersed sites near the water, but had seen this spot prior and it worked great! And was free, of course.