We hadn’t planned on our route taking us as far northwest as Idaho, but as the heat began to feel overwhelming in Colorado, we decided we needed to find a reprieve. So we packed up and headed towards Boise!
We took a long, flat, boring drive through Nevada and coasted into a lovely little dispersed site after crossing into Idaho. Our drive into the campsite was surreal - after hours traversing the desert, our GPS counted down the minutes to our site as we meandered through farmland. Just as I was fearing we'd end up in someone's backyard, we turned a corner and descended into a stunning rock canyon, the setting sun illuminating the towering upper spires. We turned down a little side road to a lovely and quiet little dispersed site. It felt like we were in a calm, lush nook, tucked away from the world.
After settling in by the river, we chatted with some of our neighbors to get the lay of the land. As we've mentioned before, some of our favorite stops on this trip were on the recommendation of friendly fellow travelers we met at campsites, so we’re always excited to take note of places other people have enjoyed. And we struck gold with ideas here, including a suggestion to check out a very cool hot spring...
Our site was near Balanced Rock, a large rock that’s 48 feet wide at the top and a measly 3 feet 17 inches at the bottom, making it look like a large teetering mushroom atop its rocky base. Before we fully headed out, we took a visit to this wonder right down the road from camp. It’s always extra fun when we head to a dispersed site just looking for a sleeping spot and end up next to a gorgeous natural attraction. Sometimes, even with all our planning, we find the best places through luck and happenstance, and bus life gives us the time and opportunity to embrace that.
Boise was our first main stop in Idaho, and thanks to a friend who had lived there for a bit, we started our visit with a highly recommended brewery. Barbarian Brewing was a true highlight for me, since they specialized in sour beers and well-crafted sours are hard to find. The highlights of my tasting flight were the Arnold Palmer iced tea sour and the Earl Gray and lavender tea sour, both were so herbal and flavorful with a mild sour flavor, and it was a treat in and of itself to be able to have so many delicious choices! After our tasting, we were in the mood for a snack, and when we discovered the Boise Fry Co, it felt like the perfect spot to taste the flavors of Idaho potatoes. There were several options for potato type and cut, as well as a plethora of salt shakes and dipping sauces. I opted for a nice Russet truffle and Craig went with a regular Gold potato. He made the wiser choice, since it was a perfect blank slate for the abundance of delicious dipping sauces. From blueberry ketchup to garlic aioli to curry fry sauce, we really had a delightful mix of flavors! Brews and fries - it was a perfect menu for a stroll around to explore Boise.
We did a little souveniring and explored the downtown streets. There were a few shops, but it really feels like the highlight of Boise lies in their abundance of restaurants. There were a few we would have loved to check out, but we were quite full of fries so we opted instead to enjoy the local arts with a walk down Freak Alley Gallery. The downtown Boise “notable venue” started when Colby Akers was commissioned to paint the back of a cafe at one end of the alley. After a job well done, other local businesses in the alley wanted their own little piece of art, and the Gallery was born. Over time, the murals have changed and been updated, an ever-growing and changing series of murals that are both unique and occasionally interconnected. It was also neat to see that in this trendy town, this little alley of local art is a point of pride and attraction.
The next morning, we enjoyed some fresh cool air on the Boise River Greenbelt. I went for a run and could immediately feel the benefits of the cooler Idaho air. Running is a lot more enjoyable when it’s not pushing 100 degrees. After a refreshing morning outside, we continued our trend of trying local donuts at Guru Donuts. While we both agreed the texture could be improved, their pumpkin cheesecake donuts were so delicious, I think they were a highlight for this foodie on our trip! As we headed out of town, we were both surprised at how much we enjoyed our trip to lovely Boise. We didn’t have many expectations for the place, but it definitely had the vibes of being the decently cool kid cousin of popular Pacific Northwest cities. From Seattle restaurants to Portland breweries, we got a little sampling of what makes PNW so hip and cool (and delicious!).
After Boise, we decided to head as far north as our timeline allowed. We had plans set for New Mexico at the end of September, which only gave us about a week to explore Idaho. Our road took us up through Boise National Forest & Sawtooth National Forest, where we made use of our dispersed camping neighbor's tips. It came highly recommended to check out these hot springs in Boise National Forest, where you have the ability to make your own bathing pools by diverting the hot spring water and the cold mountain river water. It was a cool morning, which was absolutely perfect weather for a dip in a hot spring. When we arrived, there was a little pool already set up, so we used that as a base to build our own little pool. We originally cranked the heat by blocking some of the cold river flow, but eventually brought back in some of the river to balance it all out. As I sat soaking in perfectly hot water, as chilly mountain air cooled my face, and the views of the mountains rose peacefully in the distance… I couldn't help but feel immensely blessed to live on such a gorgeous and bountiful planet, and to get a chance to not only explore it, but immerse myself in it.
While we soaked, we left the boys lounging in bed. They enjoyed their lazy morning, but just as we were wrapping up, Winston must have decided we weren't moving fast enough for him. Breaking the still and peaceful mountain air...MMMMMMNNNNYYYYAAAAA. Oh, did we not mention our little Winston not only knows how to honk the horn, but also lay on it like a New Jersey driver in rush hour when someone cuts in front of her while she's waiting on the exit ramp? The screech of the horn finally subsided, and Winston had thoroughly entertained the new arrivals at the hot spring to some hilarious entertainment. And with Winston's horn, we were summoned back to Charlotte for the next part of that day's adventure.
Adjacent to Boise National Forest is Sawtooth National Forest, a widespread forest separated into 4 regions and named after the jagged peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains. We headed to the Stanley Lake trailhead, an absolutely stunning lake surrounded by mountains and lush pine forests. It was a windy day, and our hike took us across an open field with stunning toothy mountain views before it wound its way into a young pine forest. We received some warning from fellow hikers that the wind was blowing some of these skinny pines down, so we cautiously made our way through to a rocky climb leading away from the main trail down to Lady Face Falls. Nearing the end of the trail, we could hear the falls, but not quite see them, and realized there was a short but solid downward climb to the river. We trekked down and the views were worth the journey. On one end, the falls cascaded down into the short connection of the river before descending again at the other end into a ravine. It was a truly beautiful little spot and after our morning in the hot springs, this really sealed the deal in making us enamored with the natural beauty Idaho has to offer.
After finishing up our hike, we did a quick swing by Redfish Lake, as this was touted as the stunning heart in the middle of Sawtooth National Forest. While it was a beauty, it definitely seemed centered around the lodge and lodge’s activities, and we both felt like Stanley Lake was equally beautiful and more enjoyable in it’s more simple, natural offerings. It was a busy day exploring the outdoors, and we were both hungry for a good dinner, so when we found a pizza place, we were cautiously ready to give it a shot. Being from New Jersey, we can be pretty judgemental about our pizza, so we were both pleasantly surprised by what we were served up at Papa Brunee’s. The spicy cheesy bread was a special delight, and we topped it all off with a huckleberry canned cocktail, to really embrace the Idaho flavors.
It was a sincerely perfect day - started with an amazing morning in a hot spring, enjoyed a nice afternoon hike, finished it all off with pizza and cocktails. At this point, we were both really starting to wonder if we wanted to ever leave Idaho. And to top it all off, we continued to have wonderful luck with finding stunning dispersed campsites. From quiet riverside spots, complete with firepits, to efficient pull offs under snow-capped mountains, to our favorite private creekside spot under the Harvest Moon, we really had a hard time considering leaving here. I was absolutely blown away by every gorgeous campsite we had the absolute pleasure of finding.
As we neared the end of our far-too-brief journey through Idaho, the weather gave us a sudden taste of upcoming winter weather, and we awoke one morning to snowcaps surrounding us in Sawtooth National Forest. We decided it was an ideal day for some errands and our first hot pumpkin chais from Starbucks, so we headed into Ketchum, which ended up being a charming ski town. As we checked out the map, we noticed a little surprise - Ernest Hemingway’s grave! It may be odd, but we’ve always loved checking out cemeteries and it’s been a fun way to mix up our travels, so we knew we had to make a stop to check it out. As expected, it was covered in a boozy homage to the author. While not a particular Hemingway fan, it’s interesting to imagine how deeply others must feel about his writing to make a point to come and visit and leave a tribute to someone they never knew but who moved them deeply.
One last spot I wanted to visit in Idaho was a spot I had gone to as a child. On one of my cross-country drives with my dad, we made a trip to Craters of the Moon, and I was excited to go back. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve features lava fields, spatter cones, cinder cones, and other residual artifacts of the lava that moved through this area during the Holocene era. Due to the rough and hot rocks, dogs were not permitted on the trails, so we took in most of the sights from the Loop Road that takes you past most volcanic cones, and we took a few solo hikes to explore more deeply into the Craters. We took a walk up the towering Inferno Cone, a short and steep black sandy hike up a volcanic cone to wide views of the park. We stopped at the Spatter Cones to tour two mini volcanoes formed by hot lava splatters falling together to form the walls of their own mini volcano. We finished our tour with a quick loop on the Devil’s Orchard nature trail that shows off cinder beds and challenges us visitors to think about the role of National Parks in terms of preserving these parks while balancing the challenge of making them accessible to visitors. We learned a bit about conservation as a whole, and the difficulties that arise from an ever-changing set of knowledge about the environment. Take, for example, these witches broom trees, caused by an otherwise mild dwarf mistletoe parasite that creates these distorted branches. In an effort to “save” the trees, and in an attempt to get them to conform to “normal”, more than 6,000 trees were cut or poisoned, and only after did park leadership realize that what seemed wrong and abnormal was actually a beautiful compromise formed by two naturally occurring species in this rough volcanic environment. This last looping trail was my favorite on our tour of Craters of the Moon - it really made me think more deeply about what our role is in terms of the natural beauty this country has to offer, and what we think we’re entitled to that might not truly be the case.
It was getting time for us to plan our leave from Idaho. Our plans in New Mexico involved meeting up with a friend and having our first real guest on the bus, so we had already scheduled a few days of decompression time for us and the pups before that. So when we pulled up to a stunning dispersed campsite alongside a babbling creek, in a private yet spacious clearing, we immediately knew we wanted to soak up this spot as long as possible. Our few days lounging by the creek, enjoying a fire under the rising Harvest Moon, baking pumpkin treats, caramelizing onions, trying new recipes, playing guitar, reading, and otherwise fully relaxing and enjoying were such an incredible time. The space was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and there was nothing either of us could feel but fullness and delight. Every new place we went to in Idaho was more beautiful and stunning and peaceful than the last, and just when it all seemed impossible to top, here was a quiet creek to bring it all over the edge.
It was official - we were in love with Idaho.
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