Day 20: Idaho

I left Yellowstone when it was still dark, but Yellowstone is so big, it took me 90 minutes to exit the park to the West.  It was snowing when I hit the road, but there will still people with huge cameras on tripods getting set up to take pictures of birds on the river and the elk, which were already in the fields.

When I hit Idaho, rather than go for the interstate, I headed straight across on highway 20, first stop was Craters of the Moon in Areo.  This is a lava field, but unlike others I have seen that are at the base of a volcano, these come up from fissures in the ground. The park has a 7-mile drive around it, and I stopped for a hike up a mound of black sand.

Next stop was Ketchum.  Home to Sun Valley Ski area and the place where Ernest Hemingway is buried.  The town has a monument to Hemingway, probably to keep people from visiting his gave site.  Hemingway is a favorite of mine, so I stopped at the monument to pay my respects.  Sun Valley is supposed to be one of the first ski destinations, started in 1936.  The mountain is not huge from what I saw, but its base is right in the nice-looking little town.

Ended up in Boise for the night, at first glance this is a great little city, they have a whole street now closed off for restaurants to have outdoor dining and city is surround by stunning scenery.

Idaho has a different look then the rest of the Rockies, or at least what I saw today.  Flat farm and ranch land but surrounded by mountains.  It reminds me of parts of Colorado, but I didn’t notice the big climb up to the ski area’s that I’m used to.

Song of the Day: What’s your name, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Podcast: Smartless, today Seth Rogan

Book on Tape:  Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee Dee Brown – all about this area of the country

Beer of the Day:  Payette Rustler Bittercreek Alehouse

Total Miles 500