Getaway, Day Two

Ah, the mountain air, the cool, crisp mornings. Ah, the majestic beauty of the snow-capped peaks, and the grandeur of the green grass, the green leaves, and the blue sky above.

Yes, that is a little bit of what we were thinking as we awoke on day two of our recent little getaway. Having witnessed the old lava flows, we were ready for a day of majestic scenery. So we hopped in the car and left Sun Valley behind to head up to a little town called Stanley.

On the way, we had to cross over a fairly high mountain pass summit, called Galena Summit. As we drove toward the top, here is just a small glimpse of the beauty that we got to see the whole way. Notice the tree-lined road, the snow (yes, it is still early June) on the mountain ahead, and the crisp, blue sky above. That is just one of the things that makes living around mountains so grand.

After we made it over the pass, pausing only once or twice to check out the two-foot deep snow and to take in a few other views, we came down into the valley on the other side. This valley is where the Salmon River has its origin. So, naturally, the creative people in Idaho decided to name this particular stretch of road "Salmon River Scenic Byway." Need proof? Carrie's photography skills prove it!
We finally arrived at Stanley around mid-day. The town is slightly over 100 people total. We stopped at the Visitor Information to find out which restaurants were open, since it was still the off season, and were told about a nice little place right on the river. We went up the road and were treated to one of the more scenic places to eat in Stanley. What do you think? Can we pick our eating places?

In a way, the mountains in the background remind me of the Teton Mountains, in western Wyoming. It would make sense, since we were only about 200 miles or so west of the Tetons.

As we made our way back through town, we noticed that the highway heading out toward the west had a different name on it. I'm guessing it heads toward some Ponderosa Pines. How do I know that? It's my outstanding reading skills!

Since we were heading out of town, back toward Sun Valley, the highway had a different name. Could it be because we were in the Sawtooth Mountains?

Now, out here in the west, there are a lot of places where the ground isn't suitable for growing much, but the grass grows there enough to keep cattle, sheep, and the like. There was one fence along the side of the road that just cried out for us to stop and take a picture. So Carrie hopped up on the fence (after helping me frame the shot, which basically means she lined everything up, told me where to stand, and then told me when to take the picture), and we had this beautiful shot.

As the fight song at the local university in town sings out, we live "where the sagebrush grows." Can you see it all in the field behind her?

As the snow melts, you can get some really pretty river scenes way out here. Here is a small little river that feeds into the Salmon river that we passed along the way. Doesn't Carrie take great pictures?

One of the other interesting stops this day was at a fish hatchery. We happened to hit this fishery at just the right time. They had a tour that started at 1:30, and we walked in at 1:40. The two tour guides were there waiting, and asked if we were there for the tour. They were only a couple of minutes from heading out if no one showed up. So they took us around and told us about the hatchery. At this particular one, they breed Chinook Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, and Steelhead Trout. For the salmon, they swim upriver to spawn. To get to this particular hatchery, they have to swim up 8 dams along the way over 900 miles from the ocean!!! No wonder they arrive there, lay their eggs, fertilize them, and then die.

As we toured, though, I happened to look at one of the little holding tanks for the fish. These were little fish that had recently hatched. They were jumping up at the head of the holding tank, going with their natural instinct to swim upstream, trying to leap over the obstacles in front of them. Check out this sweet shot that Carrie caught of them.

They can catch some pretty big air, can't they?

Finally, we made our way back up to the top of Galena Summit. Here's one more look at the place where the Salmon River begins.

We made our way back to Sun Valley, thrilled at the sights we had seen. Feeling a need to recharge, we found a Tully's coffee shop and went in to do some relaxing and light reading. Then it was back to our room to rest up and see what all the next day would hold in store. But that's for another post.