Ketchum, Idaho

July 31, 2022

We moved from outside of the little town of Stanley to the ski resort area of Ketchum/ Sun Valley.  Our travel day was  quite hazy, after having had several consecutive days of clear blue skies. (Wildfire season must be upon us.) Fortunately, there were no fires in our path.

We got stopped along the way by sheep crossing the road.

The scenery seemed to be never ending in this part of Idaho.

After only about an hour and a half of driving, we were in the Ketchum/Sun Valley area. We tried to snag a spot in a campground right outside of town, but alas, it was full. So, we drove up the road into a mountain valley where camping is free on some of the sketchy dirt roads that randomly split off of the main road.  Turns out, the free spot we found was quite delightful. It even had a touch of cell service. Rick ended up putting the router on a tall pole to eek as much internet connection as possible. It more or less worked pretty well.

Note the stylish pole sticking out the backside of the camper.

Nice views from every window.

Our "yard"--shortly after sunrise.

The view off of our deck was a wetland of sorts with a meandering creek, grassland, wildflowers, and bushes that supported plenty of birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, and the occasional deer.  Sitting outside was one of the pleasures of this location, as there was almost no noise from the road or the (distant) neighbors. The gentle gurgling from the creek added to the ambiance. 

We really enjoyed having breakfast on the deck each morning.

On Tuesday, we took a 15 mile bike ride east along Trail Creek Road which led up the valley into the mountains.

Slightly intimidating signage.

This is the road we rode on--right along the side of the mountain.

The drop off was a bit scary, so Julie just looked at the road directly in front of her for the most part.

Finally got to the top!

We stopped by a random creek-side campsite for a break.

We found an attractive meadow to ride through.

Back near camp. Can you find our camper in this shot?

The next day, we took a 5 mile hike called Chocolate Gulch Trail. Not really sure how it got its name, but we didn't find any chocolate 😉.

Rick snapping the photosphere following this picture.

Overlooking a neighborhood of multi-million dollar homes.

In case you haven't noticed yet, Julie is a sucker for wildflowers. She may have gone a bit overboard in the pictures, as usual.

Near the end of the hike, we took a break along the Wood River.

Rick's method of converting melted granola bars back into their solid state.

Ketchum is quite the posh resort town.  Despite having only about 4000 official residents, it has somewhere around 6 bike/ski stores and some very affluent homes.   It is obvious from a wander around the pretty downtown that it is quite the playground for the rich in both winter and summer.  An advantage for us is that the local grocery store we went to had everything we wanted.  Even though it was more expensive than we would have liked, it was nice to be able to find all we needed (as apposed to our previous shopping experience where we could not even find red bell peppers.)

We stopped in the "Gold Mine" thrift store which was run by the library and contained quite the selection of goods including hiking gear (like climbing shoes and chalk bags), camp stoves, designer clothing, and the best selection of mountain bikes I have ever seen in a 'thrift' store.  Julie ended up buying a few items of clothing, and Rick got a nice Henkel kitchen knife.

An unusual Starbucks

Interesting sculpture--a "tubascope".

Hmm...not really hearing anything

Our Lady of the Snows Church

We rode part of the local bike trail that runs down the valley from Ketchum through Hailey and continues to Belleview.  We did a 27 mile out and back from Ketchum to Hailey (with some wandering around in Hailey).  Hailey is also quite the nice town but appears to be at least slightly more affordable.

Some sunflowers were starting to bloom along the trail.

After the ride, we stopped by the "Jazz in the Park" event that was right across the street from where we parked. We enjoyed a couple of songs before heading off for dinner.

Pretty soon we will be saying goodbye to Idaho and hello to...

...Nevada!

Just another day at the office . . .

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