Traversing Galena Summit

After a couple of wonderful days in Sun Valley it was time to continue our meandering journey to Jackson. While at our morning fuel stop Ali couldn't resist snapping a few shots of local humor.

<-- Yuppie hick humor
New art for our Berkeley yard-->

Once in the car, we headed North along the Big Wood River into the hills and over Galena Summit. On the other side we descended into the Saw Tooth Valley, bordered by the Saw Tooth Range on one side and the White Cloud Mountains on the other. The road passes over some of the head waters of the Snake River. It's amazing to watch this little trickle grow into a wide, raging river as you drive down the valley.

In an effort to help Ali understand my 'fascination' with fishing we stopped at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. I find the whole concept of fish hatcheries and their conflicting missions a bit humorous. On one hand the DFG (Department of Fish and Game) is trying hard to save the salmon populations that are disappearing because of all the damns along the Snake River. On the other hand they are also farming Rainbow Trout to plant in rivers for sport fishermen, planted fish that will displace other native species like Cutthroat and Greyling. The holding pens at the hatchery have some amazing fish that will be used in the effort to save the Snake River Salmon. These fish swam to the ocean several years ago, survived in the Pacific and then swam thousands of miles back up the Columbia River to the Snake River to this little river...amazing.


We made our way to Stanley (population 100) , a funny little crossroad town in the middle of the Sawtooth Valley. Behind the gas stations and souvenir shops we found the Stanley Bakery; a nice alternative to truck stop food.

After yesterday's epic ride we decided to try an easy mountain bike 'trail' that was marked on our guide map. Unfortunately, the trail was mostly jeep and ATV trails. The forest was beautiful but there were no spectacular views and the riding was dusty. We used a washed out bridge (one which Gianni would term an 'oopsie") as an excuse to cool off in the stream (funny, without a pole in her hands, Ali doesn't seem to mind wading).

As we were tooling down Highway 21 on our way back to Stanley we heard a soft thump from the roof of the car. A quick peek out the sunroof confirmed we had lost my front wheel from the roof rack - Oh firetruck! I was pretty skeptical we would find the wheel again but Ali would not be deterred. We backtracked, Ali mounted her road bike and I drove behind (running interference for the light fast moving traffic) and Ali found the wheel down a steep embankment!

After a mediocre ride and the wheel incident, we were ready to put our feet up and drink a beer. We were pleasantly surprised to pull into our hotel and discover peaceful little cabins on the bank of the river. Ali madly snapped photos out the window of our motel room, delighted with our solitude and our view.

To make us appreciate our little slice of heaven even more we ventured to the near by Red Fish Lodge for dinner. When we got out of the car we thought we had stepped onto the set for a teenage summer camp movie ... not exactly the atmosphere we were looking for. But a glass of trappist ale went a long way toward making things right.