These past few days Sun Valley has lived up to its name—the
sun has been shining and the skies are blue.
The smoke which enveloped the valley a few weeks ago is gone. The days have been warm and the nights
cool. Today marks a change in the
weather. Much cooler weather is moving
in, but we are leaving soon, so I guess we planned it well.
I am sitting in a comfortable chair in our friends’ condo
gazing out at the green golf course and blue sky. Bob’s 70th birthday was two days
ago and he chose to spend it here, just the two of us.
We arrived Sunday evening as it was getting dark and a
large, beautiful harvest moon was rising.
On Monday morning, Bob’s birthday, we decided to begin the day with
breakfast at the Kneadery in Ketchum.
Bob had French toast and I chose an omelet which was far more food than
we usually eat. We returned to the condo
to prepare for a bike ride. Beginning in
Ketchum, we pedaled north on a paved path (Big Wood River trails) to Hulen
Meadows where it ended, then turned around and headed south to the Cold Springs
bridge. This bridge, built in the 1880s
and moved to its present location in 1917, was once used by the railroad but is
now part of the trail system and used by bikes and pedestrians. We decided that this was a good place to turn
around and head back to our car. Bob’s
odometer indicated that we had biked 13 miles total. This was a thoroughly enjoyable ride on a
good path with great scenery and perfect weather.
After a rather late lunch at the condo, we were up for
another adventure. Bob’s choice was to
drive up Trail Creek Road past where the pavement ends. We continued beyond the summit a couple of
miles, taking in the views and enjoying some fall colors. The road became quite rocky before we turned
around. On the way down we turned off on
a side road which led to a trail head where we parked. When we hopped out we noticed that we had a
flat tire. Luckily, Bob is quite
experienced at changing flats but this was not how he wanted to spend his
birthday. To complicate matters, he
discovered that the jack did not lift up the car enough. He was able to find a rock the right size to
put under the jack—it worked perfectly.
Before long we were on our way and back at the condo. We ended our day with a delicious dinner at a
restaurant in Ketchum called Cavacava.
Tuesday was an equally lovely day and we began it with a
trip to the tire store in Hailey to get our flat fixed. It turned out that the rock that had damaged
our tire made it unfixable so they gave us another one. While we were waiting for the work to be
done, we walked through town to the department of motor vehicles because Bob
realized that his driver’s license had expired on his birthday (whoops)—at least
the renewal process is fast in a small town.
After lunch at the condo we ventured out for a hike. We ended up parking at the Sawtooth National
Recreation Area (SNRA) Headquarters and walking on the Harriman Trail. This wide gravel path meanders between
Highway 75 and the Big Wood River. Part
of the reason I wanted to walk here was for the fall colors. It has been a dry summer so some of the
vegetation has gone straight to brown.
However, there were plenty of yellow leaves of various shades. I think the aspens are the most beautiful—when
the sun is low in the sky and shines through the leaves, the trees simply
glow. Mixed in here and there were
leaves of orange and red. We lingered in
the areas where the trail met the river—sometimes benches were provided. The trail wandered through a couple of
campgrounds, now mostly unused. On the
other side of the highway, steep mountain peaks loomed; in the winter they are
favored by skiers who don’t mind the hike up.
We chose to turn around at Murphy Bridge, 5 kilometers from where we
began. This made our walk 10 kilometers,
a good practice for the CROP Hunger Walk which is coming up in less than 2
weeks. Since this trail has a few ups
and downs and is covered with gravel, I think it is a bit harder than the paved
CROP route. At least I hope so since my
back was complaining a bit before we returned to our car. The sun was getting lower and the air cooler
by the time we returned to the condo. A
glass of wine was the perfect accompaniment to our dinner.
The sheets and towels are washed, dried, and returned to
their places. The condo has been cleaned
and we are waiting for the dishwasher to finish. Soon we will be on the road toward home. Sun Valley has provided us with a delightful
little escape.
Written on 10/3/2012
Each foot had a
name
