From Silver City to Idaho City

I've lived in Southern Idaho for most of my life, but there are still places I've never seen, and places that amaze me, no matter how many times I've seen them.  The beautiful sparsity of the high desert in the Owyhee Mountains contrasts sharply against the green of the towering pines in the Sawtooth Mountains.   Idaho scenery offers canyons and jagged peaks, sand dunes and rolling fields.  All it takes is a interested eye.

This past week Jason and I, with some close friends visiting from Russia, took a whirlwind 3 day Idaho tour to see Silver City, Bruneau Dunes State Park, Sun Valley Area, Redfish Lake, and Idaho City.

Silver City

Silver City is a ghost mining town that was at its height in the 1880's.  Many of the homes there are still used in the summer and are private residences, but in the winter it is nearly impossible to get to Silver City, unless you have a snowmobile.  We drove up the Owyhee Mountain dirt road and walked around the town, reading about its history, and then had a picnic before we left.

Idaho Hotel and Bar

Silver City Cemetery

Megan and an Old Mining Shaft

Bruneau Sand Dunes

The Lake Bonneville Flood in the last Ice Age deposited sand in Bruneau, which wind has shaped into the Bruneau sand dunes.  After having a picnic in Idaho City, we drove to Bruneau Dunes State Park, where we set up camp for the night.  We walked down to the Dunes lake and there was no one but us, it seemed, in the whole world.  I had forgotten my suit, but stripped down to my sports bra for a swim.  The next morning, after breakfast, we hiked the dunes before heading north through Sun Valley area to Redfish Lake.

View of the Bruneau Sand Dunes from the Dock on the Smaller Dunes Lake

Dunes Lake Dock

Up the Dunes

Down the Dunes

Redfish Lake

The drive up Highway 20 and then 75 was full of burnt landscape and smokey air.  The Beaver Creek Fire, among others, had burned through the area and was burning still.  We stopped in downtown Ketchum for lunch, and then drove further into the Sawtooth Forest to Redfish Lake.  We set up camp as the smoke settled over us like a shield.  The sun was an eerie orange and the lake seemed sickly.  By the morning, the wind had pulled the smoke away so we could actually see the jagged tops of the Sawtooth Mountains framing the lake.  We rented Kayaks, and went 6 miles along the lake, stopping for a picnic of peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwiches and beers.

Smoke and Sun over the Sawtooth Forest

Redfish Lake, Choked by Smoke

Redfish Lake Lodge Dock- Kayak Trip Start

Idaho City

On the way back to Boise, we drove the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Highway and stopped in another old mining town- Idaho City.  Jason and I have been here several times, because we love the drive on the back of the motorcycle up, and a little restaurant called Trudy's always has delicious home-made pies.  We explored the cemetery and walked around town, our imaginations falling decades back as we roamed the wooden plank sidewalks and looked at old mining equipment.

Miner's Exchange Building

Old Ore Car

Idaho City Masonic Temple

Once we finally drove home, we were exhausted, but my camera's data card was full and my heart was too.