Road Trip to Idaho and Wyoming

A couple of weeks ago, we ventured out on a 6-night road trip to Idaho and Wyoming.  (Bad weather prevented us from staying 8 nights, as we had originally planned.). Our goal was to explore some of southern and central Idaho, then make our way to Wyoming (Jackson area) for a few nights. 

Day #1:  June 22nd
Our first day of adventures took us to southern Idaho where we explored Craters of the Moon and then camped in the Salmon-Challis National Forest.

On the way to our camp spot, we passed this funky little 1-lift ski area.  If you look closely at the 2nd picture, you'll see the tiny seats that take you up the hill.

Day #2:  June 23rd
Today we drove north towards Challis, then headed west and landed near Stanley, Idaho for a couple of nights.  We got the last campsite in the Chinook Bay Campground, which was right on Little Redfish Lake.

lunch break next to the Salmon River

The Sawtooth mountains are spectacular.

cooking dinner over the campfire

Day #3:  June 24th
Since we planned on staying at Little Redfish Lake for 2 nights, we didn't have to pack up today.  We explored a hot spring, an in-tact mining dredge, and 2 ghost towns before returning to the lake for more paddle boarding and kayaking fun.

the Stanley Museum

hot spring

We thought it was appropriate when this song came on the radio on our way to explore 2 ghost towns.

ghost town #1: Bonanza

This is the only in-tact mining dredge in the Lower 48.

sluice boxes

ghost town #2: Custer (They turned the old schoolhouse into a little museum.)

lunch time

Day #4:  June 25th
Today was a short day of driving.  We drove south for about 1 hour and found a great little campsite on the north fork of the Big Woods River.  This was where our first thunderstorm hit us--about 60-90 minutes of hard rain, thunder, lightning, and hail.  Before all of that, however, we had to visit the Sawtooth National Recreation Visitor Center so the girls could get their Junior Ranger badges.

home sweet home for the next night

hail storm

 

Once the weather moved on, we could get back to our camping fun.  Andy did a little fishing.

Nothing says camping like a campfire and s'mores.

Day #5:  June 26th
We had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and the last few days of our trip were not looking too good.  Because of this, we decided to take on a long day of driving from about Ketchum, Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  We were not mentally prepared for the events of this day.  Andy and I both had similar visions--finding a place to camp for a few nights and spending a day kayaking Jenny Lake, String Lake, and Leigh Lake along with exploring other parts of the area.  Well...Yellowstone National Park is just north of Grand Teton National Park and they only had 4/9 campgrounds open at that time.  We didn't even think about how much this would impact the traffic around Jackson Hole.  It was an absolute zoo.  All of the campgrounds in Grand Teton National Park were full, even the ones with 300 and 400 campsites.  Plan B: National Forest surrounds the area and you (usually) can find a spot pretty easily (since a lot of people prefer established campgrounds and areas).  To make things even harder, there was a lot of bear activity in the area which meant a lot of the forest roads were closed.  Strike 2.  By this time it was about 6:00 p.m.  The girls were being so patient but we were all getting hungry.  We knew of a KOA right outside of town so we called and got the last cabin.  Wahoo!  A huge weight lifted off of our shoulders.   40 minutes later, we pulled into the KOA parking lot, relieved and exhausted, but were told they don't allow trailers because there is not a place to park them (We had our kayaks on the trailer.) I lost it here.  We told the worker we had been looking for place to camp for 3 hours.  I think he must have felt bad for us because he told us of a great area to camp, just a few miles south of the KOA.  At last, at about 7:30 p.m. we saw a great campsite right next to Fish Creek.  We quickly set up camp and filled our bellies with leftovers (thank goodness for leftovers).

I took zip, zero, zilch photos on our drive from Idaho to Wyoming.  I didn't even take a photo of the Teton mountains.  I think Andy got a photo of crazy tourists getting too close to the Bison, though.  I did, however, take some photos when we finally arrived at a camp spot.

fishing in Fish Creek

We have been pretty good at keeping up with our reading this summer, even while we are camping.

Day #6:  June 27th
The weather was not going to get bad until Sunday (and it was Saturday).  We decided to stay put for one more night and take advantage of the creek and our paddle board. It was a great little 17-minute paddle from our drop off point to our campsite.   It was a nice, relaxing day--much needed after our long, stressful day the day before.  Around dinner, though, another storm rolled in.  We had the girls get into the back of the truck so they were dry.  Andy and I hunkered down under our shelter but, it was raining so hard, huge puddles started to form.  Then it started hailing again.  It's a good thing we had our rain coats and rain pants.  About 45 minutes later, it stopped and we could enjoy the last little bit of the evening.  While the rain had stopped, we packed up as much as we could before going to bed.  We anticipated waking up to rain and it is no fun to pack up camp in the rain.

waiting for Andy and Emma to arrive at the campsite

Then it was time for Abby and me to float the creek.

The girls did a little swimming.

This is what happens when a 7-year old gets a hold of my phone.

ahhh...relaxing

Day #7:  June 28th
We woke up to rain.  It was about 7:00 a.m.  Around 7:30 it turned into more of a drizzle so we jumped up and took advantage of it to finish packing up camp and hit the road.  By 8:00 a.m. we were driving back to Park City.

Even though our trip was cut short, we still had an amazing time exploring areas we had never been before.