Welcome to Sun Valley!

July 10-13, 2012

(Sorry for the delay in posting...we have been having a great time visiting friends and have not had much time to update our blog. We are now back to traveling on our own and hopefully will be able to catch up. Thanks for your patience and your continued interest!)

We arose this morning in Pendleton, Oregon, and our objective is to arrive in Sun Valley by mid-afternoon. This leg of our trip is going to be a mix of work (we know, we know, that's breaking the cardinal rule of a sabbatical) and pleasure...we'll get a chance to see our friends Craig and Donna and their dog Pico. We'll spend a total of three days in Ketchum and Sun Valley enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery.

The drive from Pendleton to Sun Valley is about six and a half hours, not a bad day's drive, and we get an early start to try to avoid some of the heat later in the day. The drive takes us through some beautiful, wide-open farm country which we have come to appreciate as we have spent many hours driving through it this summer. We stop at the overlook as we climb up the steep grade put of Pendleton...this is where we see "the amber waves of grain", winter wheat that blows in the breeze on the plains below...

We also get to drive through the La Grande area in Oregon which takes us along the Hamilton Creek which is a beautiful winding drive...the two-lane highway follows the river as it winds its way through the hills, and the early morning sun shimmers on the creek...

The views of eastern Oregon and western Idaho are a mix of green fields and farms, vast fields of winter wheat nearly ready to harvest, and eventually the rugged plains covered in wild grass and sage brush...

Throughout our drive across Idaho, we saw frequent burns that were the remnants of fires that are plaguing the state this summer. We saw small burned patches of grass as small as a football field, and vast vistas of black that stretched as far as the eye could see. In some places, like east of Mountain Home, Idaho, the black burned areas were on both sides of the highway and in the median strip. The night before we drove this section of Interstate 84 at Mountain Home the state closed the highway due to a wildfire.

As we exit at highway 20 at Mountain Home we see signs of a bad wildfire...from the exit ramps, the entire landscape stretching out to the east is black. We stayed at this hotel just a month ago on our way to Utah, and now the scorched remains of the fire line is just 10 yards from the hotel, and almost as close to the other businesses on this street.

...and the bad news is the fires continue...we watched as the smoke grew to the east as we drove toward Ketchum...

The drive along highways 20 and 75 that take us across the Camas Prairie, through Hailey and into Ketchum are really beautiful at this time of year...

We arrive in Sun Valley in the early afternoon and head to our hotel...the Knob Hill Inn. We are in town to attend two Virginia Mason dinners, and to see our friends Craig and Donna, and the Knob Hill is to be our base of operations. The inn is owned and operated by a gentleman we've gotten to know over the past several years, and look forward to staying in this great little inn. It has recently been updated and upgraded, and the al fresco restaurant area surrounded by gardens is a great place to hang out in the afternoon.

We shower, meet Darren for a glass of wine, and we're off to dinner at the home of a VM board member. It's a fun evening in a showplace of a home, and we return to the Knob Hill Inn for a well-deserved slumber.

The next morning, we get going with breakfast in the Knob Hill Inn...now, we have to tell you about breakfast. The room where breakfast is served is very nice, and the selection of foods is more than enough...however, there is one extraordinary facet to the experience. This is the most amazing piece of breakfast engineering Michael has ever seen...it's an on-demand pancake machine. You place your plate beneath the end of the machine on the right hand side, then push the button, and in one minute...voila! two perfect fluffy pancakes drop onto the plate.

After breakfast, we head into town to gather some information about the hiking trails in the Ketchum area. It's a short walk from our hotel, and it is a beautiful, cool morning...we walk down the quaint streets of Ketchum to the Visitors Center (which is located inside a Starbuck's), and a nice lady there provides us with several maps and insights into local trails.

After we return to our hotel we meet up with our friends, Gary and Wendy, and head out for a moderate hike...something to get us moving but not too much given it's only our first day at somewhat higher altitude. We tackle Chocolate Gulch which gives us about five miles of hiking with only 600 feet of elevation gain and a max elevation of 6,600 feet...Along the way we get some great views as the path winds up through forest to open ridges, then back down through forest with a finish along the north fork of the Big Wood River.

Here's a 180 degree panorama photo from the high point of the hike. Note to hikers: if you're hiking in the Ketchum area, there is a great app (Sun Valley Trails) on iTunes in the App Store that allows you to see your location on any of hundreds of trails in the Ketchum area...well worth the 99 cents!

After our hike, we return to Ketchum and have a great Mexican lunch at Despo's. We head back to the Knob Hill Inn to shower and get ready for our dinner...Tonight, VM is hosting it's first donor and friends dinner in Sun Valley, something we have wanted to pull off for many years. This year we are able to hold the event because we have a board member who is willing to open up his house for our event, and the evening is fabulous. And, under the category of "it's a small world", it just so happens that a neighbor of ours show up at the event...so we had a great time catching up with Jan!

It was a long but enjoyable day, and now that we have finished the "work" assignments in Sun Valley, we look forward to catching up with our friends Craig and Donna the next morning. We get a good night's sleep and we're back at it in the morning, doing the quintessential Sun Valley hike, Pioneer Cabin. Now, this hike is a good workout...it starts out at 7,000 feet of elevation and climbs over 2,500 feet during the 3.7 miles on the front half of the loop, and then continues for another 5 miles on the back side of the loop for a total of 8.6 miles. So we pack a lunch and get an early start...We look so fresh and enthusiastic as we start the climb, stopping by a creek for photos...

The climb continues and affords us some great views as the morning unfolds...

The centerpiece of this hike is a cabin built by the Union Pacific Railroad Company in 1937 as a skiing cabin. Having made the climb up to the cabin on a dry trail, we can say with a high degree of certainty that we would not climb up this slope in the snows of winter for a quick glissade down...

The cabin is still in use today...it serves as a shelter for hikers who need a place to stay for the night as they head into these beautiful mountains. The message on the roof sets the tone for the cabin quite well...

We stop for lunch at the cabin and decide to take a look around...

Inside, the cabin is equipped but rustic. The main room has the basics necessary for folks to fix meals, warm the cabin, and spend the night. There is a notebook in which hikers who stay in the cabin share their thoughts and musings...

On the wall above the top bunk in the main room, a philosophical hiker has shared his/her thoughts for all who follow...

This is the "spare" room with additional bunks...we don't know if the sleeping bags belong to current occupants or are there for future guests to use...

These are some of the views from the cabin...

Over lunch we had a decision to make...take the same route back and save ourselves a little over a mile of hiking, or go the other way home by the other side of the loop trail and see something new...after much discussion the majority choose to take the other side of the loop back to the car. So, off we went...

At some point, quite some time ago, a fire went through this area and we can still see the scorched dead trees that still stand as a reminder...

After a mile or two, things started to go downhill...both literally and figuratively...as we not only start a rather dramatic descent, but do so over a large rock slide. This made for some slow going as we had to watch carefully each foot placement...

...but you know what? We still had some incredible views that we did not get to see on our way up on the other trail...

Just when we we sure we were on the downhill slope to the trailhead, we encountered a steep incline...about 500 feet in a distance of only a half a mile...what!? We thought we were done going up! And now we've just gained back everything we had worked so hard do as we made our way down that rock slide...!

Patty served as the cheerleader and source of encouragement as we trudged uphill for the last time...and then downhill for (what seemed) a very long time...

At last, we make a triumphant return to the trailhead...tired, hot, and ready for a nice cold beer...

After a hard day on the trail, we shower and change and head over to Craig and Donna's for cocktail hour and dinner. Now, we have to introduce you to another member of the family...Pico. Pico is a Jack Russell Terrier who (at times) leads the household. During our evening with Pico we saw his latest quirk...as he would enjoy a drink from his bowl, he would place his paw in the dish and begin to paddle...moving a great deal of water onto the hardwood floor. Well, it was quickly agreed that perhaps if Pico had a smaller bowl, and that bowl was raised up a bit, he would not be able to paddle in his dish...and look, the next day Pico sent us a photo of his new bowls and raised holder! Atta boy Pico...

It was a great three days in Sun Valley...great friends, great camaraderie at the VM events, and a fun little town to hang out in. Tomorrow we hit the road for Jackson Hole, Wyoming and more time with great friends...!

 

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