Long Weekend in Idaho
Introduction
Salt Lake City was hazy, hot, and feeling cramped. With much of the west experiencing wildfires the smoke inevitably makes its way south and east across the Great Salt Lake and sits over the valley, held in by the Wasatch Front. Though there was no way to escape the smokey haze, we traveled north for a long weekend in Idaho around the Sun Valley area. Leaving on a Thursday and returning Sunday gave us optimal time to drive and still have a couple of full days to play around.
Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram @littleariana for more adventures!
Night 1: The Search
A slow start, a mid-drive client phone call, and a few stops for snacks and groceries put us in Sun Valley around early evening on Thursday. We headed straight out of town towards national forest land and a couple lakes we wanted to try. The lower lake was busy, even on a Thursday, and the road was well groomed. We pushed onward, starting the climb to the higher lake up a 4x4 road, keeping an eye out for dispersed camp spots. As the sun was starting to go down, we decided to stop at the third spot we came across and set up camp before dark. The ground was uneven but luckily there were plenty of rocks around to help level out the Jeep for the rooftop tent, and the boys enjoyed testing out the MANY sticks laying around.
Night 2: The Lake
We took our time waking up Friday morning and packed up camp wanting to continue up the road to the higher lake. Traffic along the 4x4 road had been light, only a NFS truck and 2 SUVs had passed our camp so hopes were high that there would be a couple drive-in spots available, and we were right! We chose a spot within easy walking distance of the lake and got set up. After an afternoon hammock nap we headed down to explore the shoreline and so some paddle boarding! The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear. When we were all exhausted from swimming we headed back to camp, whipped up a Chicken Teriyaki Mountain House for dinner, and called it a night. Saturday morning we went back to the lake to catch a hazy sunrise and explore a little more before deciding to head into Sun Valley to see some friends.
Night 3: Last Minute
After visiting downtown Sun Valley and grabbing some lunch we had a decision to make, camp one more night or start the drive back to SLC? Not wanting to waste the weekend, and more importantly not wanting to go back to the heat, we decided on another night but closer to town. We followed a very overgrown national forest road until it dead-ended at a private property line and made camp at the wide turn around point. Some huckleberry shandies, jalapeño cheddar dogs, and lots of fetch rounded out our last evening in Idaho. The morning brought a couple of friendly, local hikers scouting for potential elk hunting grounds as we were packing up. We were sad to leave, but grateful for a relaxing weekend where having no plans, was the best plan.
