Craters of the Moon and Ketchum/Sun Valley

We didn't know where we would end up when we left American Falls, but we wanted at least a glance at Craters of the Moon, and, if we liked the campground, we might have stayed there.  It was quite hot and almost everything is black lava and absorbing the heat.  We decided to visit the Visitor's Center and drive around a bit to get the story but we planned to move on.

The name, it turns out is a misnomer.  Astronauts confirmed that most lunar craters resulted from meteorite impacts, not volcanism.  Craters of the Moon, however, are of volcanic origin, occurring 15,00 years ago as lava welled up from the Great Rift to produce a vast ocean of rock.  Amazingly, the most recent eruption only happened 2,000 years ago.  We didn't want to stay too long as future events are likely.

It's amazing to see what grows in and around the lava fields.

This area was filled with lava tubes, which hardened on the outside while lava
still flowed underneath back then.

This is not the campground, but it looked something like this!  Not for us!

 We have fallen in love with National Geographic's book Scenic Highways and Byways and take them whenever possible.  We took the Peaks to Craters (although we did it Craters to Peaks) Scenic Highway from Craters of the Moon up to Ketchum and Sun Valley.  It was (hate to use the word, but it was) BREATHTAKING!  You move through the lava fields, to wetlands, to farmlands and to some of Idaho's tallest mountains and the Lost River Mountain Range.

At one point, the clouds were below us and above us.  It was kind of nice
having a cloudy, cooler day.

This really doesn't do the job of showing how iffy this road
was.  It was paved, but very narrow and few guard rails.  I
held my own!  At least I didn't cry!

We drove right to the campground we had in mind, and unbelievably, they had one site left:  a double site right by the river.  It was only about 5 miles from Ketchum and 3 from Sun Valley!  We scored big time.  Plus, we really liked the hostess there-a lady in her 70s who looked fashionably up to date for Sun Valley, which is very upscale.  She was a hoot.  She knew quite a bit about the area and helped us maneuver our rig and our car into the site.  It was a whopping $20 a night-more than we like to pay, but worth it for how close we were to town.  The last time I had been here, I went skiing for a week with Annie Denver and about 4 other of her friends.  We had a ball but I hardly remember-it must have been in the 70s.  It has, of course, grown quite a bit since then.  Ketchum is adorable but it, somewhat like Boulder, has grown and now is quite expensive, crowded and busy.  It was a little scary just driving around town with the mobs of pedestrians, cyclists and cars.

Our campsite-and it was next to some of the best trails in the area.

Our view of the ski area-not bad! And the river is right behind the shrubs
in the middle of the picture.  It flowed a little too fast for us to get in, but
was lovely to listen to.

We had to pick up our mail in Ketchum and I did a little shopping while
Jim checked his email.  Jim doesn't miss me very much on these little
excursions, but look who is always waiting for me with baited breath.
(hint:  he's the one hanging out the window)

Sun Valley itself is very fancy.  This is outside the main lodge.  The area
is full of very nice expensive shops, condos and restaurants.

We ate good Mexican food (we've missed that in our travels) and spent some time walking the Wood River Trail in town and a little bit of the ones near our campsite.  But, the road was calling us north to Stanley.  Our friends, Jack and Linda Laughlin, old friends from Gold Hill and now Borrego Springs, CA, were planning to meet us in Stanley, so we headed out on the most beautiful Sawtooth Scenic Byway with incredible views of Boulder Mountain and Big Wood River up to the Galena Summit and down into the Sawtooth Valley.  The views were amazing, but I was driving and didn't get many pictures.