I was off Monday & Tuesday for a little vacation.  I think the term “stay-cation” is hokey but I stayed and explored Idaho.  I drove up to the Frank Church Wilderness – River of No Return.  Long trip.

I split the trip in half and drove to Stanley Lake and camped the first night overlooking the Sawtooth Mountains.  I heard wolves as I built my campfire.

The next morning I drove through Sunbeam and had a nice little chat with the sheriff in Clayton – population 38.  “What’s the speed in my little town?” 35 sir “That’s right”.

Off to Bayhorse to visit a ghost mining town from the 1880’s

Then to Challis, Elk Bend, through Sacajawea’s hometown of Salmon, North Fork, Shoup, then about 20 miles past Shoup into the River of No Return to do some camping and salmon fishing.  Before I got into radio I started college perusing a degree in Wildlife Management.  It’s like the woman that got away to me.  Should I call her back up and try again?  Would things have worked between us?  Did I make a mistake?  That spark was rekindled as I saw tons of game like Big Horn Sheep:

A Red-tailed Hawk that I thought was a Golden Eagle for good 20 minutes:

Plus chukars, mule deer, and a couple of bald eagles. (Top left of the dead tree in the middle)

This state is beautiful and I love exploring it.  A great question was posed over my trip that I can’t stop thinking about.  How different would America be if we landed in California first and the great expansion went East?

– Forrest