I Believe This is the Best Fall Day Trip in Idaho

Idaho is five states in one.  That was what a man who grew up in the eastern portion of the state once told me.  He was describing the wide variety in terrain.  A narrator of a documentary I watched said that there are places in the state where no human being has ever walked.  You could go exploring every weekend and spend years seeing things that make your jaw drop.  My ideal life would be to get behind the wheel and bring along a camera, and do nothing but take pictures and visit roadside cafes.

Men walk in Stanley and are dwarfed by mountains. Credit: Bill Colley.

Take a Camera Along for the Ride

Autumn arrives in a few days, and there are beautiful drives all over Idaho.  My favorite is the road between Ketchum and Stanley.  There is a little bit of white-knuckle driving over the summit, but the better part of the trade is seeing the basin below.  Or north of Ketchum, where you see wide open fields where men like Ernest Hemingway and Gary Cooper hunted as a means of relaxation.

There's a Faith Component in the Views

Another favorite stop is to pull over, get out, and stand along the road between Upper and Lower Stanley.  On a Saturday morning, in early October, traffic is light, and the biting cold of winter is still weeks away.  I’m a believer that in those quiet moments we’re brought closer to God.  You can see the mountains in the distance, and it allows you to understand how vast creation is and how small we feel in comparison.  It’s breathtaking and sobering, all at once.

Just north of Ketchum, the trees stand tall. Credit: Bill Colley.