Where You Can Still Find Ernest Hemingway’s Idaho

Ernest Hemingway liked to go birding.  Often with a buddy named Gary Cooper.  You may have heard both names.  I was driving by some fields north of Ketchum and it struck me I was looking at scenes much like the ones they saw more than 60 years ago.  There are some places that are simply timeless.

I was standing along the road and looked to my left.  I saw two figures in bright clothing approaching a tree line.  I thought they were possibly hunting.  I looked away for a moment and then back to my left.  The two people were gone.  I got back in my car and drove away.  I passed the tree line and saw two men on bicycles and wearing bright clothes.  They weren’t hunting.  There weren’t bike trails in Hemingway’s time.

Driving through Ketchum, I was stopped and waiting for a light to change.  I looked left.  There was a legendary tavern where Hemingway often drank.  It’s closed for renovations.  I’m hopeful the history remains.

Hemingway died before I was born, but much of what he loved about Idaho remains.  Even though it’s a bit more crowded.

I had a conversation with Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon.  She lives in Custer County and is off the grid.  She said last weekend was the peak time for seeing fall colors.

When I came home from my trip last weekend, I wished it could’ve lasted longer.  The scenery is timeless.  We aren’t.  Something I’m aware of every time I see Hemingway’s grave.  The cemetery was empty when I stopped last weekend.  Silent on a warm autumn day.

Get our free mobile app

The fields are golden for a few weeks every year.

A friend wrote me from Missouri and asked how the fishing was in the streams.  He likes trout.

The movement of the mountains is imperceptible.

Can you imagine what the first passing men thought as they looked this way?

Rugged land shapes a rugged people.

Autumn represents the maturity of life.

Idaho has no known meaning, but you could convince me it means a beautiful view.