The Sawtooth Scenic Byway

I’ve been sitting here for too long already.  I want to tell you the story, but this one’s not easy, and more to the point, it’s not yet over.  The adventure continues to expand, and exceed all expectations. No words are doing justice to the feelings we’ve had, it seems I’ll have to let the photo’s do the talking this time.  What is the message?  It is not about the no-car, it is not about the bike.  It isn’t even about the mountains or the adventure, although that’s getting closer to the source.  You can live any way you choose: dream big, do good, be kind.  Do Epic Shit.  Live with passion and be the force for positive change.  Create the world, the reality you want to inhabit. Live your Dreams.

Riding north from Ketchum. Cold but fast we made our way towards the mountains.

Traveling Light.  Liz passes under the beginnings of Easley and Galena Peaks.

Road Closed to Motorized Travel.  We road up this dirt road along Prairie Creek to make a camp and ski in the Smoky Mountains.

Lizard happy to be on skis, gaining ground in upper Mill Creek Basin.

JB gaining the ridge to Norton Peak. Galena and Easley in the clouds behind.

Many false summits give way to the Peak.  JB presses on after some ridge line scrambling.

Dropping in off Norton Peak, the Smoky Mountains 3rd highest.  Turns were soft and creamy as we skied this edge-of-the-world line.

Looking back on Norton Peak.  Leaving some proud tracks for the first time this trip felt pretty good.

Galena Pass, the climb we’d been hearing about since before the trip began wasn’t nearly as tough as we’d heard.  The ride down into Stanley Vally wasn’t bad either.

Riding past the headwaters of the Salmon River and into the upper reaches of Stanley Valley.

Camp on Little Redfish Lake. The Central Sawtooth Mountains. Heyburn Peak on the left, the central couloir being the line we skied.

Closer yet, the golden and stunning Heyburn Peak, with the couloir we skied coming out to the right.

Scoping lines from our camp at the highest most Bench Lake.

Stairmaster to the Sky.  Liz and JB making the way to the col.  The snow was soft but supportable as we switched from skinning to booting.

Getting Steep.  Making our way up the upper reaches of the north couloir was exposed enough to break out the axe and take the guard of the whippets.

Liz topping out.

Stoked.  On top of the couloir with golden granite andthe magnificent Sawtooth Mountains surrounding us.

JB finds a way.  No easy scramble to the summit here.  Rope and rack were purged back in Twin Falls, limiting some possibilities but opening others.

Chuting.  Getting into the upper couloir involved some very steep skiing.  Liz manages the first few turns with style.

Liz getting the glory turns low on Heyburn.  Powder and other variable snow gave way to creamy turns below.

Stanley Idaho.  A town with a view.

Thanks for looking, see you in a few.

Tim