CLIMBING TO 8701 FEET
Feeling quite pleased with ourselves and very well fed, we are ready to head over the hill to Stanley. As we drive out of Ketchum, we recognize a few of the former ‘estates’ of various celebrities, now dwarfed by newer mansions, and we are able to glimpse bits and pieces of the old cross-country ski trail we enjoyed along the Wood River. The bus does a great job pulling grade to Galena Summit. That’s 8701’ at the top, and we climb it with ease, not holding up any traffic, of course there isn’t much either, but still – we climbed steadily and relatively easily! When we go 35 mph and that is the speed limit and we are able to maintain that.

Dropping into the Salmon River Valley is always breathtaking. It is what all of the pictures of a Western Valley look like. The Sawtooth Mountain Range is magnificent in its ruggedness and certainly lives up to its name of ‘sawtooth’, looking jagged, especially from a distance. Before continuing downhill, we linger at the overlook, happy memories flooding our thoughts and conversation as we reminisce about driving this road on the way to our wedding 36 years ago.