The River of No Return

It was hard to leave Swan Lake. I think it captured the essence of all I had longed for in this trip. Part of the magic for me is the beauty in the unexpected and the total relinquishing of own my agenda and opening my self up for all that can be. The decision to stay in this area just because an exquisite rainstorm was due reminds me that there are opportunities to seize each and every day no matter where I am. I just have to be open for them. I was once again reminded that each and every day we are exactly where we should be.

With that being said Tom and I headed south. Sun Valley was ultimately going to be our goal by the end of the week but we had some time along the way so picked a few places we wanted to visit before reaching our destination. We would cross the Continental Divide and then ride along the Saw Tooth Mountains. We had no particular destination at the end of each day but would stop when we felt we were at the right place. And, that is how we ended up at the north fork of the Salmon River also known as The River of No Return.

The river flows for about 425 miles through central Idaho and ultimately converges with the Snake River. It is called The River of No Return because back in the early days boats could navigate down the river but could not get back up because of the fast water and numerous rapids. This river is also the terminus of the longest Pacific sockeye salmon migration in the country and we saw many anglers along the way. For us, each and every glimpse of it took our breath away and we decided this is where we wanted to spend the night. When we saw the place we wanted to stay we pulled over and made ourselves at home. We had our happy hour facing the water and cooked outside and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

We always meet such interesting people and enjoyed our conversations that night. We snuggled in our home aka our nest for the evening content with all that had transpired this day.

We are headed to Sun Valley tomorrow and will stay at the condo of a dear friend of ours. We will drive over the Galena Summit and through Sawtooth National Forest. We have heard Stanley is a beautiful place and will take the option to drive through it as well.

Carpe Diem!