As we're packing up to leave Salt Lake City, we're checking the weather again and again to see where the snow will be falling. Tahoe is looking pretty high on the list but since neither of us had been to Idaho; we had to check it out. Since the drive from SLC to Sun Valley is fairly short, only 5ish hours, we decided to have some adventures on the way to Idaho.
Driving through Ogden, we stopped by the Hill Aerospace Museum and decide to brush up on our history of the progression of planes, from the Wright Brothers to modern fighter jets. Heaps of war planes used in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the current production graced this huge museum warehouse.
After getting those museum legs it was time to roll out to the next stop, Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville, Utah. The sun was out making the air temperature seem quite warm for being in the middle of winter, but it was time to let the body recover in these world renowned hot springs. Crystal Hot Springs has the highest mineral content in the WORLD with some great healing and rejuvenating powers. These springs boast the abnormal mineral count of 46,000 mg/L where as most other hot springs have 50 times less than that, generally around the 1,000 mg/L or less... Just bring some water to stay hydrated and let the healing/relaxing process take over!
Photo: THE HIGHEST MINERAL CONTENT IN THE WORLD !! No joke
Photo:Zach Husted
Once we felt fully rejuvenated, it was time to dry off and finish this drive to Sun Valley, Idaho. We decided to stay at a friends family home in Ketchum, Idaho. The next day was Brian's birthday and so we celebrated the only way that made sense, playing in the rain and snow. With Brian still nursing his ankle, snowboarding/split-boarding was a no-go but we needed to find something that was fun but mellow enough to let the ankle heal. With the rain pounding down at lower elevations and snow up higher, fly fishing was the choice. Fighting through the rotten snow on the river banks, post holing to our hips over slippery boulders, we made our way. Brian was working on his fly rod casing skills into the head wind and freezing rain, which made it pretty interesting. After 90 min in the relentless weather we had to bolt. Deciding to roll back to Sun Valley for an continued birthday celebration...
Photo: Brian finding the right dry fly nymph set-up
Photo: Zach Husted
Photo: Zach "The Fish Wrangler" Husted
Off to Bend, Oregon. In search of more cold refreshments...