Three magical days in Idaho
Due to a series of unfortunate events (the end of a relationship & a work schedule affected by covid) I decided to take off across the country, in my car, by myself, in search of two things; A long overdue hug from a childhood friend in Oregon and an epic adventure. My decision to drive across the country, in wintertime, was based on two things; first, I wanted to bring toys (boating gear, skis, sup board, winter camping gear, etc) and second, I don't think there is anything that forces you to emotionally process your shitstorm of a life quite like 40 hours in the car, by yourself. As luck would have it, a dear friend would be in Idaho around the time I would be driving through. In a matter of hours, a plan was born.
I packed up my car and set off with the back seats laid down in my Toyota RAV4, a memory foam thermarest and a -25 degree sleeping bag (sleeping for a few hours in the car is way easier than booking hotel rooms, if you have the gear). It took me 48 hours, multiple snack/yoga stops, a dead battery in a mcdonald's parking lot somewhere in Missouri, losing service in Wyoming and getting lost looking for a hot spring 20 miles from my destination, before I met my adventure partner, Micah, in Idaho Falls. We spent the night planning, went to bed early and set off on an epic rally.
Day 1 - Skiing to Mesa Falls
From Warm River, Idaho we took Mesa Falls scenic byway until the road ended at a massive parking lot. The temp in my car fluctuated, but never got above 6 degrees, and that parking lot was rimmed with snow piled up taller than me. I actually had to use my ice scraper to make the trail map legible. At this point micah and I were both thinking WTF did we get ourselves into. We loaded up our backpacks with adventure snacks and started skiing up the road. After .3 miles we hit the first of three xc ski trail loops that followed the canyons edge. These trails were extremely well blazed and we followed them to Lower Mesa Falls, where we eventually met the road and slid downhill to a very close view of Upper Mesa Falls. Other than a handful of snowmobilers, we didn’t see anyone and were able to experience the beauty of this park without the crowds. All in all, this was a 9ish mile trip and took about 5 hours. Despite it being 6 degrees at the car, we were both down to our base layers and sweating like mother fuckers in the sun. This was an AMAZING day. After a quick takeout party we headed through Drigs, Idaho (stopped at an awesome second hand store & scored 3 buckle tele boots), into Victore where we set up base camp.
We woke up early and rallied in the dark for a two hour drive through Grand Teton National Park to Headwaters Campground and Lodge. Being that it was a weekday & off season, it only cost us $15 to get into the park and we experienced zero traffic. We parked at the lodge and skied on Grassy Lake rd (closed in winter) for about .3 miles until we came to the first trailhead on our right. It took us less than a mile before we saw steam rising out of the creek. There was some debate about turning left or right, moving forward or turning around, and honestly I can’t give too much direction other than this; instead of crossing the SUPER sketchy bridge, we followed tracks to the right, went upstream and crossed over the kind of sketch bridge (it was all fine). I’d love to explore the area more and find even more hidden gems, but we landed at an amazing spot. Bubbling mineral springs collect and pour over the edge into a cold water creek, creating a waterfall flowing into two slightly damned pools. I unpacked my extra absorbent yoga towel and adventure crocs, undressed and plopped my little naked butt in the hot tub temp water (I was naked because that water is funky and any clothing in there would be disgusting). After a long and amazing soak we headed back the way we came, ate some snacks at the car and made our way back through Jackson Hole to a highly recommended second hand gear store, Headwall Sports. Here is my note about that store; I found the same exact boots I purchased the day before, for $50 more.
On the way to Huckleberry the day before, we went over Teton Pass and I noticed two things; an epic sunrise and a parking lot full of skiers. At that moment I knew what I wanted to do the next morning. On our third and last day, I woke up 1.5 hours before sunrise, grabbed coffee and headed the 12 miles up to the top of the pass. Once parked I talked to a very nice man about where to go, avi safety and conditions (lol at him saying it was shitty because it was literally the best snow I’ve ever experienced). It didn’t take long before the trees opened up and the fog dissipated to show one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve ever experienced. I sat there in awe, climbed higher, cried happy tears and took in the moment that seemed to last forever. On the way back to the car was by far the best snow I’ve ever skied on and for that reason, my tele turns were one step above unimpressive.
Lodging for this trip was very reasonably priced and ideally located in Victor Idaho. Shout out to Teton Valley Motel for being so accommodating after I accidentally booked a room for the wrong week the night before we showed up.
Food for this trip was pre packed (from Aldi) and consisted of…
Breakfast- muffins, cookies, yogurt and granola, oatmeal and leftovers from the night before
Lunch- pb&j, lots and lots of granola bars, Tuna in a bag (my fav is sesame ginger), smokehouse almonds, apples & peanut butter, chips & guacamole, pretzels & nutella, spice cookies (in my backpack always), Cheese & crackers, bada bean bada boom crunchy broad beans (sooooo good)
Dinner- lots of soup because damn that’s easy. My go to meal on this trip has been one bag of precooked rice, one bag of Loma Linda plant based protein (taco, chipotle or pad thai), baked tofu (this is ideal when traveling because it requires zero prep or heat) and spinach (which has traveled well since it’s so cold). This meal takes less than three minutes to make, costs less than $4 and feeds me for two meals. Just heat that shit up, mix it together and enjoy the minimal prep & clean up.
To my adventure partner-
Micah,
Thank you for always having my back, even when I don’t realize I need it. Your friendship is a blessing in so many ways.
Next stop, Oregon!
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