| Campground: | Stanley RV + Basecamp Lodge, 12655 ID-21, Stanley, ID 83278. |
| Total Distance: | 9542 Miles. |
| Traveled Today: | 59 Miles. |
| Key highlights: | Redfish Lake, Iron Creek trail to Alpine Lake, Sunbeam Hot Springs. |
Stanley is a small town (69 people only) – that serves the many tourists who come to see the Sawtooth mountain rig area. We saw many trailheads and were obsessed with finding open tourist information to advise us on which one to take. Unfortunately, the primary tourist information in town was closed at 0900am- as expected. So we continued south 4 miles to the ranger station – that was open, to our surprise. We learned about some possible trails – and as we were just next to the famous Redfish Lake – we checked the Lake and were happy to see they also had open tourist info – that gave us exactly opposing recommendations on trail selection. So we defaulted to AllTrail App (amazing) – and headed to try the most popular hike in the area.
The trail to Sawtooth Lake from Iron creek trailhead was chosen – but it was long (10 miles round trip) – so we hiked only to the first nice alpine Lake (only 8 miles). Most of the trail was set in rather a standard and not very interesting forest, and the steady climb was not difficult. Only late in the trail, we saw magnificent views of the majestic Sawtooth cliffs (impressive), and breathtaking wildflower bloom.
Upon returning to the city – the main tourist info was open- we entered to learn about the local hot springs. Yet most of the time, we interviewed the host couple about life in Stanley. It’s incredible: They buy and ship vegetables via FedEx, there is only one student in the 8th grade, and 20 in the whole school. and 3 teachers. They go to school only four days a week, out of which only one three days are for study, and one day for outdoor experiences, and unfortunately – families with high school students – have to relocate – as there is no high school around.
We now deserved a soak in a hot-springs, and we continued our survey of them. Sunbeams were not hot springs; they were boiling springs. The water came at high pressure from a pipe below the road and spilled into the river- where circles of stones marked the “tabs’ with different temperatures. They were all too hot, and you had to mix the water with the cool river water with your hand to stay in it. Just as we were going to leave- we saw on the other side some small tab – that was just fit for a couple, and the spring was warming the water in it. The people of Idaho have funny ways to enjoy the geothermal benefits.