Untamed, wild and free, Stanley reflects the spirit of the Idaho frontier. My snout could smell it the minute we arrived at our cabin. And it gave me the itch to run, “run like a rebel child.”

And so, I did, on miles and miles of trails in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Encompassing 756,000 acres the preserve contains four major rivers (Salmon, Payette, Big Wood, and Boise), four mountain ranges (Sawtooth, Boulder, Smoky, and White Cloud), hundreds of lakes, more than 1,000 miles of streams, and at least 50 peaks that rise above 10,000 feet. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area, coupled with federal wilderness and public land encompasses an amazing 2.1 million acres.

Stanley, Idaho population 125

At 6,300’ in elevation, Stanley has the most extreme winters in the contiguous United States (record low -54 F) with summer days reaching into the mid-90s. Not an easy place to inhabit, so only 125 year-round brave souls reside in Stanley. But the area is home to ghost towns, hot springs, the Salmon River and the jagged, rugged, breathtaking, Sawtooth Mountains. It is located in the Stanley Basin where archaeological evidence documents a human presence dating back 10,000 years. Later inhabitants included the Shoshone, Bannock, and Lemhi native tribes who regularly migrated through the area in search of game, fish, tubers and timber. Western expansion and the gold rush brought fur trappers and prospectors to the area.

Iron Creek Trailhead Woohoo

Just a few miles west of Stanley is the trail to Alpine Lake via the Iron Creek Trailhead. It was a beautiful sunny and crisp day, and the hike was 8 miles, but I figure my distance was twice that running back and forth and this way and that way chasing my nose. And when I get a whiff of deer poo there is always time to shimmy in it.

Not to digress, but my nose is a thing of beauty and vastly more powerful than The Parents. In fact, my turbocharged snout is 100,000 to 1 million times more sensitive than the human nose, and I even have a larger part of my brain dedicated to odors!

Relaxation Stanley Style

Chasing after my nose all day can be exhausting! So back at the cabin I lounge on the patio and in the grass next to the river – The Salmon River, of course.

Lady Face Falls

The next day we headed to Lady Face Falls. Not much of a waterfall, more like a drinking fountain. But the hike was beautifully strange through a recent burn area with lots of exploring, running like the wind and zoomies all day long.

River of No Return

Sage Factoid: Stanley is also home to the headwaters of the longest free-flowing river in the lower 48. (That means no dams.) Which is the legendary Salmon River, also known as the “River of No Return”. It is beautiful and untouched, wild and free, just like me! The Salmon River is an icon of wilderness and it tastes great too!

Stanley is dog friendly!!!

Back in Stanley, “kids” like me are welcome at lots of outdoor patios at restaurants and bars. Staying at the Stanley River Retreat and Cabins was one of the best places, ever. Not only were we right on the Salmon River, our patio had awesome views of the Sawtooths. Every morning we were greeted by hundreds of geese, feeding on the river, then taking flight in unison. And at night, well the Milky Way lit up the sky. It was doggone beautiful!

Catahoula Bliss

The best long weekend ever – my very own log cabin, right on the Salmon River with view of the Sawtooths.

I can’t wait to return to the River of No Return. Say what?

Woof Woof