Travel Idaho
By
Matt Kettmann
In the annals of accomplished writers, Ernest Hemingway ranks near the top
for being well traveled. But because a little resort town here, called Ketchum,
offered-then as it does now-a down-home place to relax with his fellow outdoor-loving
countrymen, Hemingway selected this quaint burg as his final resting place.
A
little event called Wagon Days, which began three
years before Hemingway's death in 1958, most certainly
charmed "Papa's" soul.
Forty-six years later, the Wagon Days parade and
festival has become Ketchum's cultural cornerstone,
celebrating
the miners and mining lifestyles that shaped Idaho's
resort town into the historic hub it is today.
As
always, this year's Wagon Days, held every Labor Day
weekend-this year September 3 through 6-presents, among
other rarities, the Black Jack Shootout Gang, who recreate
showdowns between Black Jack Ketchum and his foes.
All ages will delight to see the Eh-Capa ("Apache" spelled
backward) Riders do their bareback horse-riding tricks
and, for the first time ever this year, ears will delight
to the finger-pickin' goodness of the Oldtime Fiddlers
Contest, where mandolins, guitars, and fiddles go head-to-head.
Keep
the frontier spirit of an Idaho excursion alive by
calling up the Mystic Saddle Ranch to sign up the entire
family for a multiday hoedown at the Camp Stanley Family
Adventure Camp. Located beneath the aptly named Sawtooth
Mountains, where Hemingway hunted much of his trophy
game, Camp Stanley makes camping convenient with walled
tents and cabins keeping everyone warm and comfy while
providing a setting that's as backcountry as Idaho
gets.
With
an emphasis on horseback riding, fishing, and rafting
the nearby rivers, this camp promises days of activity
followed by nights eating Dutch oven cooking around
the campfire. And for even more of the wilderness experience,
the Mystic Saddle Ranch offers
everything from backwoods hunting trips, Salmon River
flyfishing, and do-it-yourself cattle drives to wilderness
art trips and backpacking trips into established base
camps.
By
the time you're done with all that, it might be about
the second weekend in October, so go back to Ketchum
to catch the newest old-time tradition. The three-day Trailing
of the Sheep festival began in 1997
to mark the annual movement of shepherds from the summer
mountain meadows in the north to the winter grazing
areas of the south.
Giving
a nod to the Peruvian, Basque, and Scottish herders
who helped settle this part of
the Northwest, participants act as shepherds by "trailing" the
herd's woolly mass past the boutiques and restaurants
of downtown Ketchum.
This
year's October 8 to 10 party features all things sheep,
such as lamb cooking classes,
weaving, a dog-moving-sheep contest, traditional
shepherd-style dancing, walks through prime grazing
country, and plenty
of sheep storytelling. Read
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