Sun Valley - July 2010
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Thursday, July 8 Steve and Louisa drove up from Hailey to meet us at around 9am. In two cars, we headed north out of Ketchum up State Highway 75, quickly finding ourselves amidst beautiful mountains on both sides. Roughly an hour later, we pulled into Stanley, grabbed sandwiches, drinks, and chips from the general store, and parked at the office of the White Cloud Rafting Adventures office. After fitting ourselves for life jackets, we hopped their bus 15-20 minutes north to where WCRA would put us in. The six of us joined guide Sita and three other rafts in making our way north down the Salmon River. The several hour trip carried us over a number of miles including several Class 3 rapids. We stopped once for water and snacks, and for those willing, the opportunity to leap from a high rock into the chilly water. Reaching the end point, we waited while the staff loaded the rafts on the trailer, then boarded the bus for the ride back to the car. We drove the few miles south to Redfish Lake, found our cabins, and headed to the lodge for a drink. Taylor and Zachary rented kayaks and explored the lake for an hour or two. We reconvened for an excellent dinner, then turned in for the evening. Friday, July 9 The next morning, we packed the cars and drove to a nearby trailhead for a hike. We made the steady climb, eventually finding ourselves at a river crossing where the higher than usual water halted our progress. We sat for a bit enjoying the scenery, then made the return trip to the cars and then back to Ketchum. After having dinner together at the Elkhorn house, Steve and Louisa returned to Hailey and we wound the evening down with a spectactular rainbow over the hills across the street east of the house. Saturday, July 10 On a sunny Saturday morning, we rented mountain bikes from and rode a short distance up SH75 to the Adam's Gulch trailhead. We rode for a bit, including some fairly hefty climbing, before returning to Ketchum to drop the boys off. While they walked around town and grabbed lunch, Jennifer and I headed back to Adam's Gulch to complete the trail circuit. The weather had turned quickly from sunny to overcast, and by the time we crested the low pass from Wanderer's Way it had started to rain. We pressed ahead for a while, then on the return, proceeded to be pounded by a pelting rain and then hail. Steve had the foresight to meet us at the bike shop. Jennifer returned with him (and her bike) to the house by truck, while I opted for a few more miles on the bike. I spent a bit of time on the trails across Sun Valley Road from Sun Valley Lodge, then climbed Elkhorn Road, blasted down through Elkhorn Village to the house. That evening, we ate at the Trail Creek Lodge, outside for appetizers, then inside for dinner as another round of rain moved through. Sunday, July 11 Sunday's wake-up call was an unusual one in the form of an extended stretch of bleating. That's right, the annual (we later learned) Sun Valley sheep drive was underway, complete with riders on horseback and a pack of border collies. That excitement out of the way, Zachary and I headed back for (a now sunny) Adams Gulch for another round of mountain biking, the bike shop having been kind enough to let us keep 2 of the 4 bikes overnight given our early return of the boys' bikes and the rain/hail storm. Back and clean, the four of us headed into Ketchum for the Art Festival. After browsing the awning-covered exhibits for an hour or so, the Dieffenbach men headed back to the house in time for Spain-Netherlands kickoff. Jennifer stayed a bit longer, until my half-time pickup. After Spain's dominant performance and win (becoming just the eighth nation to claim a World Cup), we headed over to the housing association pool to escape the (relative) heat. Soccer hadn't been the only sport entertaining us, of course. With the Tour de France in full swing, we took advantage of the two-hour time zone difference relative to the east coast to catch live coverage before our daytime activities kicked into gear. Having returned from the pool, we rested a bit, then drove down to Hailey to join Steve and Louisa for dinner. Paul Sloan Monday, July 12 Waking early and skipping the Tour, Jennifer and I went out for a road ride, exploring Sun Valley Road east from Ketchum. One of our missions for the ride was to locate colored pencils, the boys having gotten (re-)hooked at the Art Festival. We'd been told of a store that was closed on Sunday. Surprised to find it open that early on Monday morning, we picked up a set, jury-rigged a messenger bag out of the plastic shopping bag and a spare bike tube, and returned to base. The main activity for the day was a hike to Baker Lake. The six of us headed north on SH75 for 20 minutes or so, then took a dirt road another 10 miles or so to the trail head. We hiked an hour or so up to a beautiful (cold) mountain lake, snow still coating the rock face of the mountainside across the water. After returning to the cars, Steve and Louisa led us to a hot spring a bit farther north on SH75 before heading back to Hailey. Jennifer and the boys took advantage of the hot spring, while I took a ride up towards Galena Lodge and beyond (see more detailed account in the center column). Jennifer capped the afternoon with a round of Yoga (if "round" is the appropriate measure of Yoga units). Before dinner, the six of us met a colleage of mine from Cambium Learning, Dan Harlan, and his wife Peggy for cocktails. Dan and Peggy having other dinner plans, we walked across the street to Sushi on Second. Tuesday, July 13 Tuesday was travel day. What we didn't know was that Wednesday would be travel day too (see more detailed account in the right column). We took our time packing, then popped into Ketchum for a hearty breakfast before making the drive back to Idaho Falls. It's interesting how vacation time manages to fill itself. When we first booked our flights, I wondered what we'd do with all of our time in ID. By the time we were preparing to head back to MA, I was running through a mental inventory of all the things we didn't quite find time to see and do. I guess we'll have to go back.	Side excursion: Galena Lodge After an early morning bike ride (Mon 7/12) with Jennifer and then a hike up to Baker Lake midday, Jennifer and the boys visited a hot spring while opted for another road ride. I started at the 146 mile mark on State Highway 75 and rode north (which was both up AND into a headwind) past Galena Lodge (152 mile mark, 7,290 feet) to the 154 mile mark. My goal was to cover the next 4 or so miles to Galena Summit at 8,701 feet. Starting late (a bit before 2pm) and not having a triple on my rented carbon fiber Tiagra/105-equipped Scott from Sturtos provided great camouflage for the fact that my legs didn't have it in them. Instead, I turned around at the 154 mile mark. It occurred to me that the drivers going past on the ascent think you're riding to the top, and the ones passing on the descent think you've done it! The only ones who know the truth are the ones who see you turn around. Those folks, I swore to secrecy. I dropped down 2 miles to Galena Lodge for some Gatorade, then remounted for the descent back to Ketchum. I rode the next 22 miles at an average speed of 26.4 mph. Nothing like dropping almost 2,000 feet with a tailwind! And, it's the kind of descending I like, NOT the Triple Bypass kind of pucker-inducing descending. Route map and profile below. Note the avoided yellow squiggle towards the upper left.	Travel part 1: Out to Idaho Our ID travels began Wednesday, July 7, with an early morning flight out of Boston. Early in this case was 7:25a. For veteran travelers such as me, no problem. For the younger males in the family, however, "bright and cheery" were not adjectives you'd be correctly applying. Having loaded the minivan the night before, we made quick time to the airport, Boston traffic not living up to its name at that early hour. To minimize lugging bags through the increasingly hot and humid morning, I dropped Jennifer and the boys outside the United terminal, drove 5 minutes to (excellent) off-site parking, and caught the waiting shuttle back to the airport. No stumbles through security--I'd briefed everyone on where exactly they should put their computers, shoes, and fluids. The flight to Chicago departed and arrived on time, as did the flight to Denver and the flight to Idaho Falls. Yes, that's right, my first ever three-legger. In Idaho Falls, all four bags and our rental car waited as promised. We made the 3-hour drive to Hailey in just a shade under 2 1/2, 30 minutes to the good. Steve and Louisa greeted us warmly and with adult beverages not at all far behind. They escorted us up to their new place on the outskirts of Ketchum (basically, on the back side of Dollar Mountain, if you know your Sun Valley). We settled in, they headed back to Hailey, and we got our eastern time zone bodies quickly to sleep in advance of the next day's white water rafting adventure. Traveling couldn't have gone more smoothly. (Foreshadowing alert.) Travel part 2: Back to Boston Our Tuesday, July 13 flight back to Boston began in Idaho Falls at 4:49pm. Or so we thought. Inserting my credit card into the check-in kiosk, I was greeted with a "Your flight has already departed" message. Ha ha, funny joke United, where's my flight? It took a few minutes for someone to arrive and provide assistance, but when she did, she was pleasant and helpful. Helpful untangling our travel snafu, that is. I soon learned that United had "contacted" me on none other than our departure date of 7/7 to inform me of a flight change. Not the common "Your flight is now departing 4 minutes earlier" variety, but rather, "4 hours earlier." And by "contacted," I came to learn that what they'd done was call my phone but leave no message and send an email to an old address. Thanks United! No worries, I thought--after all, this was Idaho Falls, where there must be scores of alternatives available. We quickly learned the truth behind this musing of mine, if you define "scores" as "two." Neither was ideal. Option one was to fly out the next morning (Wednesday 7/14), connect in Denver, and get home around 11pm. Option two was to fly to Denver in an hour on the 5pm flight, then catch an early flight the next day arriving in Boston mid-afternoon Wednesday. As travel ordeals go, this was a mild one (added cost of hotel, meals, and parking, plus Jennifer missing a few of the Pilates classes she teaches), but still, we were ready to get home, so we went with option two. We got to our DIA hotel around 8pm, checked in, grabbed a bite at Vinny's (a Bennigans-type place, not exactly the cuisine we were used to in Steve and Louisa's fine care, but serviceable enough in the same way that Gu is), and immediately collapsed into bed (the Days Inn and Suites pool and hot tub being not quite tempting enough to extend our day). 4:30am wakeup call (6:30am ET!), complementary breakfast (of lesser quality than Vinny's), shuttle ride, baggage check, through security, wait, wait, wait, then scramble for boarding passes. Regarding the latter, the 3 elder Dieffenbachs were seated together in an exit row, with Zachary one row ahead due to his insufficient age (one emergency row sitter looked pretty decrepit, however--I would have taken my chances with the Z man). Better still, we each were in different seating zones for boarding: I had seating 1, Jennifer seating 2, Taylor seating 3, and Zachary seating 4. You know, because when traveling as a family, it's best to get as much alone from one another as possible. I ended up using my Premier pull (which, it turns out, is about 8 levels down the United hierarchy) to get us on first. No one complained about the extra legroom, though, and pretty soon we were airborne. Which (airborne) is where I'm writing this. Not knowing how the rest of the trip will play out, but also not wanting to leave the tale incomplete, let me fire up the fiction engine. Zachary, fresh from an in-flight session of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on his MacBook Pro, defused a potential hijacking. The pilots, apparently ill from selecting the fish instead of the chicken, were unable to continue with their duties, so Taylor landed the plane. As the inflatable exit ramps deployed after what seemed to me like a remarkably soft touch down, Jennifer used her instructor's voice to calm the passengers and disembark them in safe and orderly fashion. After receiving the key to the city from the Mayor, we collected our bags, hopped the shuttle to the parking lot, and started home. Spotting a child hanging out the third story window of a burning building, we screeched to a halt (what other way does one come to a halt, I wonder?), fashioned a net from some items scavenged from the minivan, and caught the little girl (and her kitten) just as flames swept her room. We made it home in time to get to Zachary's high school twilight league soccer game. Taylor elected to join us, despite his not having played for years. Both scored hat tricks (all on bicycle kicks, no less) in a 6-0 win against the bigger, faster, stronger, and more tactically aware opponent. Tired after the long day, we had a quick dinner, and, just before bed, brought peace to the Middle East.