Idaho Backroads Five

Didn’t want to take my hands off the handlebars on this trip so no pix. Leslie, my buddies wife, drove us up to Galena Lodge, the Northern most point of the Harriman Trail. It is a 34k compacted gravel (mostly) trail that doubles as the crosscountry ski trail in the winter. It is on national park land, but is maintained by the community. In the winter, we pay for a trail pass and that pays for the grooming equipment and salaries. That is how we can be assured that government cutbacks won’t affect our train system. It is named the Harriman trail for Avril Harriman, Ambassador to several countries and chairman of Union Pacific railroad. Found the Ketchum area and decided to build the first European style ski resort in America. He named it Sun Valley in 1934. He may have aided the Nazi’s along with W’s grandpa, but that is not proven. He brought the railroad into the Wood River Valley. Those tracks are now the Wood River Trail System: paved for bikes and groomed for skate skiing in the winter.

It is a beautiful and easy ride (sorry Dave and Cody) down the trail to the SNRA headquarters, then you need to ride the last 8 miles on the highway, but there is little traffic. 28 miles, 2 hours.