I think it’s half safe to say that many people went on some sort of family camping trip when they were growing up or have taken their own family on a camping trip.  We went on many camping trips as a family and I still have fond memories of those great times.  Julie and I also took our kids camping most weekends in the summer and they usually involved bush walks, beach swims, maybe some four wheel driving and probably some rain.  Family camping absolutely rocks! So it was very exciting when my sister Kathy and her husband John suggested they catch up with us in the Pacific Northwest for a week of camping and exploring together.  Oh ya!

The approximate plan was to meet them outside Boise Idaho on an agreeable date which gave Julie and I a few days to meander eastward and southward from Puget Sound while they came up from their family home in California.  From south-eastern Washington we headed south and crossed the mighty Colombia River, still an imposing river hundreds of miles upstream from where we crossed it last week, and crossed endless dry rolling hills covered with wheat and hay, hardly a tree or bush to be seen. 

We enjoyed exploring the cowboy town of Pendleton, which hosts a major rodeo each year, before heading south, first across more open plains but eventually rising up into the pine and fir forests at over 4,000 feet.  After a beautiful afternoon drive through some lovely forested mountains and following picturesque mountain streams we camped amongst the ponderosa pines on the middle fork of the John Day River.

We followed more gorgeous hilly countryside, the heat absolutely suffocating, through small forgotten communities until we crossed the Snake River and set up camp near the confluence of the Snake and Boise Rivers.  And before we could set up our chairs in the shade to slow down our human melting Kathy and John pulled in after a marathon drive from California. 

We enjoyed a night of sharing family updates and reminisces before heading further north towards one of the outstanding natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest.  Hell’s Canyon was formed through a combination of volcanic activity, tectonic plate movements and erosion from the fast moving Snake River.  It is self-proclaimed as the deepest canyon in America (deeper than the Grand Canyon!) and boasts near vertical jagged rock walls rising from the water below. 

There are three dams on the Snake River as it weaves its way through the canyon but at the end of the road the river is allowed to run free and from that point on it is only accessible by intrepid rafters who commit to at least a four-day float down the rapids before they can reach an exit point. 

Rafting aside, the drive along the water’s edge was just spectacular, absolutely world class, and we stopped at every turnout to marvel at this stunning ancient scenery.

With the heat pushing 100°F/38°C we found a place to camp on the banks of the river, hugged the shade, swam in the river and marveled at the dramatic mountain scenes surrounding us.

There is a steep and narrow dirt track that dramatically rises from the water’s edge up and over the mountain that runs down the Idaho side of the river.  We followed this wonderful track, stopping for photos and gasping thin air at every turn, until it finally popped out and we found a paved road that ran through beautiful pine tree-studded mountains and gorgeous cattle ranches. 

We finished the day camped on the banks of the south fork of the Salmon River near the popular recreation area around Warm Lake.  We dipped our feet into the cool running water and enjoyed another wonderful mountain scene all by ourselves.  It was unanimous – Idaho delivers the great outdoors in dramatic and beautiful fashion.

In fact, Idaho is a bit of an unknown wonder in the US.  Barely heard of outside the US and rarely visited by Americans, Idaho sneaks up on you.  This is Trump loving, god fearing country, with 60% of its land publicly owned, vast mountainous wilderness areas, spectacular rivers, harsh winters and one of the strongest independent streaks in the US.  Idahoans live in a beautiful place, they are proud people and enjoy their solitude.

We were dining out on exploring these wilderness areas, spending another day driving through beautiful mountains along dirt roads, winding up and over two 7,000 feet (2260 metres) passes, past high alpine meadows and over snaking cold mountain streams.  Eventually we made the small town of Stanley in the heart of the perfectly-named Sawtooth Mountains National Recreation Area. 

The temperatures were still at super high-melt and we cooled off with a swim in Redfish Lake, the dramatic jagged silhouette of the Sawtooth Mountain range right behind us.  We followed a little track down to the banks of the famous Salmon River – at 480 miles long the longest undammed river in the US – and set up camp just metres away from the fast and noisy current.  Absolutely total bliss.

The four of us had fallen for the spectacular Sawtooth mountains and vowed to get a closer look.  We chose the Fishhook Creek trail, a six mile/9.5 kilometre return trip following the beautiful bouncing creek up the valley until we came across one of the most spectacular views we’d seen for a while.  There lying out before us was the heart and soul of the Sawtooth and if the nearby fire hadn’t hazed the sky just a bit it would have been absolutely perfect. 

Southward we continued, up and over the 8,990 foot (2900 metres) Galena Pass and picked up supplies at the swanky and upmarket town of Ketchum, home base for the world famous Sun Valley ski resort (the first commercial ski site in the US and the first place in the world to install a chairlift).  We camped in the nearby Sawtooth National Forest amongst a thick grove of handsome aspens with a little creek babbling by next to us.  Another game of cards around the fire topped off a great day.

If you had asked me a little while ago about the highlights of Idaho I would have drawn a blank (potatoes, really?) but we were quickly becoming experts as we roamed this fascinating state.  Our next target was the expansive Crater of the Moon National Monument which protects a large portion of the vast lava fields that are spread out across southern Idaho.  Julie and I have been into volcanos lately after our recent trip to Iceland so we were looking forward to this new site.

Over millions of years, but also as recently as only 2,000 years ago, this area has seen significant volcanic activity along a ridge line and as a result there are lava fields, including lava tubes caves, cinder cones and ancient contortions of hot flowing lava cooled and turned to rough stone forever after.

We did the seven mile loop road through some of the best of the lava fields, stopping for short walks to see up close the wonders of this volcanic activity.  The highlight of the day was a walk through the Indian Cave, an 800 foot lava tube, clambering over rough lava rocks while underground, light shining in from multiple holes in the ceiling.  Quite a fun little adventure for our 60’s something foursome.

We camped that night at the campground in the park, pitched amongst the lava fields, the wonder of these millions-old volcanoes all around us.  We had had a fabulous time together so far, clicking right into the travel groove, and still had a few days to go before returning to the family home.