Ketchum, Idaho

On my full day in Ketchum, I decided the Idaho thing to do was to hike up Bald Mountain, which was said to have spectacular views. The mountain is 9150 feet/2789 meters tall, but I'd only be scaling about 3000 feet in about 2.5 hours. Even so, I'm no hiker and my fitness isn't what it used to be.

So encouraged by the fact that I'd get a free ride down the chairlift and the gondala if I climb to the top, I set off in my not-so-purpose runners with a litre of water and a annoyingly heavy SLR. The first part of the hike was pretty easy, it was in the shade of thick foliage so the heat wasn't such a problem. As I progressed, the trail moved into open areas. But overall the trail was pretty straight forward. I chatted to a bunch of people along the way, including an aspiring actor and a 20 year old guy from Brazil over here on exchange.

How am I going to overcome this obstacle?!

Trail overlooking Ketchum

Trail overlooking some mountain

Snow makers

View from Bald Mountain

View from summit

View of Ketchum from Bald Mountain

Once I reached the top, I took a few photos then caught the chairlift down to the restaurant, where I had a quick lunch. After catching the gondala back down I chilled in my room for a bit and headed out to Ketchum for dinner.

This time I went to a bar called "Grumpy's" (sign said: "We're sorry we're open"). Burger was good, if a little less gourmet than Lefty's. Talked to the owner (who I'm guessing the bar is named after), but he seemed like a pretty amiable chap. He'd been through Australia a number of times, and was one of the few Americans I've met that picked up on the accent straight away. I also talked to a fellow biker who was a Budweiser salesman, he was very interested in what beers we drink back home (as I tell everyone, VB down south, XXXX up north and Carlton Draft all around the place. What do they drink out west? Emu? Ah doesn't matter, they'll be their own country one day anyway). Point is, he never heard of any of them.


So after one beer I headed back to Lefty's, as they were playing the Olympics. Talked to a guy named Scott who was a successful potographer in the area. He'd come from California (definitely had that look about him), and he decided he liked the mountains more than the beaches. Me and him then went to the local dive bar (can't remember the name), where I had this horrible beer in a green can. Good thing it was cheap!

Scott introduced me to an Australian that hash been living in Ketchum and working as a chef for over 15 years. He still had an accent thicker than mine. He sure did say cunt a lot. Pretty cool dude, we commiserated over Australia's terrible standings this Olympics and discussed how you have to definitely "tone down" the language over here.

Played a few games of pool with a bunch of other people, and for some reason (maybe alcohol - the solution to and the cause of all the world's problems) I did pretty well. After that, it was time to head home, had a long ride to Blackfoot tomorrow.