Two Great Wildflower Hikes in Ketchum, ID

Ketchum, Idaho
North Fork BLM

It was a mostly bright and sunny day with a storm possibility later in the day.  Steve and I decided to get a hike in on the Murdock Creek Trail.  It's a 6.3 mile out and back that follows the Big Wood River most of the way.
 

It was a fairly easy trail with just a few climbs.  Hurley loved playing in the river and the wildflowers were gorgeous!

 

Fun, fun, fun for Hurley!

 

 

A huge band of quartz in this large rock.

The trail was very narrow and you had to be careful as it was very steep if you slipped over the edge.

 

Came across a skull and bones on a log.

Butterflies everywhere too.

As we came toward the end you can see where heavy snows would create avalanches on the steep mountain sides and rip everything down in its path.

You could see the ice mixed in with the debris that ended up in the river at the bottom.

It was so thick and deep that it covers the river by several feet as seen in the above picture.

There was debris at the bottom of the mountain that blasted down from avalanches.  It wiped out everything in its path.  I'm sure this happens a lot as you can see many scars on the mountainsides.

The debris was so thick it covered the river at the bottom.  You could see the river pop through here and there.

On our way back out we passed the Sheepherder with his horse and dogs again as he walked back to his wagon.

 Home Sweet Home for the Sheepherder.

 

There was one more hike we wanted to get in after dinner before.  The Oregon Gulch Trail was another fairly easy trail that traversed the river and was blanketed with wildflowers.

 

We had to turn around as the skies were darkening and the storm was starting.  We got a little wet.

  

All those white things are sheep if you zoom in.  Hundreds of them!  So noisy too.  They were moved all around to graze. 

I took my brother the next day up a mountain that Steve and I previously took our truck on last year.  We didn't get too far as you need ATVs after a while.

He hooked a couple Brook Trout but they are hard to catch and smart as they learn quickly they don't like lures.

One of many pretty waterfalls along the steep mountains.

Not much up here but some old abandoned mines.

At some point we got out and walked as it was getting narrow and steep and the road kind of disappeared.

 

On the way back we found another mineshaft.

Another pretty Brookie! 

We drove his ranger down and over to the Salmon River.  You have to be careful here as there are many special fishing rules along this stretch.

 

He did hook a nice Rainbow in this hole.

A nice quote on this memorial bench.  There is a riverwalk here with a geocache hidden that we searched for quite a while.

Turned out that it was a fake birdhouse that was on a pine tree that got crushed when it fell.  Luckily it opened on the side and Steve was able to get it out.  We did try to see some fireworks for 4th of July but were disappointed with what they had.  Oh well, can't win them all!

We love this area for the boondocking, fishing, hiking and cute town with restaurants and shopping.  If you haven't been in this area it is a must do!