Day 27: What are the Odds?

We were very sad to be leaving the fairy tale setting that was Gypsy Salon Bed and Breakfast. We couldn't help ourselves and took even more photos in the morning since the setting continued to take our breath away. It was pretty early, so Lorette and Patrick were probably still asleep so we didn't get a chance to tell them in person, but an extra huge shout out to Lorette who made my wife a very special gluten-free muffin.

Those of you who know my wife, Ronit, will know that she is an exceptional baker and cook. So it is high praise that she asked me to reach out to Loretta and get that muffin recipe. It was just that good! So I send Loretta an email with the request asking if she'd be able to share the recipe, assuming it wasn't a family secret.

It was looking like a long day on the road, so we were back to packed sandwiches. I made 12 in total, half gluten-free for my dear wife. I made a nice even split for both of us of PB&J and the rest of Pastrami Avacado Cheddar. The drive leading away from the BnB was just spectacular. Hard to start a day in a more perfect way.

Doublespring Pass

Our first stop of the day was at the Doublespring Pass which is a mountain range that was formed by volcanic eruptions and is part of the Lost River Range (A subset of the Rocky Mountains).

While we were visiting, we were greeted by a few dozen friendly cows. They must have belonged to a farm nearby though we didn't see any structures in the distance. Off they went crossing the road in front of us, not bothered by our presence one bit.

The backdrop was just absolutely stunning, and with Steele in the photo, it looked like one of those professional car commercials where the driver is cruising down dirt roads with epic scenery all around. Not to mention our other excellent model, Ronit.

We wandered off the road a bit and explored the beautiful wide open valley. The greenery around us was broken up by vibrantly colored flowers of different varieties. It all looked like a postcard with the fluffy white clouds in the blue sky casting shadows onto the mountain tops.

Mackay Mine

Next up we were headed to the Mackay Mine, an abandoned copper and silver mine in Idaho. To get to the mine, we had to drive through the little town of Mackay where we stopped to take some photos of the picturesque iconic buildings that told a story of a different age.

As we started driving on the old mine trail, I could see Ronit was feeling a bit uneasy about driving on the poor-quality road. The trail was probably much better suited to 4x4s of Jeeps, but compared to some of the other trails I've done (ehem, the forbidden trail), this was a sinch.

I drove Steele along nice and slowly until we reached the top where there was a closed gate that read "No Trespassing. Do Not Enter". A bit bummed, we found a place to U-turn and began our descent. Again, Ronit seemed concerned about the safety of the drive, but when we saw two other vans and a regular sedan going up the same path I think she felt more at ease. We informed the passing group that the top of the trail was closed and they told us they weren't planning to go all the way up anyways, just another half mile.

Halfway down the trail, we stopped at a large abandoned building where we could see about six ATVs being driven by several couples our age. We stopped here to tell them as well about the top of the path being inaccessible, and they thanked us. We asked where they were from, expecting that they were probably locals of Idaho, Utah or Montana, but to our surprise, they were from a Manitoba Province in Canada, from Winnipeg, the very same city I grew up in! What are the odds of meeting fellow Winnipeggers in the middle of the mountains in Idaho?

Speaking to them we learned that this group has been doing an annual trip for the past 20 years together. Three of the men in the group are triplet brothers! They all take their caravans and trucks and haul their ATVs to various trails to explore all together. The group consists of Christine and Leo, Lucian and Ardis, Clode and Laury, Luke and Michelle, Colette and Norm, and Lucky and Pauline (if I spelt any of your names wrong just let me know in the blog comments and I'll fix it!!!.

Salt Lake City - Pollution Town

We were headed towards Salt Lake City and on the way I passed a sign for INKOM! For those of you who don't know, I run a company called IN-COM, so just had to take a photo for the people at our company. What are the odds?

As we got closer and closer to the city, the pollution and air quality slowly got worse. All the smog reminded me of the big fires in BC and Alberta, except minutes the fires. Ronit re-routed us through smaller roads and immediately we were feeling better and off to find some hidden waterfalls.

Just Around the River Bend

We found a nice short hike, no more than half a mile that led to a little hidden waterfall. The only downside was that you needed to get your feet wet...and maybe your knees as well. In order to get around the bend to see the waterfall you needed to wade almost knee-deep through the water. Well, we'd already come all this way, and you already know how my mind works...

Off came the shoes and socks, and into the water we went! Well, it was freezing! And it was no simple task walking over the slimy slippery rocks to get around. Ronit stayed behind to hold the fort while I managed to crawl around the bend and position myself on a large dry rock.

With my shoes back on and safely back on dry land, we headed back to the car. On the way, giant gusts of winds were blowing through the trees. We could see where some tree limbs had been completely blown off onto the ground and even saw some cracked branches hanging on by a thread.

Silver Fork Lodge

We arrived at our accommodation, Silver Fork Lodge in Utah. As we were parking we bumped into the owner of the lodge, Dan Kanopp. He gave us a warm personal welcome and it was very obvious that Dan has been in the hospitality business for many years because he has it perfected.

We told him about the Hidden Trails Expedition and he gave us some recommendations of local hidden spots. Thank you, Dan!

Milk & Moose

We got settled into our beautiful room only to realize disaster had struck! There was no more milk for my Nespresso! Not for the remainder of the day and most importantly not for the early morning wake-up call tomorrow. To make matters worse, there were no stores anywhere nearby.

I went downstairs in search of milk and met 3 very nice young people who work at the Lodge - Biance from Brazil, Hans from Austria and another "What are the odds??" incident when I learned the name of the 3rd employee was Brenden whose Jewish name is also "Shlomo"! After speaking with the crew, Bianca helpfully produced a 16 oz glass of milk for Ronit and I to take to the room for our coffee. Phew! Saved by Bianca.

Hans & Brenden, aka Shlomo, told us about a beautiful 1-hour hiking trail around Silver Lake we could do before dinner. The lake was just 6 miles away from the lodge so off we went to check out the trail. On the way, a large moose crossed the street right in front of us! That was the first moose of the trip for Ronit!

Silver Lake Trail

We parked the car and started the hike. The location was pretty altitude and the mountain snow was still melting in areas giving way to lots of streams and small rivers running into Silver Lake. Following the heavy wooden path we hiked around the lake but since there was so much water parts of this wooden path were submerged in the flowing running water.

Ronit is so lucky because her balance is perfect and she managed to walk on the three-inch edge and not get her feet wet. I on the other hand…. not so lucky. So I decided that the next best course of action was to have one dry foot and one wet foot. One foot was for walking on the three-inch ledge to keep dry, while the other one just dragged across the water and got soaked.

The hike was extraordinarily beautiful and we were actually hiking in the snow at points. It felt like we were walking on a glacier. We also saw some wildlife including some ducks and squirrels while hiking.

At one point there was a lookout towards the lake but once again you had to walk through water to get to it which Ronit didn’t want to risk. I, however, was already wet, so what the hell. I walked to the lookout area to find two very nice young gentlemen trying to fish. Quinton and Charlie are from Riverton and Sandy.

They were smart and came with Crocs and sandals as they knew that they would get wet crossing all the different paths. When we ran into them they hadn't caught any fish yet, but after we told them about the blog they said if they catch some they will comment in the blog's comments and let us know! So Quentin and Charlie if you’re reading this send us an update about the fish-catching situation.

Dinner Time at the Lodge

Back at the Silver Lake Lodge we changed out of wet shoes and socks and were off to dinner at the lodge's restaurant. Ronit had a baked salmon salad and I had a Saint Louis rack of ribs. It was all awesome. I had Ronit taste one rib just to make sure I was not exaggerating and she agreed that these are one of the best ribs we’ve tasted yet. I bet their chef comes either from Saint Louis or from TEXAS – cause you know those are the best places to get ribs right??

I also learned the lodge was a sauna so after dinner I sat down to work on the blog and then went to have a nice long hot dry sauna experience. With that lovely end to the day its time to sleep. Hey Dan Kanopp- if you’re ever in Dallas Texas please look me up and I’ll pay you back with good old Texas hospitality ( and a mean steak )!

Goodnight Y'all.

-Shlomo and Ronit