Idaho Weekend

Pocatello, Fairfield, & Hailey

2/17/23 - 2/20/23

President’s day weekend with Sierra and family. Escaping the craziness of the city to enjoy some soul-warming quality time in the homeland.

Rolled into Pocatello late Friday afternoon. My mom was ready to ski and got us on the trails within 30 min of when we arrived! It was a wonderful evening of xc ski touring around Pocatello’s City Creek trail system. Can’t remember the last time there was enough snow to ski this low. Amazing evening light made this one to remember.

Left Pocatello around 10 a.m. to drive up to Craters of the Moon for some more nordic skiing. It was a cold single-digit morning and a beautiful drive crossing the desolate snowy Snake River Plain. Most people would consider this a boring wasteland, but I think it is an incredibly beautiful place. Endless expanses of sagebrush and cool volcanic buttes (Like Big Southern Butte in the picture). This big flat expanse also has the benefit of hiding Idaho’s best mountains from clear view of the interstate, keeping them relatively devoid of people for now ;)

XC skiing around the cool volcanic moonscape of Craters on a cold graybird day. Good memories of playing here as a kid. One of the places I developed my interest in geology, and it was very special to be back here with Sierra, my Mom, as well as Sarah (lifelong neighbor) and her friend.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Sierra and I made our way West, stopping at some natural hot springs just outside of craters and then onwards to the booming metropolis of Fairfield. I had passed through Fairfield several years ago and thought it was a cool little town. I also noticed they had a small ski area and some good-looking peaks in the distance. I figured it would be a great time to give this overlooked part of Idaho some exploration. We stayed at the only hotel in town, the Prarie Inn. A lovely little place run by a very friendly old couple.

The next morning we were blessed with non-frigid temps and blue skies and made our way to Soldier Mountain Ski Area, just 20 min north of Fairfield. We put on our touring gear, bought a day ticket, and rode the two double-chair lifts to the top. From there we started skiing over towards the Soldier Mountains through the cat skiing zone operated by the ski area. We were aiming for “Second peak” at the center of the photo.

The Pioneer Mountains coming into view on the skin up before being engulfed in clouds a few minutes later.

:)

Nearing the top of “Second peak”. Wilds winds from the previous week turned this place into quite the sastrugi-scape.

Sierra embracing the wind at the top of “Second peak”. “Third peak” in the distance with Smoky Dome behind that in the clouds. Not another soul in sight.

Skiing down wind battered terrain of second peak. Very variable conditions, but managed to get about 5 soft turns.

More cool wind blasted trees and terrain on the ridge between first and second peaks.

Our approximate touring route. Bad DEM resolution hides a lot of the terrain details here. Definitely more out there than the map shows.

Working our way back to the top of the lift.

How skiing should be. No lifelines, no red snakes, no condos, no fur coats, no service. Just two old lifts, good terrain, friendly people, and somewhere you can buy a beer. If you can’t appreciate that, maybe you should take up golf instead :P

Let’s keep these little local areas alive!

Swapped out skis back at the car and did a few hours of groomer laps in the ski area. Super fun!

After another lovely night at the Prarie Inn, and some food at The Cliff bar and grille, we made our way to the Quigly nordic trail system in Hailey the next morning. Some of the best-set tracks I’ve ever skated in a while! Everyone I encountered seemed to have the biggest smile on their face. Weekends like this definitely make me miss the simplicity and the overall calmness of living in Idaho. Luckily, it’s not that far away.

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North Facing Glory