"Always I'm stunned when the pass finally crests and I see this valley after time away. Swerving around the final curve, my heart starts beating like it wants out of my chest, while my truck gasps and climbs, groaning with the same old mechanical threats. I swear, the wind sighs easier when the road turns away from Ketchum and levels. Suddenly, below me, the earth splits wide open with green and the Sawtooth peaks like a jagged white rip in the blue sky. Winding into the distance, the Salmon River glitters as if paved with silver dollars. It's as close as I'll ever get to seeing God in living color, this feeling of wonder, both familiar and new, like falling in love, mile after mile."

"A Woman Gone Wild"
by Karen Day

Fifty-two miles north of Sun Valley, the largest American wilderness outside of Alaska gives birth to the headwaters of the Salmon River. Surrounded by breathtaking views of the Sawtooth Mountains and three national forests,The Salmon River Lodge rests on the banks of this famous "River of No Return". There's no Starbucks and the nearest TV is a mile south in the town of Stanley (population 72,) but we invite you to fish in the front yard and climb the mountains out your back door. Who needs HBO in Paradise?