Ever heard of the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho?

Another hidden gem…

Heat shimmered thick over the countryside outside the moving vehicle as we left Wyoming; the arid landscape was the dun of a flea-bitten lion, tufted with tumbleweed, creosote, and sagebrush. In spite of our consultation of the fire app, smoke wreathed the road as we headed west, thickening to a dense, unhealthy soup as we entered Idaho. 

About an hour from our destination, a campground in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, the characteristic white of fresh smoke billowed in and a helicopter buzzed by us, dropping water somewhere very nearby from a lake. When we tried to get information on our phones, No Service was all we could find.

We had no way to get any news about the safety of our route.

“That’s close,” I said through tight lips, pointing to the heavy smoke billows and the busy helicopter. Mike nodded, his knuckles white on the wheel.

We’d …