McCall Winter Carnival kicks off Friday, Jan. 28! Ice sculptures, skiing, xc skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, live music, food you name it!

Return to the Sea ice sculpture at the 634 cafe on main street in McCall.

Hi all, 

With the dreaded gray, cold inversion in place in the Treasure Valley, it's pretty much a no-brainer for me to find a way to escape from that depressing scene to go play in the mountains above! Hope you can do that, too! 

The weather forecast for this weekend is nothing but sunshine at higher elevations and ground fog and cold temps in the valley floors. 

The McCall Winter Carnival kicks off on Friday and runs for two weekends through Feb 8. This year's theme is: "Return to our Roots." I've heard lodging is really hard to find in McCall proper, and Donnelly and Cascade may be tough, too, so be sure to reserve something quick, if you're hoping to stay overnight. Maybe try for mid-week, next week? 

But even a day trip to McCall to see all the ice sculptures - and perhaps get out on some type of outdoor outing during the day - would be worth the trip! There are things to see and do in Donnelly and Cascade as well this weekend, and also Tamarack Resort has ice sculptures to view, live music, multiple food venues, and all kinds of skiing/riding, of course, on the mountain. 

Check out the McCall Winter Carnival events schedule for all of the details.  

I noticed that the free ice skating rink at Golden Glove Park in McCall is freshly flooded and ready to go. There was no one there when I shot this picture, and the ice skating surface is beautiful! 

Ice skating is free, BTW. Just bring your own skates. 

More sculpture pics that took on Thursday ... 

Train at Fogglifter coffee house and cafe. 

Horse-drawn chariot at Whitetail Real Estate and Shore Lodge 

Rupert's executive chef Gary Kucy fashioned this sculpture for Stacey Cakes ... "Pig Out!" 

Other events of note include: 

• Idaho Mountain Freeride series with slopestyle and rail jam events going on at the Little Ski Hill this weekend and Tamarack Resort next weekend.  
• Bloody Marys and DJ Dance Party at the Yacht Club in McCall. 
• Snowbike race in Cascade
• Fireworks
• Beer gardens 
• Dog sled races 
• Pancake breakfasts
• McCall Starz on Ice

Again, see the McCall Winter Carnival events schedule for all the details. 

Remember that you can go downhill skiing at Brundage Mountain in McCall, xc skiing or snowshoeing at Bear Basin, Ponderosa State Park, Jug Mountain Ranch and the North Valley Trail, snow biking at Jug Mountain Ranch, tubing at the Activity Barn, guided snowmobile trips, snowmobile rentals, hot springs and more to do!   

Lake Cascade State Park has xc skiing and snowshoeing on the Crown Point Trail. 

Have a great weekend! 
- SS 

Looking to cool off in the Idaho mountains? Six keeper hikes to explore in the greater McCall area, recommended by local experts

How about your own personal snowfield? Huck liked it!

Hi all, 

Many of you are no doubt heading for the high country, high mountain lakes, mountain towns and shady spots along our wonderful rivers and streams to stay cool during this wicked unrelenting triple-digit heat. 

So if you're visiting the greater McCall area to cool off in the near future, I wanted to call attention to the current issue of Visit McCall magazine, Summer 2021. The McCall Chamber of Commerce partnered with Roger Phillips, yours truly and Scott Merchant to write about some of our favorite hikes in the vicinity.

I wrote about hiking the Bear Pete Trail from Cloochman Saddle to an overlook of Josephine Lake, Phillips wrote about "Goldilocks destinations" - Upper Hazard Lake and Hard Creek Lake, and Merchant wrote about "Wildflower Pilgrimages" to Granite Mountain, Box Lake and Lava Butte Lake.

Here's an online link from the McCall Chamber site that provides the full stories from all three of us ... Just ask an expert! https://visitmccall.org/favorite-hiking-trails-around-mccall-ask-an-expert/ 

Hard-copies of the full-color magazine are available in McCall Chamber office and local stores.

Editor McKenzie Kraemer's intro for the "Walk in the Woods" stories is intriguing: 

"There are about a million benefits to hiking - from the stunning scenery to the cardio boost of an uphill climb - but the underlying appeal, and the thing we always come back to, is that a walk in the woods has a magical way of bringing calm and connection."

My narrative on Bear Pete Trail tells the god-honest truth that I discovered the trail in the mid '90s in my quest to explore all of the bikeable trails in the greater McCall area for my guidebook, Mountain Biking in McCall. Turns out, it's a super hard gut-buster ride to scale the ups and downs of Bear Pete Mountain from the south to the north, or the north to the south, but it's one heck of a fun and adventurous full day's ride. 

I've returned to the southern trailhead at Cloochman Saddle (about 20 miles north of McCall) to hike the trail, which is much easier than trying to bike it. I'd rate the hike as being moderate with strenuous sections to the Josephine Lake overlook or points farther north. But it's definitely doable for most abilities; great for kids. 

One of the biggest benefits of the Bear Pete hike is to experience the feeling of seeing big and massive mountain ranges all around you, giant hunks of granite lording over the upper Payette River watershed on one side, and then an endless sea of mountains reaching to the north, toward the Salmon River - River of No Return, and the 2.3-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. You are on the edge of wilderness for literally hundreds of square miles in Central Idaho. 

It's a place where I feel small, as a humanoid. 

See the online link to read my story about Bear Pete and get directions to the trailhead. I'll share some more pics below ... 

The Payette Crest looking east from Bear Pete Mountain

 

Wendy at the overlook of Josephine Lake

Huck sniffs the bear grass ... love it when you can see those white bulbs in bloom

Snow-covered ridgeline above 7,000 feet ... You can see forever up here!