Idaho

Hi everybody.  I’ve been getting lots of e-mails and calls asking me what the steelhead run is looking like this year and what we can expect in the future.  So, I figured it was time to give you all an update. This particular update is going to focus on Idaho’s hatchery returns as they are the ones that provide us our fisheries and these are the fish most people are asking me about.  I am going to break this update down into two sections.  One will focus on the hatchery steelhead that are returning to the Salmon River and Snake River upstream of the Salmon (A-run populations) and the other will focus on the Clearwater River return (B-run population).  A-Run Populations (Upper Salmon River and Snake River) For those of you who have been tracking the dam counts, you are probably aware that this year’s steelhead counts at Bonnevi... Read more

A couple of hours working up 2,000 feet of switchbacks takes me from the valley floor to Alpine Lake, nestled in its cirque below Packrat Peak, and the smaller “frog ponds” just beyond. But it’s not until I climb the final mile, up to the crest of the ridge itself—well above 9,000 feet—and peer into the Baron Lakes Basin, that the scope of the rugged Sawtooth Mountains hits home. The imposing summits of Monte Verita, Warbonnet and Tohobit dominate the massif, rising above Baron Lakes, while Decker Peak looms across the valley to the south, and Braxon and Horstman fill the eastern horizon. From my ridge-top vantage, the wild beauty of the landscape offers mute if irrefutable evidence why the cognescenti, those mountain lovers lucky enough to know the Sawtooths, speak of them with frank awe. The cluster of 10,000-foot peaks in ... Read more

At 6:30 am we were out the door in Sandpoint, ID, and after a night of fishing, eating, and shenanigans with the awesome people that live in Noho, #idahome we were in need of... coffee and bacon.  I repeat; we were NOT looking for lettuce wrapped, spinach filled, egg white burritos; coffee and bacon. Only a few breakfast hot spots open up early enough for us in Sandpoint, one being Connie's, and a few others but this morning we were headed to the Hoot Owl. Not that it matters, but the Hoot Owl Cafe's background is a bit fuzzy. The building has been there since 1942 and was previously a drive-in... so I'll say a rough, 30-40 years. You won't find it online, but that's the info I gathered, plus I'd driven by a hundred times--and this morning, we entered "the owl." I'd have been really happy with coffee and bacon BUT good luck slimming you... Read more

In Sandpoint, Idaho, a diner on Cedar Street stands to contrast a world full of superfood filled smoothies and organic breakfast burritos- Bienvenidos a Connie's Cafe. We showed up in Sandpoint late the night before, after embarrassing Google Maps' estimated arrival time by flying up the road from our Mead, Washington store. We "closed it down" at the store with the management team, then headed downtown to Eichardt's Pub and Grill to immerse ourselves as much as we had time for in the local culture of Sandpoint a town we are lucky enough to do business in. Looking for more things to do in Sandpoint? Look no further. When we went to bed, it was to Eichardt's anthem, "No crap on tap," served up by our waiter. One of our great friends from Sandpoint, Calvin Fuller, recommended we meet early, 7 am for breakfast so we could get an early start... Read more

Let's face it- I'm a coffee addict, and, like many people up here in the Northwest, I've become spoiled with the proliferation of small, artisan roasters and coffee houses springing up everywhere. And I mean everywhere some towns up here have populations under 5,000 and you can find the best coffee in 100 miles in those tiny shops. Going out and discovering new coffees, and meeting the people that frequent those shops is one of my favorite things to do hence this blog. Below you will find a list of some of the best places I've had coffee (or had coffee from) in the Northwest.   But before you skim the list there is a bit of a selfish bent to this post, and it's this: I know this list is not exhaustive, and I KNOW there are some coffee shops out there that I need to visit. If you are a coffee shop owner, or you are a frequenter of an... Read more

The story of Glacial Lake, Missoula and the ancient flood that forever changed the landscape of the Pacific Northwest has always intrigued me. This landscape feature is in one of the areas we serve at North 40 Outfitters, so I figured I'd go learn about it, and see for myself. Several thousand years ago, a finger of glacial ice moved through near present day Lake Pend Oreille damming the Clark Fork River and creating Glacial Lake Missoula. Imagine a giant buildup of ice creating a glacial lake the size of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined. The pressure on the ice continued to rise until the water level reached its maximum elevation of 4,200 feet causing the ice dam to fail, exploding the water downstream at a rate of 10 times the combined flow of all the current rivers in the world, moving at speeds up to 50 mph on its 430 mile journey... Read more