We couldn’t resist the bowls at the top of the mountain and immediately dropped in. They looked like they’d be fun, but they ended up being moguls of ice and so our first run consisted of 20 minutes of knee pounding torture.
After changing tactics and switching to groomers, we stopped for lunch at the Seattle Ridge Lodge and were surprised to find pretty amazing food. My personal favorite was the bacon and brisket burger.
A funny thing about the lodge is that Meghan and I never expected to make our way to it. On the trail map the lodge sits at the top of Seattle Ridge, surrounded by green runs. As we soon found out, Sun Valley doesn’t really mark there runs like the rest of the country. These greens were some of the fastest steepest groomers I’d ever skied.
One of the chairlifts goes over a creek that had a pretty strong sulphur smell. Usually, that means there is a hot spring nearby. A google search led us to Frenchman’s Bend hot spring, just a few miles out of town. This time we wore our bathing suits, and on arriving saw a sign prohibiting nude bathing. That was probably the only rule on the sign people weren’t breaking though.
There were about 10 people in the spring, and we weren’t the only ones on a Mountain Collective Pass road trip. One couple was on a similar trip as us, starting in Utah and going to Jackson Hole. Another group was in town from Seattle. It was a fun crowd and a beautiful hot spring.
After soaking, we headed into town to clean up and get dinner. At the recommendation of Meghan’s parents, we stopped by the Pioneer Saloon for some prime rib. The place was packed and as we waited the other two groups from the hot springs walked in. Great minds think alike I suppose. We enjoyed some huge steaks before heading back to rest up for our trip to Wyoming.