We spent a total of four days in Idaho's Sun Valley, during the annual Trailing of the Sheep festival, and had a blast. Whether we were eating lamb, meeting ranchers, touring galleries and museums, or just enjoying the lovely weather, we kept busy and took a ton of photos. Sun Valley is certainly a photogenic little place.
Oh no. I've seen that look before. The crazed eyes, the tightly-clenched jaw. The obliviousness to what I'm saying. The nervous, darting gaze. Once again, cool, rational Jürgen has vanished, replaced by some sort of deranged photo-taking beast. Since none of my arguments are going to penetrate his ears nor reach his little brain, I don't even try and protest. Do whatever it is you have to do, however insane. Go get your damn picture.
Ernest Hemingway might have gained fame for his escapades in Spain, Cuba, Italy and Africa, but the final years of his life were spent in Idaho. He first came to the Sun Valley region in 1939, and was a frequent summer visitor for years before buying a house and settling down permanently in 1959. But he didn't stay for long; on July 2, 1961, he shot himself in the head in his Ketchum home.
Older than Vail, Jackson Hole, Aspen or Lake Tahoe, Sun Valley was America's very first winter resort, hosting celebrities, families and skiing fanatics since 1936. We spent two autumn nights there, basking in its classic elegance.
The day before the parade of sheep occupies downtown Ketchum, the nearby town of Hailey enjoys the focus of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival. The Folklife Fair brings the traditional music of faraway lands into the Sun Valley, along with activities and food. And in a nearby field, the Championship Sheepdog Trials are held.
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Along with the entire town of Ketchum, we were waiting on Main Street for a parade which was thirty minutes late. Just as I was starting to feel the first pangs of boredom: they were there. Thousands of sheep running, sprinting down the street, bleating and panicked and jumping over each other, trying to escape through the crowd, getting reined in by barking dogs, cheered on by screaming kids, and blessed with holy water by a courageous preacher standing his ground in the middle of the street. And then it was over.
History in Idaho began when the White Man discovered it, and that's that! Well, no, of course that's not true. But unfortunately the recorded history of Idaho does begin with the appearance of Europeans in the early 19th century. Everything prior is based on fossil records and legends. So, the known story of Idaho is largely one of conflict between settlers and Native Americans, and of the struggle to populate and live off some of the continent's wildest land.
