Life in Idaho is pretty good. With our low population and extensive outdoor spaces, it’s possible to get outdoors and do things without encountering many people. Thus, we can maintain “social distancing” while also enjoying a rich life.

After virtual church this last Sunday, we decided to go on a trip. We got out to Avery Idaho, with the intent of seeing how far we could get on the Avery-Wallace road. It turns out that we cannot get very far. The road was closed right at Avery after the trash cans. It is only March 22; I expected that we might not get very far, but I expected to at least be able to go up some into the mountains.

Not deterred, we then looked for other areas to explore. We switched over to driving the South side of the St. Joe west from Avery, stopping for some lunch where Fishook Creek meets the St. Joe.

From there, we decided to heat up Fishhook Creek Road. Winding south up from the St. Joe river. Being this early in the season, the road is mostly snow & ice pack. It was plowed, but has many sheet ice or soft sections. I could see tire tracks where people would put one or two wheels in the ditch then have to get themselves out. The Ram is quite heavy, so I was mindful to keep it on solid ground as best I could, and out of the soft shoulders.

A couple miles up, we spotted a icicle wall. Snow melt coming down a rock wall formed icicles all the way to the road. It was impressive.

It was only standing under the ice that we could get a feel for the scale.

We then crossed a couple bridges continuing to climb. The scenery is spectacular, including one section where a tunnel was built.

Coming out of the tunnel, looking West, you could see why the road builders decided to build a tunnel rather than following the river. The creek had nearly carved a tunnel of its own in the surrounding rock.

From there, we were able to follow the river up until a junction of Lick Creek Road. From there, the Fishhook Creek Road was no longer plowed. We could continue on Lick Creek, but decided to turn around before getting too far into the wilderness.