I wonder why they call them the Sawtooth Mountains? Can’t see the connection…. 

Here are some scenes from the Sawtooth Mountains and upper Salmon River Valley in gorgeous central Idaho, taken the day of the Monday, August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed the USA from Oregon to South Carolina. The eclipse occurred earlier in the day at about 11:30 AM local Idaho time, but I was elsewhere for that particular event. All of these mountains shown here were in the path of totality, which centered regionally on the small resort and recreation town of Stanley, Idaho.

Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) fronts this scene of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountain range. These tough shrubs bloom golden in late summer and early fall across the western US, attracting numerous pollinators at a nectar source that extends the season for their survival.

I drove past two days before the eclipse and about 8 or 9 hours after it, so traffic was not too bad at either point. Although judging by the numerous traffic-directing road signs and rows of portable toilets standing in empty fields near “Official Eclipse Viewing Areas” and reports that anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people would have jammed this normally quiet highway, I missed a bit of a zoo by going off into the remote national forest. Where our small eclipse-viewing group of five friends wasn’t alone, either – we had three additional people there too, one of whom I have stayed in touch with and who has also become a friend. The Sawtooth Mountains would be a perfect place to spend a future summer weekend. Noted to self.

Patches of aspen and coniferous trees dot the hillsides. This would be so beautiful in fall colors!

There were lots of rows of Porta-Potties scattered up and down the valley, in preparation for the huge influx of eclipse visitors. This was at about 7 PM, around 8 hours past eclipse time, and everyone had already gone home.

I was wondering what the eclipse crowd turnout actually was in Stanley, Idaho that day. I heard reports that it was significantly lower than what had been expected. But truth be told I was about 40 miles away to the west in the Challis National Forest with a handful of friends during the event. I didn’t particularly want to be in the small town during the eclipse proper, partly because of crowds and difficult parking, but mainly because the angle of the eclipsing sun would have been wrong with respect to the Sawtooth Mountains anyway at 11:30 AM. Nonetheless I was surprised to see relatively little traffic only 8 hours after the fact. There was plenty of activity still at bars, restaurants, etc but the highway was sparsely populated with cars. That was good since I kept slowing down and stopping for scenery pics.

Late afternoon light plays off of a different row of Porta-Potties a bit farther down the road. Enjoy these artistic depictions of portable toilets in a scenic wilderness, because the odds of me featuring this subject matter again are fairly minimal.

Some nice rustic wooden split rail fencing flanks the highway outside of the small town of Stanley, Idaho as the Sawtooth Mountains loom behind.

The Sawtooth Wilderness occupies most of the higher terrain of the Sawtooth Mountains, including much of the upper watershed of the Salmon River.  A most worthy designation.

Tall forests of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta, which seems like an ironic name given how ramrod-straight the trunks of most trees grow) and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) blanket the alpine slopes in between fading late summer meadows. Serene and gorgeous.

The sun disappears on the day of the eclipse. The moon itself would be within a few degrees of the sun in this scene, but obviously not visible due to the brilliance of our nearest star.

The view from the Bethine and Frank Church Overlook on Highway 75 in the Salmon River Valley below Galena Pass, Idaho. Sunset colors due to abundant wildfire smoke from neighboring states.

Zoomed-in photo of the smoky sunset taken on Friday Aug 19, 2017 from the same overlook as above. The pullout lies below Galena Pass, which holds the highest paved road in Idaho at almost 9000 feet high. Lots of wildfires in Oregon and Washington led to this coloration and also led to hazy viewing of the eclipse itself two days later. The eclipse itself is handled in a separate post.