Varvel Family: Girl's Trip: Redfish Lake

Bailey and I usually take an annual spring break girl's trip, but she graduated from college, and was working full time, so she didn't get a spring break this year. We changed it to the 3 day Labor Day weekend instead, and it turned out perfect. We booked a room in the Redfish Lake Lodge outside of Stanley, Idaho in the sawtooth mountains. I drove to Boise on Friday to pick her up. I know, I know, we should have just met at the lodge, because it is right in the middle of us, BUT, the drive is one of the best parts. That's where most of our talking and catching up occurs.

The Meadow:

Our first stop was the meadow, on our way to the lodge. It's only a couple mile hike, but we took a while to find Dan's memorial rock. A few phone calls later, and we had it located. It was completely buried in the creek. We uncovered it, took a few pictures, and then hiked back to the car.

The skies were very smokey, so our view of the mountains wasn't great.

Dan's memorial rock.

Found it!

We spent the rest of the evening getting checked into our room, which we loved, and getting everything ready for our early Saturday morning start.

Sawtooth Lake Hike:

We got up early Saturday morning to hike to Sawtooth Lake. It was awesome! It was 23* when we started, so it's a good thing we packed for all weather possibilities.

We started in the dark with headlamps, and ended up in the perfect spot for the sunrise.

There was a beautiful, smaller lake right before we got to Sawtooth Lake. We loved it!

Our first glimpse of Sawtooth Lake!

So pretty!

We hiked along the shore to the end of the lake.

The reflections on the water were unreal!

Pictures just don't do it justice.

We had lunch at the lake and then headed back to the trailhead.

Redfish Corrals:

After our hike, we went to the Redfish Corrals to ride horses! We were both so excited! I think Bailey secretly wanted a high energy horse that was a little harder to handle, but we ended up on Pickles and Walter, and they were as mellow as they come. 😂 Most of the time I was taking pictures and not even holding onto the reigns.

Bailey and Walter.

Anytime our guide had to get off to help someone, Bailey got to hold his horse.

Can you tell how happy she was to be back on a horse?

Bailey-Walter-Tricia-Pickles
I'm pretty sure Pickles was sleep walking for most of the ride.

One lady in our group had an episode of sorts, and had to get off her horse pretty quick. Bailey ended up with the guides horse, and I ended up with the lady's horse. Good thing we know what we're doing. There were a few people with us that had never been on a horse before.

Even with the smoky skies, you can't beat those mountains for a backdrop while horseback riding.

The rest of the day we hung out at the lodge and the lake. Bailey took advantage of the downtime to get some homework done while we were there too.

We usually crack up at the amount of food I bring on road trips. I bought a frozen chocolate cake for the trip and put it in the ice chest. Best decision ever! 😂

Redfish Lake

Goat Lake:

Our Sunday morning hike was to Goat Lake. This is the most amazing lake I've ever been too. We loved it!

The temperature was in the 20s, so we didn't want to start off in the creek.

Bailey is not the most coordinated person, so this was fun to watch. 😂

The fall colors were starting to pop up!

So pretty!

Almost there!

Goat Lake!

The reflections on the water were crazy!

Seriously, everyone needs to go to this lake!

Redfish Lake:

After our hike we spent the afternoon at Redfish Lake. We kayaked for awhile, but mostly just sat on the beach reading, people watching, and Bailey got more homework done. We love this place. Bailey and I talked about how awesome it would be for a family vacation, so I booked an Airbnb in Stanley for our 2022 family vacation. I can't wait!