“Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.”
-From “Home on the Range” the unofficial anthem of the American cowboy written in 1872.
Looking westward, I could see the snowcapped majestic Sawtooth mountains off in the distance. In the foreground the sun was beaming off the rapidly moving waters of the Salmon River while free range cattle and antelope grazed in the adjacent green pastures. Canadian geese, sandhill cranes and an occasional golden eagle would fly across the horizon. It felt like a scene right out of one of those old western movies and I found myself in a tranquil state of mind humming the old cowboy song, “Home on the Range.”
The date was July 23, 2022, and my location was the sleepy outpost of Stanley, Idaho nestled at the foothills of the Sawtooth mountains. It is one of the most beautiful sites you will see anywhere in the continental United States. It is a scene etched in my memory forever and I have had the pleasure of seeing it each of the past five summers along with my Sun Valley hockey camp staff members.
I just returned from the fifth year of the Overspeed Hockey “Sun Valley Idaho Hockey Experience” summer camps. Every year that I visit I find another breathtaking view and this year was no exception. Between camps, we travel through the Galena Pass to Sunbeam where we spend a day with the wonderful staff at White Otter Adventures, whitewater rafting on the Salmon River. The rafting trip alone has provided some of the most amazing views of my life. That is where there is the view of the small outpost of Stanley that may be as beautiful a natural view as anywhere in the United States. It looks like a painting or a backdrop on a movie set because you have a hard time comprehending its natural beauty.
In addition to our annual whitewater rafting trip to Sunbeam, this year I took my first ever fly-fishing trip with some of our hockey staff, including Campion Ice House Hockey Director Chad O’Brien, who just happens to be a professional fishing guide as well. I have known Chad, a Johnstown native, since he was a youngster attending our Penn State hockey camps. His father, Toby, and I have been friends for over 30 years and worked many hockey camps and clinics together, as well as a stint together with the Buffalo Sabres. Toby operates the camps in Sun Valley, and I am fortunate to be a part of the Overspeed Hockey “family” that also includes former PSU assistant hockey coaches Celeste Brown and Matt Bertani.
When camp finished this year Chad led Toby, his father’s lifelong friend Scott Cyr, Castleton University Coach Kyle Richards and yours truly on the Trail Creek Pass through the Challis National Forest to Chad’s “secret” fishing spot. We are sworn to secrecy regarding its exact location. Suffice it to say the vistas were mind-blowing and the spot where we fished was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.
On my flight back east, I began thinking of some of the most incredible, breathtaking sights that I have been blessed to see in my lifetime. It inspired me to write this column, to ask you to come along with me on a journey and to think of your own magical memories of the scenery and vistas that you have seen that leave an “everlasting” impression on you and to dream about the one’s you hope to someday see.
For those of us who have lived in Happy Valley, we have been blessed with some local views that can rival almost any memory I’ve had from anywhere. For me personally it includes a sunset over Happy Valley from the Mike Lynch Overlook on Mount Nittany; standing on the sideline for a Beaver Stadium Whiteout game; going on a boat tour of Penn’s Cave; and seeing the Penn State campus from a hot air balloon. These are images that are etched in my mind forever.
What are those places for you? Which have you already experienced, and which are still on your bucket list? Each is beautiful and memorable in its own way. The picture is etched in your mind forever. Sit down after reading this column and make a list of the places that stand out to you and those that there is still time to see.
Coming from Western Pennsylvania, the view of the “Golden Triangle” of downtown Pittsburgh when you first exit the Fort Pitt Tunnels still gives me chills every time, as does when I ride the Duquesne Incline or drive up to the top of Mount Washington and look down upon the city especially as the sun is setting on the Ohio river to the west.
Family friend and Toby’s wife, Kate, believes these special memories depend partly on the people you are with and the reason you are there. For Kate, it’s Bielsa in the Pyrenees mountains of Spain, the Styria Region of Austria, the Columbia River Gorge, and, of course, as a matriarch of the Overspeed Hockey Camps, that same view of the Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho I describe above.
While we are focused on Idaho a few other images from my time there have left those indelible images including the Lost River Mountain Range as you exit the Challis National Forest, the view of the valley at the top of the Trail Creek Pass, the caves and lava tubes at Craters of the Moon National Park, watching and hearing a Porsche 911 go 231 mph on Phantom Hill during the Sun Valley Tour de Force (a time trial won in the past by State College’s own Butch Leitzinger, who holds the all-time record set in 2019) and watching the elk herd, 40 plus strong, cross Highway 75 in Ketchum.
What other memories stand out to me? In no particular order: hiking Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala; the view of Manhattan from the top of the World Trade Center; a hot air balloon ride over Scottsdale, Arizona; the Grand Canyon; the Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri; standing at the top of Mount Lussari in northern Italy; standing with my brother halfway up a dormant volcano on Maui looking out at the Pacific Ocean; touring the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor; watching Guy LaFleur and Bobby Hull play hockey at the legendary Montreal Forum; standing on Little Round Top at Gettysburg, looking across at Devil’s Den; swimming with sharks on the Isla Mujeres, near Cancun; Niagara Falls from the Maid of the Mist and the flowers at Niagara on the Lake; Arcadia National Forest in Maine; walking on the sands at Lands’ End Park in San Francisco; standing at the finish line of the Indianapolis 500 speedway. There are many more, I am happy to say.
Our good family friends Mitch and Rod Kirsch just happened to be out west in Jackson Hole, Wyoming when we were in Idaho. They sent us amazing photos of Mt. Moran in the Tetons and raved about the sunsets they witnessed. I asked Mitch about her “moments” and she sent me a photo from their first trip to Africa in 2014 taken off the Zambezi River, in Zambia, where they took a canoe ride. An elephant walked right in front of them, through the water, and they saw all kinds of wildlife along the ride. Mitch said, “It was calm and quiet, the only sounds were from the birds and the hippos in the water. It felt as close to the Garden of Eden as we could get!”
Personally, I hope to someday see the following in the United States: The Badlands of South Dakota; visit friends who live in Palmer, Alaska; Yellowstone Park; the Albuquerque Balloon Festival; the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Worldwide it would be: The Great Barrier Reef in Australia; Patagonia in South America; The Wailing Wall in Israel; the jungles of Kenya; the beaches of Normandy and the Allied military cemetery; the Galapagos Islands; Lake Cuomo, Tuscany and Florence, Italy and Sicily; St. Andrews golf course in Scotland.
So put down your digital distraction device and take a little time to make YOUR list. What are the sights that you would like to see in your lifetime? What are the sights that will leave everlasting impressions on you?
