Three Days of Camping and Music in Northern Idaho

Just got back from a few days of camping near the tiny busted mining town of Challis, Idaho. Every year, Challis plays home to the Braun Brothers Reunion, a music festival that features some great red dirt, Texas country, bluegrass, and folk bands. This year's line up featured the Turnpike Troubadors, Hayes Carll, Reckless Kelly, Micky and the Motorcars, Randy Rogers, Chris Knight, Black Lillies, and Radney Foster (to name just a few).

In my opinion, Idaho may be the most underrated State as far as beautiful landscapes go. You can't beat the weather in August, low 50s at night, low 80s during the day. This is our 6th year going up for the festival. We camp near the base of the Sawtooth Mountains, and the whole area is surrounded by National Forest. Coming out of Louisiana, the amount of access into the National Forests out there blows my mind. "Here's some badass mountain country. Here's a few hundred miles of dirt road, do whatever the hell you want, just don't burn it down." A lot of the folks that come in for the show from Boise ride their dirt bikes and ATVs on Forest Service roads most of the way to Challis. The Salmon River runs right through the area and it has great fishing and rafting. I've only caught trout in the Salmon, but understand that there are infact...Salmon in the river.

If camping and good music is up your alley, and you're as tired of going to Burning Man as I am, you should check out the Braun Brothers Reunion next year. Hike, fish, drink, whathaveyou during the day, and listen to some good tunes at night. Its one of the friendliest crowds you could ask for and the Idaho ladies are...well...they're alright, not much to write home about...but you're in the mountains, so, take what you can get.

The Camp



The Show



The Salmon River