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The spirit of Ernest Hemingway pervades Ketchum and Sun Valley, as it should. The writer lies in hopefully eternal peace at Ketchum Cemetery, joined by many of his troubled family, including his stunning but tragic granddaughter, Margaux.
If his ghost wanders the spots where he hunted and wrote and drank, he may well wonder what is going on with all those sheep that everyone in Ketchum and Sun Valley seem to be so interested in. The despondent author took his life in 1961, well before the Trailing of the Sheep, one of the most unusual festivals in North America, proved to be the sheep of things to come.
Officially launched in 1996, Trailing of the Sheep draws 50,000 attendees every October to Ketchum, Sun Valley and nearby Hailey to bask in the glory of eating, drinking, dancing and all things sheep. The festival culminates in the “trailing,” when shepherds bring their herds from the mountains straight through the streets of Ketchum on their way to winter grazing grounds.
The festival’s origins are as eclectic as its subject matter. Trailing of the Sheep began because some cyclists were irate about sheep poop on their tires.
During the early 1990s, the thriving vacation spot had created the paved Wood River Trail System. To connect missing pieces of the right of way, ranchers graciously agreed to allow use of some of the sheep trails that had been the throughway for sheep herds from mountain to valley since the early 1900s.
When the sheep traveled back and forth to their grazing areas, recreational users didn’t understand why those darned sheep were messing up “their” path. Local ranchers Diane and John Peavey thought it was high time these newcomers had a history lesson about the community.
They started small, walking a few sheep around town and stopping to chat about the valley’s rich agricultural heritage. Wouldn’t ewe know it, people loved it. What had been a conflict became a celebration. Just think what these folks could have accomplished if they had gotten elected to Congress.
Trailing of the Sheep is so vast a festival that it requires several days. Groups such as the Utah Hispanic Dance Alliance, the Boise Highlanders and the Oinkari Basque Dancers underscore the many ethnic groups that embraced sheepherding in the area.
The Lamb Fest portion presents top area chefs serving unique American lamb dishes such as Barbacoa Lamb Tacos and Lamb Bratwurts. The Folklife Fair includes demonstrations of sheep shearing, wool spinning and weaving.
At the craft show, vendors tempt with handmade woolen gifts and sheep-related items such as jewelry with sheep designs and knitting bowl pottery. Authentic sheep wagons depict the tough, lonely life of the shepherds during the summer grazing months.
The event also showcases four-course farm-to-table dinners, cheesemaking demos and cooking lessons. Several Ketchum restaurants participate in the American Lam Baaa-ites tastings event.
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National sheep dog trials pit the best sheepherding canines in the country against obstreperous sheep. Craft classes guide participants to create souvenirs such as a needle-felted Great Pyrenees, the shepherd’s best canine friend.
The Sheep Tales Gathering brings local stories and oral history to the forefront. A sheepherder’s hike winds through magical groves of aspen to view arborglyphs shepherds long ago carved in the tree trunks.
Yeah, there is a lot to do.
The main event is the Big Sheep Parade, with 1,500 sheep winding their way — guided by the shepherds and their dogs — down Main Street in Ketchum on their way south to winter. The parade includes historic sheep wagons and participants from the Folklife Fair.
After the parade, thousands from the audience join in the Trailing by walking a bit with the families herding the animals. This is definitely bucket-list material.
For 2022, the Trailing is slated for Oct. 5 to 9. Securing reservations well ahead of time is critical, because lodging typically sells out in advance.
The Trailing is just another reason to visit an area blessed with plenty of year-round charms, beginning with the jewel in the crown, iconic Sun Valley Lodge. In this spectacular location for world-class skiing and hiking can also be found a treasure trove of history.
The Lodge appears much like it did when the original American ski resort hotel opened in 1936, but accommodations have been updated for the 21st century, reimagined with 108 new and much larger guest rooms, many of them with fireplaces. A 20,000-square-foot spa, world-class fitness center and yoga studio encircle the massive heated outdoor pool perfect for a dip even as snow falls around you.
The skiing on 9,150-feet-high Bald Mountain is legendary. For beginners, nearby Dollar Mountain is eminently approachable.
A pristine ice skating rink adjoins the Lodge, offering people-watching opportunities during lunch, dinner or apres-ski. A robust schedule of special events, several of them hosted by the Lodge, keeps the area hopping throughout the seasons.
Shopping is tempting, both at Sun Valley Village and in Ketchum, easily accessible via a pleasant hike from the Lodge or a free and efficient bus system.
The dining scene is equally enticing. Although Ketchum is not large, it is well-stocked with great restaurants such as the Sawtooth Club, a Hemingway favorite. Many of the entrees are cooked over mesquite-wood fire in this American steakhouse that also presents wild game and, of course, lamb dishes.
Eleven miles away, Hailey, aka Idaho’s “Hometown in the Mountain,” lies at the edge of the Sawtooth and Challis National Forest. The town’s Friedman Memorial Airport accommodates nonstop flights from six major cities, making nearby Sun Valley very accessible.
It is not surprising the rich and the famous favor Sun Valley, for this Northern Rockies gem sparkles brightly, while also offering privacy from the limelight. At the grocery store, you might run into Jamie Lee Curtis. You could encounter Tom Hanks or Arnold Schwarzenneger strolling the streets or spy Clint Eastwood driving by the main drag of this celebrity magnet.
The stars have been drawn to the area since 1936, when Sun Valley developer Averell Harriman, chairman of Union Pacific, had a serious lightbulb moment. If movie stars, the influencers of the era, flocked to visit, so would everyone else. Harriman invited the likes of Gary Cooper, Clark Gable and Ingrid Bergman and the world started taking notice of his new resort.
Those celebrities of yore are long gone, but their faces remain on the countless photos that line the walls of the Lodge. Ernest Hemingway, present in several of the images, was a guest who decided to stay.
For two decades, Hemingway kept coming back. When not hiking, hunting and noshing with friends, he worked on “For Whom the Bells Toll” and “A Moveable Feast.” It was only a couple of years before his death that he purchased a home there, until then preferring Lodge Room #206 at Sun Valley Lodge.
Hemingway fans still flock to Sun Valley and Ketchum, decorating his grave with liquor bottles and cigars Papa would have appreciated.
The Duchin Room, Trail Creek Cabin and many of other nooks and crannies at the resort were favorite Hemingway hangouts. Appropriately, the Hemingway Memorial overlooks Trail Creek, less than a mile from the Lodge.
Hemingway and his wife dined at Michel’s Christiania Restaurant the night before his death. The Ketchum restaurant’s “Hemingway Table” offers a chance to bask in the vibes of the famous author.
Although Hemingway’s house is not open to the public, a virtual peek into the place is possible using the QR codes in the “Guide to Hemingway in Idaho,” a brochure available at the handsome and eclectic Ketchum Community Library.
The one-of-a-kind writer who embraced Ketchum and Sun Valley so fervently would have realized how special the Trailing of the Sheep is. He would not be the only one.
Trailing of the Sheep has been recognized among the Top Ten Fall Festivals in the world by msn.com travel, the Top 7 Fall Festivals by National Geographic, the Top Animal Festivals in the World and the Top 7 Fall Festivals by USA Today.
Few places in the world are as blessed as Ketchum, Hailey and Sun Valley, a fact that did not escape Hemingway. As Hunter S. Thompson noted when writing about Hemingway’s affection for the area, “in this congenial atmosphere he felt he could get away from the pressures of a world gone mad.”
Sonnenberg is a Melbourne-based travel and lifestyles writer.
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