McCall/Payette Lake (Boise, Post Falls, Ketchum: sales, house, to buy)

[mistyriver]

We went down there for a few days for the first time to pick up our 1938 ChrisCraft from McCall Boat works.
They did an amazing job and I’m glad to have it home finally.
But if McCall were not so far I’d sell my house on CDA and get one on Payette Lake.
It’s utterly gorgeous there and McCall is a wonderful little resort town.

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

We went down there for a few days for the first time to pick up our 1938 ChrisCraft from McCall Boat works.
They did an amazing job and I’m glad to have it home finally.
But if McCall were not so far I’d sell my house on CDA and get one on Payette Lake.
It’s utterly gorgeous there and McCall is a wonderful little resort town.

That's pretty awesome. I saw one of their boats in a documentary and was blown away at how gorgeous they are.

[banjomike]

McCall easily rivals the Wood River valley for Idaho spectacular. It rivals the valley in being a hard place to live in unless you bring a lot of money with you when you move in.

But it's also a town where a business like restoring old ChrisCrafts can actually be a profitable business. A custom furniture maker, as an example, could do extremely well there, or in Ketchum, or in any of the other tiny towns here were the wealthy congregate.
The work has to be exemplary and as close to perfect as is possible, and the products have to be pretty arcane sometimes, but the high price of handmade high-skill work can be met, and there's a customer base to be found.

Some other items that Idaho is known for are extremely good handmade violins, mandolins, and banjos, architectural stone carving, stained glass, metal engraving, fine saddle making, and restoration work. One of the very best vintage sports car restorers lives in Idaho, where he specializes in German sports cars, mostly Porsches and Mercedes.
Handmade fishing rods and reels, knives, guns, spurs, and other goods all have makers who flourish here.

Our saddle makers are especially famous. Dale Harwood, Carey Swartz both have closed their books and can take no more orders, as their back orders are expected to take the rest of their lives to fill. The Hickman saddlery in Post Falls builds sliver-mounted show saddles that are fancier than any saddle that came out of California in the western movie's heyday.
Some of the saddlers, like Bob Schild and Dale, passed their shops on to their children and are now semi-retired, or have stopped and are fully retired. Their kids are now masters themselves.

Hand made still has great value here. The label now applies to agricultural equipment, especially the newest no-till equipment, and things such as combination track beds that can be used for hauling crops or livestock. Custom mechanical items that are used on snow machines, motorcycles, are made in small shops all over the state. Many of the major manufacturers come here to test their newest products on everything with a motor, and often adapt equipment modifications that were created here for their stuff.

I know, or have met a lot of these craftspeople. They all had to travel and exhibit their goods quite a lot outside the state to become known, except for a few exceptions. Many learned their craft as apprentices to an earlier master maker, but a few learned by themselves.

Almost to a person, and women have become masters as well, they all grew up in the life that surrounded their craft.

Idaho has always been a place where if something was needed or if something broke, finding a store-bought replacement was a tough proposition, so the item needed to be home made. Small blacksmith shops here still exist, and ranchers here still have a skiving knife in a drawer to make a new head stall for a favorite bridle bit when necessary. Or to make a toe patch for a worn cowboy boot.

I think that growing up in the craft is almost a necessity. They all knew their market long before they made a living doing what they eventually became famous for.

It's the antithesis of our modern throw-away life.
The goods these people make are built to last for generations. For as long as they are cared for properly.

And because the makers understand the use their products will be put to use better than any factory can, the stuff they make is superior in the field. They are worth saving up the money to buy them.

Dale Harwood is a great example of all this. He's a long-time family friend, and we own several saddles he and his son have made for us.
Dale learned his craft from a local saddle maker named Ace Neilson. Ace was local famous for his saddles going back to the early 1930s; my grandfather rode one of Ace's saddles almost his entire life, but Dale surpassed Ace in the craft as a young man, and took over his shop after Ace became old.

Over 65 years ago, Dale wanted to cut down a good Douglas fir that was on our ranch to use for making his saddle trees, the heart of a good saddle. My Dad let him take the tree on the condition Dale would make him a Mother Hubbard saddle, a very rare and expensive style that is seldom seen.
Dale agreed, and a year later, my father got his Mother Hubbard. I rode it almost as much as he did, and it was the easiest saddle to ride for range work, both for the rider and the horse, than any saddle I ever rode.

A rig that can go through a 14-hour day, 3 or 4 days in a row, when the rider's foot won't ever touch ground until the end of the day, defines an easy saddle.

A poor saddle can leave a rider so sore and his horse so crippled neither is any good after 14 or more hours of hard riding in rough country. So 'easy' is high praise for the guy who made it.

Dale could have purchased a factory-made tree at any time. But he understood fir, strong, light, springy, and hard-wearing, was the best for the purpose, and by hand-carving the tree so that all the pressure points on the horse and the rider were eliminated, his saddle would treat them both with all-day comfort.

No one who's never raised a blister from a poor saddle won't ever know those spots in the tree that have to be shaved away carefully. They don't know how the seat must be shaped, or how roomy a snug cantle has to be.

That's the craft. And those are the craftsmen. My father left us in 1988. His Mother Hubbard is now being ridden daily by his grand-daughter, and she'll pass it on to her son.

[dcisive]

I'd have to say thus far McCall is my wife and I's favorite retreat for a special occasion. We like to stay at the Shore Lodge and live it up in particular at times that are not high season and it's so nice and quiet and serene. Indeed beauty abounds up that way, and the drive is also quite sweet.

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

We went down there for a few days for the first time to pick up our 1938 ChrisCraft from McCall Boat works.
They did an amazing job and I’m glad to have it home finally.
But if McCall were not so far I’d sell my house on CDA and get one on Payette Lake.
It’s utterly gorgeous there and McCall is a wonderful little resort town.

McCall is supposed to be our not so secret get away for Boiseans, but the word is out.

It is beautiful and my favorite lake side town in the state.

[nowhereman427]

McCaul lots of snow and very cool.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

We came through McCall a few years ago on our way south. What a beautiful place! But we couldn't find parking anywhere, so we had to give up on having lunch there, and we just kept on going. All the way down the mountain we saw the Boise crowd climbing up the road at a snail's pace, one long, long line of cars, headed for their weekend getaway. Next time we visit McCall is not going to be during a weekend!

Misty, that's one gorgeous boat! Have fun on Lake CdA!

[jwest09]

Nice, but lake and town looks similar, and reminds me of the busy Big Bear Lake in California.
Redfish Lake has far spectacular views. IMO. But it can get overly crowded too.

[dcisive]

You think you've seen crowd you haven't seen anything yet. I saw some articles that mentioned if anyone has unreserved plans for a National or State Park or camping in well known sites think again. They are typically booked through Labor Day already. The droves of those that are wanting to get the heck out of town after being cooped up last year is unreal. RV sales are through the roof and some manufacturers are sold out of their allocations to build through the remainder of this year. It's a pretty crazy situation. Personally I'm not even thinking about heading out of town till after Labor Day and beyond at this point. I'm NOT a crowd person in the first place let alone a camper. My idea of camping is NOT being in ear shot of a neighbor so that's not my thing. I don't get out of town to be thrown into the crowds of party animals and loud families dogs and all.

I can't even imagine being near the likes of a Jackson Wy, or a Glacier Park at this time let alone campsites around the West. I guess I'm nothing like most who thrive on the crowds and mayhem. Oh well as they say to each their own.

[TohobitPeak]

Here are a few links to Outdoor Idaho episodes about wooden boats, Payette Lake and other Idaho lakes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/outdoor-id...ondrous-lakes/

https://m.facebook.com/outdoor.idaho...3416693160688/