Bruce Reichert: Ask any visitor to central Idaho, and they all have a similar story: that first glimpse of Idaho's Sawtooths.

It's something you don't forget.

Ed Cannady, Retired Backcountry Manager, Sawtooth National Recreation Area: True story.

We drove into the Stanley Basin on Highway 21 and came out in that view of the open wildflower-filled meadows, with the Sawtooth Peaks in the background, and I turned to my dad and said, "This is where I'm going to live."

Fabrizio Fama, Visitor from Sicily: It's kind of like living the movie, living the dream, be actually in this place.

It's like, I'm right here.

It's not like a fake background.

Tim Cron, Stanley Business Owner: Every photograph of the Sawtooths that gets posted is more people that want to see it, and it's exploded.

That's the challenge I think for this town.

And you want the town to keep its rustic charm.

Reichert: New visitors, new traditions, new challenges... so how do you preserve that unique character that is the Sawtooths?

Kirk Flannigan, Area Ranger, Sawtooth National Recreation Area: experience what I've been able to experience, and I want their kids to.

But I also want to preserve the character of the Sawtooth wilderness.

Gary Gadwa, Stanley Resident: The Wilderness doesn't care if you live or die.

But if the wilderness claims you, it's because you were there and you wanted to be there.

And I always want to be there and if I passed on in the Sawtooths, it would be an honor.

Reichert: We explore the allure of this distinctive mountain range, the Sawtooths.

ANNOUNCER: PRESENTATION OF OUTDOOR IDAHO IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE LAURA MOORE CUNNINGHAM FOUNDATION, COMMITTED TO FULFILLING THE MOORE AND BETTIS FAMILY LEGACY OF BUILDING THE GREAT STATE OF IDAHO... BY THE JAMES AND BARBARA CIMINO FOUNDATION, DEDICATED TO SUPPORTING PROJECTS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT PRESERVE THE SPIRIT OF IDAHO, BY THE FRIENDS OF IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION, BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

Bruce Reichert, Host: Imogene Lake, deep in the heart of the Sawtooth Wilderness.

This mountain range has been called the Gem of Idaho, and with good reason.

It's beautiful, it's magnificent, it's centrally located, and it's very accessible.

You can have a mocha in the morning, be in wilderness by nine, and back out for dinner in Stanley.

Hi, I'm Bruce Reichert and welcome to Outdoor Idaho.

You know, I fell in love with this country when I was about eleven, on a 50 mile backpack trip.

And you know what they say about first loves.

There will always be a part of my heart here, in the People's Wilderness.

The power of landscape... to influence our thoughts... to inhabit our dreams, our very souls.

It's all on display here, in Central Idaho's Sawtooth country.

Take a poll, and there's no question which range wins the beauty contest.

Some people have actually built a life around Idaho's version of the Alps.

The rest of us... we're content to sample the Sawtooths in smaller doses, pulled back year after year by the promise that this landscape offers up... to hike among the granite and the meadows... there are 350 miles of trails; To fish for trout in any of the 400 breathtakingly blue lakes; to test oneself on the golden granite of Elephant's Perch, considered by many rock climbers to be the best stone in the state.

Others prefer to just lounge around historic Redfish Lake lodge... a ready source of inspiration for photographers and painters alike.

Jeff Clegg, Manager Redfish Lake Lodge: I really humbly recognize that we're stewards of a very, very special place.

I really do think there's something about this area that is almost magical to them that they didn't even know existed.

It's just a very unique place.

You can get a 10 minute boat ride and be right in the heart of the wilderness area where you experience yesterday.

And there is a physical separation from civilization if you will, and all of a sudden you're right in the lap of the backcountry.

It is truly the magic of the place to see grandma and grandpa with these little kids and the freedom that kids have, and it's just a different place to come to unplug from the technology and feel safe about the kids running around and not have to worry about it.

Kirk Flannigan, SNRA Ranger: I think a lot of people's first taste of the Sawtooths is going to Redfish.

They're coming to enjoy the natural resources out there and the views of the mountains and enjoying time with their friends and their family.

But can it be the place for everybody?

And is that what we want when we go out to experience the Sawtooth Mountains?

Do we want to go around in circles looking for a parking place to go up on our hike?

Or do we want to encounter 80 to 100 to 150 people when we're out exploring our favorite places?

And then I think to myself, can the resource handle it?

Reichert: These mountains surely grab hold of Idahoans.

But they also lure people from, well, everywhere.

Alison Wood Barton, Hilton Head, South Carolina: We're here 'cause our dad and grandpa and great grandpa Al Wood's final wishes were that we gather together to spread his ashes on Cramer Pass.

I think he just wanted us to be in the place that he loved more than anything.

Richard Wood, Visitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Our last trip together was in 2001 in August and he was 75 at the time.

And then he announced, as my sister explained, that he wanted his ashes up on Cramer Pass.

And we did groan.

Alison Barton: Really?

We were like uuhhhh.

But I get it.

I got his plan.

I was on a hike on Friday and I was like, 'You did right.'

Ok,to Grandpa, guys.

To Grandpa.

Kara Birkenmayer, Hiker, South Africa: It's magical.

It's so refreshing, it's so eye-opening.

What has been really special to me, when I first arrived I just saw trees and mountains.

But then once you're in it, you see the most amazing diversity of plant life, you see these incredible wildflowers, these gorgeous butterflies, even just like little critters.

I could write a book about all the bugs that have landed on me almost.

Here, these jagged peaks are so dramatic.

Especially because the valleys are so deep and so we have these peaks right next to us, you know, it's very dramatic.

You really feel like you're in those crags.

And you're crossing the snow, which is exciting to me.

It's lovely looking down into these incredibly blue and clear lakes.

The scenery is very cinematic.

Reichert: Fabrizio Fama works as a video editor in New York City.

But he knows the American West from the movies he saw growing up in Sicily.

Fabrizio Fama, Visitor, New York: Being from an island, you go to the water all the time.

You go for a swim, but I never had a swim like this, with this background, great mountains where you see, like, the snow up there.

And it's just like a dream.

Thinking from an Italian point of view, we've grown up with all those films.

Views of endless fields, these mountains.

So it's kind of like living the movie, living the dream, be actually in this place.

It's like I'm right here.

It's not like a fake background.

Reichert: Mat and Rebekah Cain know the Sawtooths in ways few of us do.

The couple worked as guides for about seven years before purchasing Mystic Saddle Ranch Outfitters in 2016 from owner Jeff Bitton.

And now they spend pretty much every day each summer helping people access this land they've grown to love.

Rebekah Cain, Co-owner, Mystic Saddle Ranch Outfitters: We work with a clientele base that maybe would never see this part of the Sawtooths without people like us to get them in.

If people can't access these lands, they're not going to appreciate them, and if they don't appreciate them, they won't preserve them in the future.

Mat Cain, Co-owner, Mystic Saddle Ranch Outfitters: I think one reason we work really well together is we have the same values and the same passion, same love for Stanley and the Sawtooths.

We're both really hard workers and love the horses.

And like people and we get along pretty good.

She can do anything I can do, if not a little better.

She's a little more detail oriented, so definitely count on her.

The Sawtooths for me is really unexplainable.

I am never happier than when I'm in the backcountry.

Rebekah Cain: So our stock is the backbone of our company.

Yeah, I feel like I work with 50 really quirky people.

They all have their pecking order; they have their habits and things that they like and don't like.

You have to keep track of where they like to be in line, and this horse can't be tied up next to this horse.

I've met people that have traveled the world, and said the Sawtooths is unique.

This is one place that's just like nothing else.

All right, guys, bring your plates up.

I think everybody leaves our trips feeling like they get to take a piece of the Sawtooths home with them, with the memories of the trip because we make em feel so at home here.

The horseback users in the wilderness have shrunk quite a bit, and we don't want to be forgotten about, because horses and mules are what blazed these trails initially; it's a huge part of the history of the area.

And it's an important part of it.

And I think there's something just almost magical about seeing a pack string out there, especially when you're opening up a lot of these trails and clearing the trails that everybody gets to use, so that we can keep places like the Sawtooths around and usable for generations to come.

Reichert: Keeping all of us from loving our Sawtooths to death - that's been the job of the caretakers at the U.S. Forest Service since the 750,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area was created in 1972.

Kirk Flannigan, Area Ranger: It's hard not to say that we're not loving some of those places to death.

Can those lake basins handle 7,000 people on a summer season?

What will the future generations see when they come out and they hike up these popular areas to visit their most favorite spot out there in the wilderness?

Leise Dean, Retired Forest Service employee: So, I think, if we were to put a quota system, say, at Sawtooth Lake, we might see a spike in use in the next drainage, and is that what we want?

So, it's a difficult question, and a difficult answer.

I think it's critical that people do come here, and do enjoy the place, and do let it get into their soul.

And once it's really part of them, and they have respect for the land, I think that then they're a lot more interested in protecting it.

And we need that.

We really need that.

Ed Cannady, Retired, Forest Service: I really do feel strongly that's what we're losing most visibly is that Western ranching atmosphere, the open space character of the place.

Reichert: Ed Cannady spent 30 years in the SNRA, many as its backcountry manager.

His name is synonymous with Idaho's wild lands.

Now retired, he's keeping a close eye on his beloved Sawtooths and the Stanley Basin.

Ed Cannady: The solution would be for the people building those houses to respect and honor the public's interest in this place and build differently in different locations and be more discreet rather than these monuments to themselves that we're seeing sprout up.

Kirk Flannigan: And I understand that.

We try to find that balance of, you know, having that landscape wide open and beautiful and scenic and also working with private landowners and the rights that they have as private property owners.

Reichert: Each year tens of thousands of people visit the small town of Stanley, Idaho, and usually in the summer.

Their average stay can be measured in hours and sometimes days.

But one man can measure his time here in decades.

And unlike most people, he looks forward to short days and cold nights.

Gary Gadwa: I am a winter person.

I love the winters in Stanley because they're peaceful and quiet and beautiful, and the scenery is different every single day.

I get involved in all kinds of activities in the winter that keep me more than occupied.

As far as wintering in Stanley, because I've been here 41 winters now, I get a kick out of those that pride themselves, 'Oh, yeah, we're gonna winter in Stanley.'

And then ironically, most of em leave by about the time Thanksgiving comes around.

You can't just live out in the sticks in Stanley.

I've had to rescue people that tried that.

Some of them had frostbite and some of them don't have legs now.

When I moved to Stanley I died and went to heaven.

Why would you ever leave heaven?

I absolutely love it here.

This is what life is.

This is my experience in life.

Every time I come into the Sawtooths I feel like I'm coming home even though I live in Stanley.

This this is my home.

This is where I always want to be.

Wilderness is not forgiving.

The Wilderness doesn't care if you live or die.

But if the wilderness claims you, it's because you were there and you wanted to be there.

And I always want to be there and if I passed on in the Sawtooths it would be an honor.

Since 1976, folks have flocked to the tiny town for the annual Mountain Mamas Arts and Crafts Fair.

Held in July, the event brings together skilled craftsmen and artists, giving folks the opportunity to buy directly from the creators.

It's just one more reason to bask in the beauty of the Sawtooths.

Beauty that quickly changes as summer comes to a close.

And landscapes are transformed by a layer of snow and ice.

But for those who make this frozen town their home, that allure can dim as winter drags on.

Cabin fever can strike.

And when that happens, it's time to get out and do something.

Jason Bosley, Executive Director of the Stanley Sawtooth Chamber of Commerce: This is our 11th year of hosting Winterfest.

It started just as kind of a lighthearted party festival in the kind of the slowest time of the year for Stanley, but it's grown each year, and now it's become a premier event for the Stanley community [Singing: It's going to be the best dayof my life.]

Jason Bosley: It just has become, family friendly event and a good opportunity to come up to see Stanley and the Sawtooths in the middle of winter.

If you've never heard of an outhouse race, it's basically people build, some sort of port-a-potty and put it on skis.

There's a rider and two pushers and they race them down our main street and it can get a little heated because the space at the end of the race gets a little narrow.

I think our slogan is keep cabin fever at Bay or keep it away.

And so it's just kind of a, a good opportunity to, to kind of shake off any threat of cabin fever and it's a fun time to get outside.

Fortunately no one's gotten hurt, but everyone takes a little tumble.

It's just super fun and casual.

All the events, they can get competitive, but everyone's taking it really lightheartedly.

Reichert: Lightheartedness and good ol' fashioned fun are in the genetic makeup of a place like this.

Where entertainment must be created, rather than delivered.

And smiles matter a great deal more than skills.

[Oh my goodness!)

The exuberance is truly palpable.

[Hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it, yeah!

Reichert: And this remains true across town, in a place that's always warm.

It's filled with little humans who have no complaints about the cold.

Grady Klingler, Student at Stanley School In the winter you get to ski, sled, ice skate and every winter activity, snowball fights.

We haven't had those this year yet.

Reichert: For kids, living in Stanley means attending Stanley School - a two room school house with usually fewer than a dozen students-- kindergarten to 8th grade.

Ashley Baker Reese, Teacher at Stanley School It gets a little chaotic sometimes, but it's really amazing to watch the older students helping the younger students.

And really the younger students are listening to what the older students are learning.

Grady Klingler, Student at Stanley School It makes you not want to be selfish.

It's like you don't want to get dressed as fast as you can and run out the door.

You want to get dressed, then you want to go help the little kids because they need the most help.

Reichert: For a school located in a town considered to be one of the coldest in the country, you might be surprised that 'fresh air' is an important element of the curriculum.

Ashley Baker Reese, Teacher at Stanley School The kids are tough and they love it outside and it's neat to see them out there in their element.

Lisa Muscavage, Teacher at Stanley School The families here become our family and having the students year after year, we really get to know them and know their learning styles and know how to help them not only improve academically, but as humans and help them be caring, great, wonderful beings.

Grady Klingler, Student at Stanley School And I would definitely recommend this school because it's small enough to where you know everybody, but big enough to where you don't feel lonely.

Reichert: As the sun sets over the Sawtooths, the light doesn't just dim, it disappears.

[This is amazing] And a different type of nocturnal animal emerges.

Jim McMillian, Vice President, Boise Astonomical Society: Right now you can see with the naked eye very well Jupiter and Saturn over there.

Reichert: The amateur astronomer.

Caught -- in the lens of an infrared camera - gazing upward.

Jeff Creed, Amateur Astronomer: Looking at the night sky, you can actually feel that you're a part of the universe.

Whenever I look at the stars, I feel, wow, what an incredible thing to be a part of this huge galaxy.

Yes, we're small, but I just feel in awe.

Reichert: In 2017, 1,400 square miles of land in and around the Sawtooth mountains was designated as the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve-possessing exceptional and protected night skies... the first of its kind in the United States.

Nils Ribi, Photographer: What makes the Sawtooths so spectacular to photograph is that everything is different about them.

The ruggedness from every different angle, it makes it so challenging.

I can see the next 10 years of shooting the night and having a different picture every night.

And that's what's so fabulous about it.

Reichert: And with an increasingly artificially lit world where we spend more time staring at screens than savoring sunsets... A little darkness might be exactly what we need.

Dr. Stephen Pauley, M.D.

Dark Sky Advocate: Being able to look up and wonder.

The sense of wonder is so important.

I think it's important for all of us, but we lose it over time.

I think we get so much involved in our stuff.

And it puts things in perspective for me, anyway.

I feel humbled by it, which is good.

Reichert: Get-to-gethers called 'star parties' are common in the reserve.

Folks carrying telescopes, laptops, cameras and lawn chairs gather to share in the ethereal beauty.

Jeanette McMillian, Amateur Astronomer: and my favorite thing to look at is M 13, so it's a herculean cluster and it's a star cluster, and it's on the right side of the body.

So that's a deep space object.

Wow.

Yeah, when I found that by myself I cried.

I was like, I finally did it!

Reichert: And,for the humans who seek out darkness with an urgency that could be described as a 'calling," a return to the days of old and the nights of ebony, in the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, will -at least for now-- slow the evolution of artificial light.

Dr. Stephen Pauley, M.D.

Dark Sky Advocate: This isn't politics.

This is us.

You know, this is where we came from.

And it's so beautiful here that we just have to preserve it all.

And that's this part above us here.

Reichert: Spend any time in these mountains, and you know how quickly the mood can change.

The magic of an early morning sunrise...

The menace of a summer squall...

The gentleness of softly falling snow.

The Sawtooth mountains are an ever-changing kaleidoscope of faces and moods... that can even change you.

Betsy Mizell, Hiker: I am my best self out here.

I am so much kinder when I go home.

You're not distracted by your cell phones.

You're just here.

In this environment.

It's quiet.

It's real.

Ed Cannady, Retired Forest Service: To be in these calm, quiet places of immense beauty, and The beauty is what just holds you firmly in place.

And then the busyness, the negativity, starts to melt away.

And what rises to the surface is that primal connection with nature that we all do have.

Henry Thoreau famously said in wildness is the preservation of the world.

The more time we can spend in these quiet places, the easier it is for us to see into the gray areas of our existence, which is usually where the truth resides.

Reichert: Whether you are spending time in the people's wilderness, Or just observing that grand skyline, so accessible and so impressive...

The Sawtooth Mountains have a way of lingering in our mind, long after we head home... a powerful antidote to a troubled world.

ANNOUNCER: PRESENTATION OF OUTDOOR IDAHO IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE LAURA MOORE CUNNINGHAM FOUNDATION, COMMITTED TO FULFILLING THE MOORE AND BETTIS FAMILY LEGACY OF BUILDING THE GREAT STATE OF IDAHO... BY THE JAMES AND BARBARA CIMINO FOUNDATION, DEDICATED TO SUPPORTING PROJECTS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT PRESERVE THE SPIRIT OF IDAHO, BY THE FRIENDS OF IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION, BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

TO FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE SHOWS, VISIT US AT IDAHOPTV.ORG.