Bradley N.

The Elkhorn B&B has, if anything, gotten even better since my last visit. Debra, the owner/innkeeper, has expanded her flock of goats and now is mastering the art of goat cheese and milk-making, selling her creative chevre combinations at local farmers' markets and offering advice to would-be artisan farmers (or wannabes) along with her signature ranch house breakfasts (think fresh eggs, hash browns, melon, sausage, and excellent dark rich coffee). She's also a fountain of knowledge and great conversationalist, and her elegant ranch home quickly feels familiar within the first few minutes of arrival (once you open the gate and bounce along the gravel driveway to the barnside parking). This time, I decided to get creative and took a sunrise hike before breakfast to the summit of nearby Council Mountain (8126 ft.) in the Payette National Forest. Admittedly, it was a bit of an adventure, with fallen Ponderosa pines (the good Samaritans have chainsaws in their trucks up here), black bear cubs, a great grey owl, kestrels, and a herd of free-ranging cattle, and I didn't get back until 11:30 am, so my breakfast was an early lunch. But the chance to see the mountains from an exquisitely rugged vantage point made the 12-mile morning trek worth the effort. The food and company that Debra provided after were most welcome. You don't actually need to do a hike like that to have a good stay at the Elkhorn (or bring along French wine to drink on the patio while watching the lightning and rains come in at night). You could just hang out for a while and soak in the hip ranchhouse atmosphere while goats, horses, sheep, mules, chickens, dogs, and other creatures wander about. It's definitely a pioneering sort of place - a 21st century version of a Western American classic, with WiFi and goat cheese included.