OF BACKROADS, CUTTHROATS AND SNOW

Day 33, 2015-05-23

We took the advice of our host Vic and a couple of girls that work the restaurant and drove some of the back roads today.  From North Fork, we took National Forest Road 30 (NF 30) through Shoup, ID all the way to the end of the road at Corn Creek.  This road runs alongside the Salmon River.  The first 10 miles or so are paved, the remainder is graded or worse.  The drive and views were breathtaking. 

This part of the river is known for rafting and kayaking – the little sit-in kind, not the big flat water boats like ours – so no, we didn’t try it – much to the delight of Emily, the Forest Ranger at Corn Creek who thought we might be dumb enough to try it.  We were lucky enough to find the confluence of the Middle Fork of the Salmon and the main river just as some floaters came by.  We were able to watch them do some of the rapids just downriver from there. 

On the way back we took a side road up Panther Creek to some hot springs.  We saw an elk along the way with a tracking collar of some sort. Not sure what that is all about, but I’ll try to find out.  But the real adventure was this dirt road.  Many switchbacks, a climb of about 1,000 feet and hot springs at the end.  We parked at the end of the road, then took a trail through the woods to find the springs.  Well worth the effort.

This is a makeshift "Sweat Lodge" erected directly above the hot spring.

Tonight, I discovered Bertram Brewery (Salmon, ID) Mt. Borah Brown.  I had more than one.  116 (5034)

Day 34, 2015-05-24

Today was an “off day”.  We were tired of being in the truck so we just hung around the campground and took care of some stuff on the internet and made some trip planning decisions.  Oh, I also made the short trip into the local store and purchased some small leaders and worms, which I promptly turned into a Cutthroat Trout in the stream that runs through the campground.  This little beauty was released unharmed. 10 (5,044)

Day 35, 2015-05-25

We went 4-Wheelin’ today.  At the suggestion of the ranger, we took off up Fourth of July Creek Road toward the Stein Mountain Lookout.  Starting from 3500 feet we climbed to 7200 on mostly steep gravel switchbacks.  At that point we encountered deeper snow than we were willing to risk.  The fun part was backing down far enough to find a place to turn around.  We were still some ways from the summit.  Wish we could have gone all the way as it looked like the views would have been gorgeous.  70 (5,114)

The way up

Snow – No Other Tracks – We decided not to try it.

The way down