Sun, May 22, 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011

In writing my journal, particularly after a day full of unbelievable scenery, I am completely frustrated with my limited vocabulary and total lack of words to describe even poorly the beauty I have seen. – Donna Downey

Today was another day of rivers. Given the difficulty of the terrain in Idaho it makes perfect sense that almost all of the major roads follow a river.  Today we traveled beside a river all day long starting with the Payette and then moving to the Salmon.  On just a few occasions the road might move away from the river but it was only temporary and soon you were right back alongside.  And they are flowing mightily.  Tonight we are staying in Salmon, Idaho and our motel sits on the bank of the Salmon River.  From our balcony it is almost dizzying to watch the water flying past us.  But it will give us a wonderful background noise by which to induce some of that road trip “happy” sleep tonight.

Today was also another day of magnificent landscapes.  I simply run out of words to describe all of these views.  We were back in the snow again right before we got to the small town of Stanley, Idaho.  Stanley is known as the gateway to the Sawtooth Wilderness and there was still plenty of snow in the last pass we traversed before gliding downhill into town.  It’s a very small town and virtually has no one in it until summertime arrives and then it is booming with fly fishermen, campers, rafters, kayakers and generally anyone who enjoys the great outdoors.  But as is common in a lot of the high country May is known as “mud month” and so Stanley was very quiet today.

After lunch in Stanley we headed on toward our destination of Salmon, Idaho.  We had found a neat looking dirt road about ten miles east of Stanley to take if it was open.  There were several interesting sites in the first 12 miles of the road and although we doubted it wold be open after it climbed to go over a pass we had time to check it out.

It would first take us to the Ghost mining town of Bonanza, a gold mining town settled in 1876 about nine miles up the Yankee Fork of the Salmon river.   It reached its peak population of 600 in 1881 but had two major fires in 1889 and 1897 which destroyed most of the town and so the majority of folks moved up the road a few more miles to Custer.  Today there are just a few old log buildings remaining.

The next stop was less than a mile up the perfect dirt road to the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.  From 1940 until 1952 this mining machine ate up the river spitting out rock and salvaging gold.  It ceased operations when the mining company ran out of mining claims.  It was the largest dredge ever to operate in Idaho.  The last owner donated the dredge to the Park Service.  Tours are available but don’t begin until Memorial Day so we had to settle for a walk around the exterior. 

Just above the dredge was the Ghost town of Custer. Custer was supported by two large mines and has a number of the old buildings remaining.  There is a lot of information available on the myriad of old equipment and buildings and a nice walking path throughout the small one-street town. 

Just outside Custer, however, our perfect dirt road began to climb and soon we were back in the snow and the road became impassable.  We promptly turned around and headed back to Custer to walk around and read more about the town before heading back to the main highway and continuing our trip to Salmon.

About twenty miles from Salmon we spotted a bald eagle sitting in a large cottonwood on the opposite bank of the river.  We stopped to admire him and he cooperated by waiting for us to drag out the big lens and we got a few shots.  For some reason we decided to keep the big lens and camera out and it was a good thing because just a few miles closer and we spotted an Osprey sitting on our side of the river in the top of a dead tree.  As we pulled up closer to grab a shot we realized he was holding a trout and had eaten a portion of it already.  He also allowed us to get fairly close and although he fussed a bit he did not leave.  It was a great ending to another great day on the road.

As I mentioned earlier we found a great room right on the river and are enjoying a gorgeous view with the sound of the river to lull us to sleep in a little while.

We are well tonight and hope that y’all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger