Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho

July 12, 2022

After a short drive from Salmon through Challis we arrived at out next site where we had a choice of several first come first serve campgrounds (ranging from $5 through $10) as well as boondocking options (free).  We settled on a decent private spot in one of the $10 campgrounds where the pavement turned into gravel. It was kind of tight getting into our spot, and we needed to use all of our leveling blocks, but we finally got settled.

Our route was entirely along the scenic byway.

We had to use all of the Lynx levelers for this site.

No epic view this time, but the forest setting was quite pleasant and peaceful.

A tiny deer walked on top of our railing one evening! 😉

On Tuesday, we drove to the nearby Custer, Idaho ghost town where there were many interesting buildings. As happened so frequently in these parts, the gold mine birthed the town and then was the cause of its demise when the gold was depleted.

We also checked out an old gold dredge that was used in 1940s and 50s to extract that last bit of gold from a portion of the river bed after the mines closed.

Over the course of the week, we took a hike and a couple of bike rides, and spent some down time just hanging out around the campsite and wandering down to the river that was across the road from the campsite.

The road near our campground

One of the "dredge ponds" leftover from the gold dredging days

The Yankee Fork of the Salmon River flowed through the area where we were staying.

Rick picked up something gold and sparkly, but it wasn't gold. 🙁

Our main hike was a 3.5 mile out and back walk which sort of followed the West Fork of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River (got that?). It was pretty hot that day, so it felt longer than 3.5 miles!

We hiked through some previously burned areas.

And a couple of photospheres along the trail and when we went down to the river...

One of the rides consisted of 12 miles of random little gravel roads that just lead off to campsites and random locations off of the main roads.  One of them was a very sketchy road that lead quite high up a hill to a really nice campsite (for those that could get there).

The gravel piles are leftover from the gold dredge. Work to revitalize the natural river setting  is nearly completed.

Another pond created from the dredging activity

The sign reads "Unsafe Bridge".

Said bridge

Rick risking life and limb 😉

Old building tucked away on the other side of the bridge (sign reads "The Hideout").

And a photosphere of the road up to the nifty hidden campsite as well as one at the top - quite the view that campsite has!

Our second ride was 21 miles (out and back) along the Custer Motorway. In the 1800s, this road was a toll road used for stagecoach passengers and for getting heavy equipment to the mining towns of Custer and Bonanza.  This was a really nice gravel road that followed the Yankee Fork through the mountains.  This rated as one of our best rides yet.

A secluded campsite on the river that we probably could have gotten the camper to--if we had wanted to tow it this far.

The Custer Motorway mostly followed the Yankee Fork.

Julie's personal bike retrieval service. Or, Rick acting out his hidden desire to ride a 4-wheeler. Or, insert caption of your choice.

And some photospheres of some sites along the way...

Our  campsite had absolutely no cell service - so it was a quiet internet week.  We went to Stanley on Sunday and the library has very nice Wi-Fi which made this blog post possible today. There was an outdoor courtyard adjacent to the library that had free Wi-Fi and even electrical outlets!

The blog must go on!

Monday is moving day where we will be fairly close to Stanley which will probably continue to be our only source of internet (it is surprising the number of things we normally just look up all the time).

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