Lars70
Observer
Onward... Day Four
The fourth morning broke with some moderate cumulus visible from our north-facing outlook, but otherwise dry. We gambled that the two-track descending the gulch below our camp would take us toward a road that maps and gps indicated would be more substantial. That turned out to be correct, but first we crossed some interesting volcanic terrain, rough enough to once again actually require the services of my Atlas and ARB lockers. Traveling due east, this route took us to a good graded road that descended towards the northwest.
Turning west, the graded road "upgraded" to pavement as we made our way toward Murphy Hot Springs and eventually, Jarbidge Canyon.
According to the stories, usetabe that you could overfly the Murphy Hot Spring runway and the owner would show up and take you to the now-defunct resort. The resort may be gone, but the runway isn't. Gotta try landing there someday (another hobby, subject for some other thread):
The descent into Jarbidge Canyon from the north, and the subsequent gradual climb up the canyon towards the town is worth the trouble. Jarbidge is just about as remote a settlement as you can hope to find in the lower 48. As we descended the grade into the canyon, the drops began to fall again, so stopping to shoot photos was not an interesting luxury. Not to mention that we wanted to take on fuel, and if possible, lunch. Lucky for us, gas was available at a rate that looks pretty attractive by late 2012 standards, and the lunch counter was open for business. We parked in front of the restaurant as rain began to fall in earnest, choosing to fuel up ourselves before topping off the fuel tanks.
I need a beer. Now.
Our plans were somewhat in disarray due to the weather. We were a lot further east than we wanted to be at this point, and it was early enough in the day that everyone agreed to press on. But to where? The planned route out of the canyon to the west had recently been closed due to a slide, which meant chewing up more time driving further north back toward Murphy Hot Springs before climbing up and out to the west.
A view back towards Jarbidge Canyon before achieving the plateau above:
The view forward made it obvious that we weren't leaving the weather behind.
The road dropped down to the Bruneau River, crossed it, and climbed Meadow Creek through the Mahogany Mountains. Rain fell continuously. By this time we had picked up weather broadcasts warning of a severe winter storm; the National Weather Service had a warning out for hunters and recreationalists (that would be us) to abandon plans (we didn't- yet). Of more immediate concern was oncoming traffic. Trucks like this get your attention, especially when the slick mud is making "keep right" an abstraction.
The cowboy driving the lead truck apologized profusely for making us wait for their passage. As far as we were concerned, we were the inconvenience, not them.
We prefer to avoid established campgrounds, but with weather getting worse, we agreed that a USFS campground with space available was as good as it was going to get for the night.
The fourth morning broke with some moderate cumulus visible from our north-facing outlook, but otherwise dry. We gambled that the two-track descending the gulch below our camp would take us toward a road that maps and gps indicated would be more substantial. That turned out to be correct, but first we crossed some interesting volcanic terrain, rough enough to once again actually require the services of my Atlas and ARB lockers. Traveling due east, this route took us to a good graded road that descended towards the northwest.
Turning west, the graded road "upgraded" to pavement as we made our way toward Murphy Hot Springs and eventually, Jarbidge Canyon.
According to the stories, usetabe that you could overfly the Murphy Hot Spring runway and the owner would show up and take you to the now-defunct resort. The resort may be gone, but the runway isn't. Gotta try landing there someday (another hobby, subject for some other thread):
The descent into Jarbidge Canyon from the north, and the subsequent gradual climb up the canyon towards the town is worth the trouble. Jarbidge is just about as remote a settlement as you can hope to find in the lower 48. As we descended the grade into the canyon, the drops began to fall again, so stopping to shoot photos was not an interesting luxury. Not to mention that we wanted to take on fuel, and if possible, lunch. Lucky for us, gas was available at a rate that looks pretty attractive by late 2012 standards, and the lunch counter was open for business. We parked in front of the restaurant as rain began to fall in earnest, choosing to fuel up ourselves before topping off the fuel tanks.
I need a beer. Now.
Our plans were somewhat in disarray due to the weather. We were a lot further east than we wanted to be at this point, and it was early enough in the day that everyone agreed to press on. But to where? The planned route out of the canyon to the west had recently been closed due to a slide, which meant chewing up more time driving further north back toward Murphy Hot Springs before climbing up and out to the west.
A view back towards Jarbidge Canyon before achieving the plateau above:
The view forward made it obvious that we weren't leaving the weather behind.
The road dropped down to the Bruneau River, crossed it, and climbed Meadow Creek through the Mahogany Mountains. Rain fell continuously. By this time we had picked up weather broadcasts warning of a severe winter storm; the National Weather Service had a warning out for hunters and recreationalists (that would be us) to abandon plans (we didn't- yet). Of more immediate concern was oncoming traffic. Trucks like this get your attention, especially when the slick mud is making "keep right" an abstraction.
The cowboy driving the lead truck apologized profusely for making us wait for their passage. As far as we were concerned, we were the inconvenience, not them.
We prefer to avoid established campgrounds, but with weather getting worse, we agreed that a USFS campground with space available was as good as it was going to get for the night.
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