Exploring Central Idaho (Crowdaho) in July

[turbodb]

We always seem to get our trucks reasonably level when we're out in the woods, but something about the level driveway we'd parked in made for an extremely easy night sleep. Or maybe we were just tired from our previous three days - gallivanting around the southeast parts of Idaho. :notsure:

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At any rate, we were up late (for us) when Ben @m3bassman opened the garage door at 8:00am - our planned departure time giving us plenty of time to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get the tent put away. In fact, it was still a few minutes before 9:00am when Ben and Kirsten loaded up Venice and Milo and climbed into the green truck, and Mikey @pizzaviolence got Riggs buckled into his 2nd gen. We were off!

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Our plan for the day was to hit a couple of spots that weren't in our Idaho itinerary the previous year, but that should offer some nice views and plenty of spots to enjoy a relaxing night in camp. Plus, they'd keep us close to Stanley, Idaho - where we would be picking up another truck each of the next two days.

As we headed north, it wasn't long before we reached our turn-off for FS-555 and decided that now was as good a time as any to air down. We weren't going as low as normal - since we expected reasonably well graded FS roads, and a bit of pavement over the next few days - but even taking the tires down to 20 psi would smooth out the bumps and make the trip more enjoyable and easier on our trucks.

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Aired down and headed up the road, we made good time - a requirement (we thought) as Ben had warned us that we had some 120 miles to cover each day - a very full itinerary! We were glad to be in the tail-gunner position - the hot, dry roads making for dusty conditions that we avoided as best we could by hanging way back as we made our way towards Deadwood Reservoir.

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It was just after noon when we reached the dam - no water flowing over the spillway, despite the high water levels in the reservoir. Still, it was cool to see the water rushing through the outlet tunnels, and as we took a few photos, we noted how run down the dam itself looked - at least compared to the larger dams we've seen recently on some of our trips.

Still working though, I suppose!

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As we cruised around the reservoir, I think we were all surprised by the sheer number of people we encountered. With the water levels high, there were fewer spots accessible around the reservoir, and every one of them was packed tight with campers enjoying the warm air and cool water. And the road - heavy with traffic - was a constant source of dust.

We eventually found a spot where we could pull off the road for lunch and to let the dogs stretch their legs, before continuing on - hopefully away from the hustle and bustle of this popular area. Our route took us east, through the Salmon River Mountains - a beautiful route with easy trails - thankfully relatively light on traffic, though thick with dust.

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Our speeds high, we made great time - arriving at Dagger Falls just after 2:30pm. A favorite place for boulderers, we found it interesting that the "falls" - really more like rapids - had a fish ladder along their eastern escarpment. This ladder, completed in 1960 allows migrating salmon and steelhead upstream over a distance of 175 feet, and at a cost of $107K.

A waste of money? Perhaps - or maybe the falls are more pronounced when the water flow is lower (or higher).

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Regardless, Ben, Kirsten, and Mikey enjoyed a Dagger Falls IPA overlooking the rapids and then we ventured upstream a couple hundred feet to check out a bridge into the National Forest Wilderness. The bridge itself wasn't anything to write home about, but we all got a good kick out of the sign posted on the far side.

Fair notice, hang gliders!

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This was a place that Ben thought we might camp for the night - but it was still extremely early and even here, we were going to be sharing the campground with several other campers - so we decided we'd continue on to find a more typical dispersed spot. But not before some shenanigans from the front truck.

Ka-chow! ?

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The roads through the Salmon's were mostly wooded, but every now and then they'd break out into a grassy field, with 360° views - hard to resist for a group of folks who were way ahead of schedule anyway!

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Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

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Exploring Central Idaho (Crowdaho) in July​

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[mightymo]

Idaho is probably my favorite state. Nice recap and awesome photos.

 

[turbodb]

Idaho is probably my favorite state. Nice recap and awesome photos.

Thanks! Here's another installment of the story - enjoy!

 

[turbodb]

Stuck in the Snow! Washington Basin

For most of us, the night passed peacefully. It was reasonably warm and calm, the creek flowing through the meadow gurgling rather than rushing by. I mean, there was that one UTV that revved its way by camp around 1:00am, but what can you expect on the 4th of July, really?

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Unfortunately for Mikey @pizzaviolence however, the action in his tent more than made up for the rest of us. Riggs, who'd been feeling a bit under the weather the previous day had an accident around 2:00am. Luckily, according to Mikey, it was mostly contained to the towel on which Riggs was sleeping - unlike the second accident that took place around 2:05am as the first was getting cleaned up.

Sorry Mikey!

Luckily, we were in no rush the following morning - we had only a short drive into Stanley, where we planned to meet up with Will @willhaman21 and Angie who would be joining us in their 3rd gen 4Runner for the rest of the trip - so we took it easy, everyone having a leisurely breakfast as I explored the meadow in my now indispensable Muck boots. Teeny-tiny eggs for breakfast anyone? ?

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We finally broke camp around 10:00am and hopped on the highway towards Stanley, Ben @m3bassman promising to keep the speeds slow given our aired down state. Apparently, despite his assertions otherwise, Ben's slow is still Idaho slow (where the speed limit is 80- vs. 60-mph) because I was soon left in the dust as I toddled along at 49mph.

No matter, we weren't going far - not even to Stanley - before stopping at one of my favorite views in the state, an overlook of the Sawtooth Mountains.

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Still much earlier than we needed to be, we decided to hang out - basking in the glorious views and plentiful wildflowers - while we watched the highway for Will and Angie.

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Right on schedule, or perhaps maybe even a little ahead of it, we saw their 4Runner cruise by and called out on the CB for them to give us a second to catch up. Begrudgingly - as you can imagine is generally the case when we run into other folks we know in the middle of nowhere - they did, and we caravaned our way into Stanley for a round of introductions and reunions, smiles all around.

A quick top-off of everyone's fuel tank and we were on the road again. While this first part of the day may have gotten off to a slow start, we were all looking forward to what the afternoon had in store - we were exploring a place none of us had ever been before, a place that promised splendiferous views and avalanche levels of excitement (literally).

We were headed to Washington Basin.

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Of course, we didn't want to encounter all that excitement on empty stomachs, so we pulled over just a few miles up the dirt road to explore a historic ranger station, and raid our pantries for sustenance.

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For 21 years, this station as worked by Bill Horton, who kept a daily diary of his experiences and chores.

June 23, 1915

Rode to top of summit to boundary Laidlaws sheep. Gone over this a.m. and came back to cabin for dinner. Supervisor Benedict came from Hailey. Rode over the telephone line we are going to build to Redfish Lake with Mr. Benedict. Stopped at Clarks and had supper.

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Grazing 6 hours</span>

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Redfish Lkae Tel Line 4 hours.</span>

Sept 11, 1915

Guard Gilman and Kaulter left here to work on the fire line and Redfish Lake trail. Rode up sheep trail to foot of Summit. Saw one band of Bill Newmans sheep going to Stanley to pasture. Saw a smoke on Jacksons reserve. Rode up there and found a fire. Someone had camped there and left their fire and the wind carried it to a bunch of Sprice timber. Rode back to newmans camp and got a bucket and shovel and went back. Dug a trench around the fire and packed water and smothered it out. It burned about 2 rods square and burned about 3 big spruce trees. Think it was a hunting party that left their fire as there were chicken feathers around the camp and automobile tracks. Think I have it all out as I can not see any smoke but will go back in the morning.

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Grazing 2 hours</span>

<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fire suppression 7 hours</span>

Hot and with little shade, our lunch stop was much shorter than Bill's stay at the station, and we were back on the dusty road - headed up towards Washington Basin's scree fields - a little after 1:00pm.

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As the miles ticked by, Ben came over the CB to let us know that he'd talked to a ranger who'd been up the road just a couple weeks earlier, and he suspected that we'd soon be stopped - not by snow, but by an avalanche that had covered the road. Before that though, we had a reasonably-sized (but not difficult) water crossing to contend with, Ben making his way through before I even pulled up to the end of the line.

Will was up next, having a bit of fun as we snapped pictures from both banks.

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Mikey followed, his 2nd gen on stock wheels/tires/suspension having no trouble at all as he piloted through.

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Deciding to have a bit of fun, it was at this point that I asked @mrs.turbodb to pop out of the truck and take over the camera duties. See, on our previous trip to Death Valley with Ben, he'd blasted through the Amargosa River, putting on quite the show. Now, it was my turn. I put it in gear and pressed the skinny pedal.

I didn't get going all that fast, but even at 15mph or so, when you've got the right depth of water, the effect can be dramatic. Everyone loved it, I think. I know I did. :mudding:

It wasn't far from this water crossing that we hit the obstacle that Ben was sure would be the end of the road - an avalanche that had flowed thousands of feet down the mountainside, carrying thousands of tons of trees right along with it. These trees - now over the road - were what the ranger had suggested might stop us in our tracks.

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Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Stuck in the Snow! Washington Basin​

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[Todd780]

Fantastic write up and photos. Thank you again for not just throwing up a video! Pictures accompanied by a write up are soooo much better.

 

[turbodb]

Getting High in Idaho

I went to bed hoping that our position on the ridge would result in some stupendous sunrise photos, but as morning rolled around, it was clear that ridges around us had been inappropriately placed by the Earth, and that all I was going to get was a little bit of orange on the horizon and a view of Croesus Peak out the window.

Thanks a lot, Earth.

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Like the previous morning, our plan was to meet another truck before setting out on our next adventure, but this morning we were set to meet much earlier in Stanley - 10:00am - necessitating a much earlier departure from camp, our last view of what had been one of my favorite camp sites coming just before 8:00am.

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Heading back down the hill, chatter on the CB was high. Ben @m3bassman, Will @willhaman21 , and Mikey @pizzaviolence were calling out all kinds of weird things in search of their buddy Kyle @KP907 on the off-chance that he and Nicole had found a place to camp up the Washington Basin road the previous evening. I turned down the volume and @mrs.turbodb and I enjoyed the scenery.

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Honest ranching here.

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We arrived in Stanley right on time, performing the same dance we had with fuel the day before, and then headed out west on ID-75, with a second, 2nd gen Tacoma now in tow.

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One might say "of course," but with several non-1st gen Tacoma's, it wasn't long before Will - who was now tail-gunning for the group - called out over the CB that Angie had noticed the rear tire on Mikey's truck was dangerously low. We weren't sure what caused it on the way down the mountain, but something had clearly started a slow leak, and we immediately pulled over to the side of the highway and set to work installing the spare - a quick change with the help of a mid-torque Milwaukee Impact Wrench, seen here working the lug nuts off by itself while Mikey lowered the spare and the rest of us just stood around watching.

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Tire repaired, it was time to get back on dirt - this time on Yankee Fork Rd (the Old Custer Motorway). That meant airing down for Kyle (and Mikey's spare), so we pulled over and joked that perhaps the rest of us should also let out a bit of air for what was clearly a gravel highway fit for Civic's.

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Driving comfort at an all-time high, we proceeded upstream, past millions of cubic feet of dredge tailings until we found ourselves at the Yankee Fork dredge - the largest in-tact dredge in the lower 48 states; 3-4 times larger than Tony Beets dredges on Gold Rush. Built between April and August 1940 (fast!), the dredge is 54 feet wide by 112 feet long, requiring 8 feet of water to float on its pontoons.

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Each of the 71, 8 cubic foot buckets, weigh in at a cool 2,000 lbs - capable of processing 26 cubic feet of material per minute.

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Active for only a few years, the dredge was in service until 1942, then out of service during WWII, and back in service for a few years until 1952 when it was finally shut down for good and eventually donated to the state of Idaho, destined to become the mining museum we were experiencing today.

Inside, two older gentlemen who had worked on the dredge were giving tours, and we soaked in the stories of the winch room, control room, trammel, sluices, and engine. As a fan of Gold Rush, it was - I have to say - a pretty cool experience!

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Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Getting High in Idaho​

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[turbodb]

Getting Even Higher in Idaho, Again

It rained on and off through the night, but it was warm enough that the tents dried off quickly each time it did. And of course, cloudy skies meant no sunrise - and for me, more sleep!

Having circled the trucks in camp, things were reasonably peaceful save a single growl from Venice at some point during the night. The next morning, Kyle @KP907 noted that he'd seen a coyote just a couple hundred feet from camp - the likely impetuous for the verbal warning.

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The on-again-off-again rain continued as breakfasts were prepared, and we all took advantage of a short break in the weather to get our tents semi-dried and put away before getting on the road just before 9:00am. As it turns out, our trip to the main road would be our last few minutes together - Mikey @pizzaviolence and Kyle and Nicole deciding to head home rather than continue on with the day's excursion.

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That of course meant that it was time for a final group shot - a shot that shows one truck clearly doesn't belong - Ben having trained his fellow Idaho brethren well. #ka-chow fellas!

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Now down to three trucks - Ben and Kirsten, Will @willhaman21 and Angie, and @mrs.turbodb and I - headed to a pair of destinations that would be the perfect cap to this wondiferous trip: Livingston Mine and Railroad Ridge.

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These were also the last two places that we'd visited on last year's trip, and if we're being honest, we had some unfinished business at the Livingston Mine. See, last year the mine had thoroughly creeped us out - our retreat initiated when a local resident scared the bejeezus out of Kirsten as they pulled into the camp.

This year, things would be different. and by different, I mean that Ben suggested I lead the way into the mine! ? Just fine by me.

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The mine was quite clearly just as weird as it'd been the year before. The paint may have faded slightly, and there might have been an additional "TRUMP" or two painted here and there, but by and large it was unchanged. Including the cairn field - it's meaning still unknown, our imaginations racing.

"Any idea what the names carved into the rocks might mean?" I asked over the radio, followed by an evil laugh! (There were no names on any of the rocks.)

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Last year, we never got any further than this - so as we pulled into what I can only call the parking area of the old mine, I was as curious as could be. And, as I pulled up to the front door of the main house, I had to admit - it was a little "off" - especially if you were named "Everett."

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We'd hoped to get a tour at this point - so we all dismounted and gave the crazy-people-eaters plenty of time to descend on us - but in the end, no one showed up. Eventually - knowing that the mine was still private - we decided it was time to move on, and we made our way out the way we'd come.

Along the way, we noted the presence of a 2nd gen Tacoma. Left over from the last visitor, or a sign that the residents were pretty cool? :notsure:

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We continued up the hill - past the old mill - the beginning of our 3500' climb falling behind us; our snow-capped destination in the distance.

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The climb - while high and fast at just over 7 miles - doesn't seem bad when you're doing it. I'm not sure why - perhaps the fact that the road is cut well into the mountain, or the fact that you're distracted by the views as you progress - but it doesn't really matter, because as you start to reach the top, everything changes.

Trees disappear completely. Mountain tops show themselves. It gets windy. And the smells are sublime - the wind carrying the scent of the tiny wildflowers quickly over the mountains summit.

But there's still 1000' to go!

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Getting Even Higher in Idaho, Again​

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