2021 Idaho Trip. July 22nd-August 7th

That night I slept better than I have in a long time!
Not sure if it was because of how exhausted I was? Or if it was the decently-comfortable bed? Or that relaxed feeling you get when you know you don't have to worry about work, or the daily grind of life in general the next day? Whatever it was, it was a great sleep!

A little bit about the Cabin.
It's at "Adams Ranger Station" and is rentable via Recreation.gov. I had booked this way back in January.
The cabin has no power or water, so you have to bring your own. It does have a couple propane powered lanterns, and a propane stove/oven that are plumbed to a tank hidden somewhere.
There were just two of us, but it will sleep 8 I think? Ron slept downstairs on the Futon, and I took the Double-bed upstairs in one of the bedrooms.





There is also another bedroom upstairs with two twin-beds, plus another one downstairs with a single bed in it.
There was a spare twin mattress in the closet that you could put on the floor anywhere. Lots of space.







There was a Pantry-cabinet that was stocked with various canned-goods and emergency supplies, but we left it alone.

Wood-stove for heat in the colder months.
The Cabin is well insulated, and holds temperature very well regardless of the temp changes outside.



There was a Vault-toilet outside a short walk from the cabin itself, which was surprisingly very clean!

I wouldn't have left the porch.

Day-3, Saturday July 24th
170 Miles



We both slept-in as late as we wanted to, and I want to say that it was almost 9am when I finally went downstairs to make myself some coffee.
Neither of us had any sort of plan for today, or destination for the end of the day. (the Cabin that I had booked for tonight was the one that got cancelled due to a fire-closure)
We took our time, sat out on the porch eating breakfast that we had packed, and then slowly packed our gear and stuff onto the bikes.



We enjoyed the cool morning as long as we could.



It wasn't until I had already loaded my bike that I noticed my left fork-seal was weeping a bit of fluid.
While Ron was getting his bike ready, I used my Seal-Mate tool and cleaned out some grit out of both the fork-seal and the dust-seal.
It worked once again, cause it never leaked any more fluid during the entire rest of the trip!

Once we got rolling we headed north on dirt to meet up with Hwy-14. I forgot to turn on the tracking app, so I missed the first 10 miles of route.
We hit pavement and tore off heading east towards Elk City at a pretty fast pace...........as fast as we dared with heavily loaded bikes.
Lots of fast sweepers and some tighter curves mixed in. We were having fun now!

The smoke seemed heavier along this stretch, and it seemed like hardly any time had passed as we rolled into Elk City.
We figured we should get some lunch, so we looked for a place as we cruised the length of the town.
We ended up stopping into a Burger place (can't remember what it was called)
It was pretty darn good though.


After lunch we headed back west down Hwy-14 at an equally fast clip.
There was not much traffic for a Saturday, and we only had to pass other vehicles a few times along the whole length.
We turned up Mt Idaho Grade Rd, which is a pretty steep climb out of the Canyon, and rode into Grangeville to get fuel.

After fuel, we originally started heading south on US Hwy-95, but then decided to avoid the hotter temps and head back up to Grangeville to ride south through the higher forest.
We turned south on Grangeville-Salmon Road and it was an enjoyable winding ride through the trees.
At one point there was a pickup-truck coming the opposite way, flashing their headlights at us.
We figured out why, at the next side-road there was a Moose standing in the road just off the intersection. (no pictures of said Moose)

Eventually we rode past the Adams Ranger Station where we started our day, and continued on as the road turned into Florence Rd.
We made a stop to check out the old Florence Cemetery as we continued south.









From here, the plan was to continue heading south towards the Salmon River and try to find a suitable place to camp along the way.
We both preferred to camp at a higher elevation than the heat of the valley, so we would hopefully find a spot before dropping down to the river.
It turns out there was an ideal place only a few miles down the road!

We rolled into the site, and set up our camp.





The Campsite even came complete with Lawn Decoration..................



We settled in and enjoyed the evening with some Whiskey, Wine, Dinner, some music, and a sky filled with stars!

At some point in the middle of the night, I heard twigs snapping and some rustling in the trees a short distance from my tent. I assumed it was a Deer, as it did not come near our campsite.

Here's a short "Relive" video of our route today.
Stay Tuned!

Day-4, Sunday July 25th.
264 Miles



After we woke up, we decided to forego making breakfast at Camp. It was decided we would stop at a little cafe in Riggins.
We quickly packed up and got ready to continue down the mountain towards the River.
As we were readying ourselves, a rider came by on a new T7 headed the opposite way. That was the first person or vehicle we had seen since setting up camp the day before.

Cap'n Ron heading down the road ahead of me.


It was a nice, cool, beautiful ride down through the forest!





Epic scenery on the way down, although still a bit smoky.


After zig-zagging down the valley, we headed west along the Salmon River into Riggins.
We ate a nice breakfast at the River-Rock Cafe, and then went next door for fuel.
Then it was a pavement-grind to our next Campground destination.
We rode south on US Hwy-95 for awhile, then turned on ID-55 and continued south through McCall towards Banks, where we took Banks-Lowman Rd east.
It was quite warm once again as we navigated the twists and turns. We made a quick stop in Lowman, and Ron topped up with fuel at Lowman-Mercantile.
I wasn't close to needing fuel yet, so I chose to sit in the shade and chat with a couple older gentlemen who were also taking respite from the heat. One was riding a KTM and the other one was riding a Husqvarna 701. They claimed they were riding the IDBDR with another group, and chose to break off and ride some pavement for awhile. The ruggedness and the hotter temps were getting to them.............
I wished them well as we departed, and continued on ID-21.

We didn't have far to go at this point, and the road steadily climbs in altitude and the temps got cooler as we headed east.
It wasn't long before our turnoff to Bull Trout Lake, and it was an easy 2-mile dirt ride in to our Campsite.

It was a spacious "Double-Site" that I booked back in January. This would have been the day that we met up with our Canadian friends, had they been able to cross the border.
There would have been plenty of room for all four of us, but alas..............................it was just us two.
We set up Camp, and positioned our tents away from each other (mostly so Ron would be farther from my snoring)



After setting up, I rode the 25-miles or so into Stanley to top up my fuel tank, get some groceries, and some ice.
I also picked up a couple 6-packs of some adult beverage, since we would be Base-Camping at Bull-Trout for the next three nights. The General-Store in Stanley didn't have much to choose from, but I found a couple suitables.

The views of the mountains were a bit smoky.
I can see why they are called the "Sawtooth" Mountains!

I arrived back at Camp with the goods.
We settled in to a decent dinner with some Salad, some fresh Strawberries, and some backpacker meals.






An empty Bumot hard-case makes a leak-proof ice chest!





I had a couple decent Double-IPA's to finish off the evening!



Here's the "Relive" video of our route today.
Stay Tuned!

Thoroughly enjoying this trip report, always good to see such stuff from across the pond. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post.

Great narrative and pictures . . . thanks for taking the time to post these.

RE: "Tank-Bag would hold my 3-liter Camelbak Bladder " - does this bag have an integrated hydration bladder or do you just borrow one from your Camelback? What model bag?

robp said:

Great narrative and pictures . . . thanks for taking the time to post these.

RE: "Tank-Bag would hold my 3-liter Camelbak Bladder " - does this bag have an integrated hydration bladder or do you just borrow one from your Camelback? What model bag?

Click to expand...

The Tank-Bag is the SW-Motech "City-Pro" tank-lock Bag. It's the newest version of their "Tank-Lock" system.
It does not come with any sort of hydration bladder. I simply bought a Camelbak bladder separately and use it inside the tank-bag.

This is the bladder I use:
https://www.camelbak.com/recreation/reservoirs/CB-1232.html?dwvar_CB-1232_color=Blue

Boris said:

Thoroughly enjoying this trip report, always good to see such stuff from across the pond. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post.

Click to expand...

Glad you guys are enjoying it........................It gets better!

robp said:

. . . . does this bag have an integrated hydration bladder or do you just borrow one from your Camelback? What model bag?

Click to expand...

Any bladder will work. You can get generic bladders at Wally World for about $15. I used to have a Geigerrig bladder in my CamelBak carrier. I prefer the Geigerrig due to the huge opening for easy filling. It can also be pressurized, but I never did. But, I wore the CamelBak instead of carrying it in a saddlebag. It was easier access, and I got used to the feel.

I loved my time in Stanley, beautiful area.

what's the deal on the exhumed Chinese graves ? racially creepy I'm thinking.

Madhatter said:

what's the deal on the exhumed Chinese graves ? racially creepy I'm thinking.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure?
There were a bunch of pits where bodies used to be.
Could be they moved them somewhere else? Or they did not want them buried near the other non-Chinese people?
Seems disrespectful, but times certainly were different back then...................

edit: I just read up on it a little bit. It appears that Relatives of the Chinese people who were buried there had the remains dug up and sent back to China for re-burial.

Interesting stuff history.

Day-5, Monday July 26th
177 Miles




Since we would be camped in the same place for three nights, this would be the first day that we would be able to ride without the burden of carrying all our camping supplies and luggage.
I typically ride with a smaller tail-bag when I'm out on day-rides, and is the reason that I brought it along on this trip.

The plan for today was some mining-history, sightseeing, and some dirt to complete a mild loop.
After a relaxing morning and some breakfast at camp, we geared-up and headed out for the day.

It was a fairly quick ride into Stanley, where we continued east on ID-75 along the Salmon River.
This was a fast-flowing road with wide sweeper curves, and we were happy not to have all our luggage attached.

We reached Sunbeam, and turned north on Yankee Fork Road.
This quickly becomes a wide, smooth, gravel road, and soon you are passing mile after mile of large crescent-shaped piles of rock on both sides of the road as you ride farther up the canyon.

We turned off to explore what is left of the old mining-town of Bonanza.
We did ride back to where the Cemetery is, but decided not to wander this one today....................We had a date with a Monster, a short distance away!







Just up the road from Bonanza is the Machine we really came to see....................The Yankee Fork Dredge!





This thing is absolutely HUGE, and is basically a 5-story tall floating earth-processing plant!
It is the Machine that is solely responsible for the miles and miles of rock-piles that extend all the way down the valley from here.
Today it sits exactly where it stopped moving in 1953.




We were happy to find it open for tours, and staffed with a few members stationed throughout to explain how the thing worked.

This is how much ONE bucket weighs!




There are 71 of these all linked together to form one giant "Bucket-Chain"



This is the "Business-end" of the Machine, and was capable of digging to a depth of 30-feet underneath itself!

I originally thought that this Dredge, and others like it floated IN the river and moved upriver during operation...............................This is actually NOT the case.
How it was explained to us is:

They first dug a huge pit, somewhere next to the River. Then they assembled the pontoons and built the entire Dredge in the pit.
They then tapped into the River to fill the pit with water, creating a Pond.
Next, they sealed-off the pond from the River and never touched the River again.
During dredging operations the whole Pond moved up the valley as the digging happened in front of the machine and rocks and earth were deposited behind the machine. The Dredge was anchored to shore on either side with Cables as winches moved it side-to-side to dig one end of the Pond. It pivoted on a huge Spike, called a "Spud" that was lowered into the bottom of the Pond at the back. Rocks were sent up the Conveyor at the rear, and as the machine pivoted back and forth, created the crescent-shaped piles all the way up the Valley. Dirt and smaller material was simply dumped into the pond behind the Machine.

The rear conveyor, or "Stacker". You can also see the "Spud" hanging from cables at the back of the Machine.

Winch Operator's station.




This interesting device was mounted on the wall in the Winch-operator's Room.
No-one could tell me exactly what it monitored?
I assumed it was Bucket-Depth, but nobody knew.................


This is what turns the whole Bucket-Chain.

I can only imagine how much this whole operation inside the Dredge must have been a very dirty and noisy place to be!



We were told that there is plenty of Gold in the rock-piles all along the valley, as they discarded anything larger than 3/8" to 5/8" out the back and up the Stacker.
They were mostly interested in collecting the fine Gold flakes and dust.




Sluice Boxes on one side.


It's Diesel-Electric! Just like today's modern Rail-Locomotives.






The Electricity end.
Two 440-Volt Generators powered the whole Dredge.

This was a Rod-Bearing from one of the Crankshaft Journals.








Somebody would actually climb out on this thing to "Oil" it during operation!

While we were there conversing with the people staffed onboard, I asked what the largest single section of structure was during assembly. We were told it was the "Spud".
It arrived by truck in one piece!

During its time in operation, the Dredge is on record as having produced around $1,200,000 worth of Gold in 1940's money. We were told that would be around $75-Million in today's Dollars.
This figure is what was recorded "On the Books". We were also told that back then it was illegal to own Gold privately in the US, and the Snake River Mining Company was forced to sell whatever they recovered to the US-Government for a market-price.
The Business was an "International" Company, and there are stories of Gold being molded and painted to look like Tools or machine-Parts, and then shipped overseas. Nobody really knows how much Gold might have been recovered throughout its operating history.

We spent a few moments walking around and exploring this old Crane that was parked nearby.
No signs about what its purpose was, but it looked to have been parked about as long as the Dredge had.




After leaving the site, we continued north on Yankee Fork Rd.
Eventually it becomes the Custer Motorway, and was a fast dirt Rollercoaster.
There was hardly any traffic. I was having a blast, pushing the bike pretty good, and was happy to be riding with no luggage.
I thought to myself "This is what I bought this Bike for!" I'm having fun now!

In no time at all we arrived at the town of Challis.
We stopped to have a late lunch at the RoadHouse Bar and Hotel. I had the Bronco-Burger.
After cooling off at our lunch stop, we topped up the bikes with fuel and made our way south out of town.
We turned onto ID-75 and rode along the Salmon River once again back into Stanley, where I grabbed a couple more bags of ice before riding back to Camp.

Once we returned to Base, it was "Laundry Day"
The Campground had a hand-pump water filling station, and I brought a small container of laundry-detergent with me.
A Bumot side-case makes a great Wash-Tub!


Some Paracord for a drying line.


She's becoming a dirty-girl, but I love her!



One thing I learned today: My Tail-Bag holds two 5-lb bags of Ice!

Here's the "Relive" video of our route today.
Stay Tuned!