REST DAY
We
returned to highway 75 along the Salmon River and started looking for a
campground. The East Fork campground has
only a few small trees, and looked very hot and
unappealing. The Holman Creek Campground
had some ok spots near the highway, but the nicer sites farther upstream away
from the road were all full. We decided
that it would be our “safety” campground.
If we couldn’t find anything better, we would double-back there. Upper and Lower O’Brien were both full. We actually found a vacant, free spot along
the road a bit before Sunbeam Hot Springs.
We were going to take it, but we were nervous about leaving our camping
gear there next to the road. We would be
spending two nights, and would likely be away from camp both Friday evening and
much of the day on Saturday. Ultimately we decided against taking that risk.
I
figured that everything closer to Stanley would be full as well, so we drove up
Yankee Fork Road. The Blind Creek
Campground was cheap and decent, and there were a couple of vacant spots. The campsite was ok, with lots of hammocking
options, but it was very close to a surprisingly busy road. One of the sites closer to the river would’ve
been quieter, but those were all full.
We were getting tired of hunting for a spot, so we settled for one close
to the road.
We
set up camp and then drove back towards Clayton to the Sawmill Station for
dinner. We had stopped there earlier in
the trip, and were a little surprised at how nice the place was. They also had the cheapest gas around, and
there was surprisingly good cell service there.
They had a couple of draft beers, and even more surprising, some gluten-free
options on their limited menu.
We
got wings and burgers, along with beer for me and wine for Christy. We over-ordered, as we often do after a long,
tough backpacking trip, and I ended up having most of the burger later on. The food wasn’t great, but it was good
enough! We hung out there for a while,
before buying beer and ice for the cooler.
We headed back to camp that evening, and slept well once traffic died
down.
We
tried to sleep in the next morning, but that wasn’t possible once traffic
picked up. After breakfast, we drove
down to Sunbeam Hot Springs. The hot
spring is above the road, but the hot water runs through a
pipe under the highway and into the Salmon River. The spring water is far too hot for
bathing. The trick here is finding a
spot with the right mix of cold river water and hot spring water. When the river is high, this isn’t possible,
as there is too much cold water. In late
July it is typically ideal. It was a
little busy down there, but not too crowded when we arrived. We eventually found the ideal spot in one of
the constructed pools among the river rocks.
Afterwards,
we drove up Yankee Fork to check out the Bonanza and Custer ghost towns, the
Yankee Fork Gold Dredge, and other remains of the area’s mining history. After touring the area, we returned to our
campsite for lunch. We contemplated a
number of options for the afternoon. I
had originally planned to hike that day, but we were both tired and sore from
the hike out the previous day. We
considered driving up the East Fork of the Salmon River to check out a
waterfall and a couple of hot springs, but ultimately decided against driving
that far. In the end, we took books and
chairs and beers down to the river and hung out by a swimming hole. Later that afternoon we stopped in at Sunbeam
Village for ice cream. Their restaurant
has a nice menu, and I regret that we didn’t eat dinner there the night
before. That night we had a late dinner
and campfire while we organized our gear for the last backpacking trip of our
vacation – a 7 day loop in the Sawtooths!
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!