21 June 2018
Boondocking near Salmon River, Stanley, ID
We headed a bit north, following the Salmon River through a gorgeous canyon until we got to Sunbeam Hot Springs. Boiling water at 169 degrees F is piped beneath the highway from the springs and flows across a gravel beach into several popular pools at the river’s edge. Back in 1939 the CCC built a bath house on the river bank, and piped the hot springs into it. Building is still there, but just a shell.
Of course it smells like sulfur, and it was 60 degrees and lightly raining, so we chose to touch and smell, not bath and soak. Not unique like the hot springs we visited in both Laird Hot Springs, in BC along the Alaskan hwy, or Chena Hot Springs north of Fairbanks. But here we are…..in Idaho…
As we turned up the road we noticed a fish weir. We haven’t seen one of those since we left, well you know, Alaska.
We continue on a narrow paved road that turns to dirt, and within 7 miles, we see”tailings”, mounds of rock on both sides of the road. Evidence of a dredge close by. The Yankee Fork Gold Dredge… hmmm, where are we? This dredge is now owned by the Forestry Service, but maintained by a small non-profit. It is in great shape, much smaller than the ones we saw in Alaska.
This one was built in 1939, especially for this area and ran til 1952 . The 72-8cu ft bucket chain could reach 35 feet down to bedrock. For 2 years it operated 24/7, 365. There were two, 365 hp Ingersol Rand, 7 cylinder diesels, that consumed 600 gallon of diesel per day. That provided hydraulics, electricity. Plus there was a steam boiler to provide heat to the machinery to keep everything from freezing. It must have been brutal working on this steel bucket at minus 35 degrees in the winter.
I enjoyed talking with one of the volunteers, whose father worked the dredge in the 1940s. He was very knowledge and had a lot of stories, that just brought this awesome digging machine to life.
Another mile up the road are the ghost towns of Custer (named after Gen George..) and Bonanza. Only a few buildings left with some artifacts. But the towns once housed up to 600 people to support the mining operation.
On the drive back, my wife could not exist the urge to pan for some gold in the creek. No gold but it was relaxing.
Pretty kool, I learn stuff everyday visiting this great country of ours, while Idaho is best known for its potato crop, which comprises around one-third of the nationwide yield. The official state nickname is the “Gem State”. Go figure.
Okay we like it here, and we are getting our Alaska “fix” to boot.
