Down the Dusty road

Challis to Cascade

After a wonderful three days in Challis we were off to McCall, Idaho. Only, they were full. Another check of the map and we discovered Cascade along the banks of the Payette River. This river was completely unknown to us, but it is apparently well known for white water rafting and kayaking. The highway travels along the bank of the river quite a way providing great views of the river. It reminded me of watching a washing machine. We did see a group of four intrepid kayakers making their way through some turbulent rapids. We wished them luck. They hadn’t begun to see the tough rapids ahead. A little further on a large group of kayakers and rafters was paddling down the river. I’m pretty sure they were destined to pull out long before the rugged area.

Payette River rapids

The drive from Challis took us over a narrow, winding mountain road. Road construction along part of it reduced the road to a single narrower lane. Since it was Sunday there were no crews working and traffic was light. This was a good thing because there was only a few inches on either side of the coach as we drove through.

As we approached the town of Stanley we were treated to a view of the Sawtooth Range. People were everywhere in this tiny resort town. There was some sort of Arts and Crafts Fair going on which drew the people. No place to park the RV so we trundled on.

Sawtooth Range

Further on we had to travel through an area known as Garden Valley. A massive forest fire was in progress and, although the flames were on the other side of the crest, smoke was thick through this valley. It seemed like the entire northwest was on fire with fires in Washington and Oregon.

We settled into Water’s Edge RV Resort situated along a calm stretch of the Payette River. The park has beach access and kayaks and canoes available for residents. Osprey circle continuously watching for their chance to snag a fish. There are also three white pelicans that seem to be permanent residents. A graded path winds along the banks of the river all the way to “town” if you’re so inclined. Dusty was able to run off leash, splashing in the water and hiding in the cattails. He’s not much of a swimmer, but would look at a stick thrown out for him. Once or twice he thought about swimming out for it, but instead ran along the bank until the current brought it to shore.

Payette River at dawn from our campsite

White Pelicans

We stayed here five days waiting until we could visit Kim after she finished her finals. One day we decided to drive up to McCall to see what we missed. Kind of reminded me of Arrowhead or Lake Tahoe, very touristy with large, well kept, “summer homes” fronting on a beautiful lake. Lots of small shops full of people. We drove through, checked out the RV park we would have used, stopped at the market and drove back. The Cascade RV park was a better choice we decided. Much nearer to the river and more to do.

We had some awesome thunderstorms during our stay here. Doesn’t take much for us to appreciate some rain since we hardly ever see it at home. It rained really hard for about 1/2 hour, then it was over. More rain overnight...chairs left out!

One of the other campers in the park told Rob about a hot birding spot he found on a nearby lake, so we had to check it out. All along the lake are public campsites with a $5/day site fee. We kept going around the lake spotting a bird here and there, but no great hot spot. On the opposite side of the lake we spotted a strange greenish bird sitting on a bush. It was there long enough for Rob to haul out his camera, change his lens and take a shot. We were puzzled by it for a long time, until its mate flew out of the bush. It turned out to be a female Western Tanager. We had been seeing males everywhere, but no females.

When we first arrived we had picked up a pamphlet listing several “not to be missed” road trips around the area. Our last day in camp we decided to drive the “No. 1, not to be missed”. The description was accurate. We drove south of town for a few miles before turning across a private ranch and onto a dirt road that would take us up and around the mountain. The scenery was beautiful. Once we got to the summit we could look out over Idaho on one side and Oregon on the other.

Scrawny little grouse stopped in front of us and just sat there. We thought his mother might be behind him, but she didn't show up. Maybe he's an orphan.