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Published: October 28th 2021
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The route has a series of "must see" points along the way. One of them is an old school bus abandoned in the middle of the forest, and then shot full of holes for good measure. I reached this soon after leaving Burgdorf. Can't wait for the next one, the "Blue Cabin", a hut with kitchen and beds left open for riders to camp in, on the trail between Pierce and Avery. Kind of the opposite in intent and visual attractiveness.
The Salmon River cuts Idaho in half. Today's route took me down to the river, and straight up the other side to Elk City. The road down to the Salmon, called the French Creek road, is a 3,000 foot drop of continuous switchbacks. The hillside has been cleared, unlike climbs earlier in the ride, so one can see all the way to the river. It had been on fire for a while this summer, but had been opened to traffic. The climb on the far side of the river follows Allison Creek to the plateau and a return to dense forests. Wandering down a forest road my way was blocked by a big red Ford pickup. The driver, a
Old School Bus
Saw on Facebook that some riders on the Idaho BDR travel armed. woman, explained her husband was with her son in the woods, plucking the boy's first grouse. They weren't actually hunting she said, but looking for her father who was somewhere out here. Eventually I got around them and moved on, to find the father cutting wood. Said he was laying it in for winter. Had his pickup full. He looked over at me and said there were a lot of roads in these woods, and I was likely to get lost. He would look out for me when I came by this way again. I smiled and nodded, thinking of my faithful GPS strapped to the handlebars. And yet, 15 minutes later I was lost. I was supposed to have gone through the town of Florence, but all I had seen was the Florence Cementary. So I circled back looking for the town. Nothing. I gave up and rode North again to find the trail. It was a Saturday, and met many family groups in the forest, cutting and loading firewood into their trucks. I guess its that time of year.
Hit the paved road soon after that -- relief -- and motored on up to Elk City (another
small town in the middle of nowhere) and dinner outdoors at the Elk Creek Gas Station and Cafe. In the course of the meal I met the town hot rodders -- they use jacked up Polaris RZR ATV's -- and other people. Among the many topics covered, was a complaint that the reintroduction of wolves in the area (years ago) had reduced the number of elk they could shoot. So they had started to shoot wolves again (thanks to changes in state laws permitting it). Wildlife lobbies and the feds are fighting these changes. Outcome may take years. Meanwhile, wolves are migrating to states which actually follow federal laws.
Days Travel: Burgdorf Hotsprings ID to Elk City ID : 133 mi
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