On Sunday Wayne and I went for a final adventure ride for
this season in Idaho. We still had not
been to Atlanta, a small mining town on the Middle Fork of the Boise River. Fires seem to hit this area almost every
year, and this year was no exception. We
also wanted to check out the Baumgartner Campground on the south fork of the
Boise. We heard that Kelly Creek had
burned this year. This is where we spent
the first week of the summer ride. (See
June 24th post titled Baumgartner – Summer Ride Part 1). We have camped here almost every summer for
the last 20 years, and it would be a shame if it all went up in flames…
We left Idaho City while it was still pretty cold, but the
sky was blue and mostly clear, so it looked like it could be a great day for
riding. We began on the road we finished
on last ride, the Rabbit Summit Road, heading over to the north fork of the
Boise River. Instead of crossing the
river at Barber Flats we continued upstream until the road turned and went up
and over Swanholm and down to the Middle Fork.
Along the Swanholm
Road
On Swanholm and also on the Middle Fork Rd we passed, and
then re-passed a guy on is BMW GS. He
seemed to be having problems with the gravel, didn’t look like it was his favorite
road type. He was interesting to follow
until we could pass him. We continued
upstream to Atlanta.
This dam is on the
way to Atlanta
The hill near Atlanta
has burned in the past. This year’s fall
color makes it look like it is on fire now
Atlanta was founded in 1864 during the Civil War as a gold
and silver mining community and named by Southerners after a rumored Confederate
victory over General Sherman in the Battle of Atlanta, which turned to be
wholly false, but the name stuck. Mining activity near Atlanta preceded its
establishment as a mining community. The John Stanley party discovered gold on
the nearby Yuba River on July 20, 1864, just two days prior to the battle back
in Georgia. That November, John Simmons made the discovery of the Atlanta lode
which contained both gold and silver.
Atlanta is at 5,383 feet (1,641 m) above sea level
surrounded by the Boise National Forest. The Sawtooth Mountains are directly
north, the Sawtooth Wilderness starts about a mile (1.6 km) north of Atlanta,
at the base of Greylock Mountain, which summits at 9,363 feet (2,854 m). This year during the fire, the firefighters
tried to herd the fire towards the wilderness area and away from the homes
and business of Atlanta. It appears to
have worked, as the town is still intact. We had lunch at the Beaver Lodge, who was
having a fundraiser for the firefighters.
Biscuits and gravy, yummmm… While
we were eating, the guy on the BMW GS finally got to town, passing us by and
going who knows where.
Wayne leaving town
We left town on the James Creek Road, finding snow just a
short distance up the road. We continued
on towards Featherville. We passed this
monument to the 1870’s Firefighters and Muleskinners.
“We honor those brave
men who plied John Hailey’s stage route from the Kelton Utah railhead on the
Transcontinental Railroad (20 miles west at the Promontory, Utah Golden Spike).
They supplied the central Idaho mining towns with goods and the heavy mining
equipment leading to the economic development of the Idaho Territory.” Kelton is now a ghost town, just north of the
Great Salt Lake, in the Park Valley area of Box Elder County, Utah. The town
was inhabited during the period of 1869–1942.
The Firefighters
Monument on James Creek
At Featherville we headed up river to Baumgartner. Here we found evidence of the fire, but not
the devastation of the Elk Complex fire near Prairie. (See October 3rd – Wayne Finally
rides his DRZ post).
Here the fire looks
spotty, resembling trees killed by the Pine Beetle.
The south side of the
river, where we usually camp, is closed due to possible falling trees and
mudslides. We hope that it will be
opened by next summer.
After checking out the Kelly fire we went back to
Featherville, and then up to the Phifer Creek Road.
Wayne at the
intersection of Trinity Ridge Road and Phifer Creek Road
At the bottom of Phifer Creek we went back up Swanholm, but
turned right on Little Owl Creek Road.
Guess who we came upon? Yep, GS
Guy. He doesn’t look any more
comfortable now than he did earlier! Oh
well, we passed him, turning on a small Forest Service road that took us up and
over a road we call Willow that takes us to the Crooked River Road. It is
very curvy and tons of fun. I love to
make my bike growl up and around the corners.
Sliding would be nice, but I’m on the big, heavy DRZ and I haven’t
figured out how to slide it yet. When we
got to the bridge at the Crooked River, I asked Wayne if he had seen GS Guy,
but he said no. Too bad, this was the road he was on when we last saw him. It would have been really funny to see him
there.
After Willow we headed over to Highway 21 and headed back to
Idaho City. It is a great highway
section with many hairpin turns. Wayne
took off and if he hadn’t waited for me before the city limits, I might not
have caught him before we got to our friends house. He was having WAY too much fun!!! We put in
175 miles and had a wonderful ride.
Monday brought the last ride in Idaho for 2013. Wayne had to stay in town, we finally sold
our other trailer and someone needed to be there. I got to ride as Wayne went to this same area
earlier in the week. It was a true Dual
Sport ride. We did highway, pavement,
dirt roads, two track roads and single track trails. It was so much fun. I haven’t taken my KTM out for a ride for a
long time, like maybe July?? With
traction in premium condition, we zoomed around, sliding around corners and having
too much fun to be legal. The grins just never stopped coming!!!
The forest was
bleeding orange, everyone was on a KTM!!
The roads were soft
and plenty of traction
We had lunch on one
of the single track trails
We overlooked
Placerville
After lunch we headed
to an overlook above the Payette River; Garden Valley in the distance
Another fine little
road to zoom down
A few skid marks on
the road never hurt…
The way to the
overlook
The Payette River
below us
We did 76 miles, and we all had a great ride. My friend Cindy was on her new KTM 350 and we
spent the whole day chasing each other around the woods. It’s one of our favorite things to do!!!! What a
wonderful way to end our season of riding in Idaho!
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