Warm Lake, Idaho -- September 21-26, 2012

Friday: Moving day. 

Wayne at Warm Lake

The decision was made last night to move camp to Warm Lake in the hope the smoke would not be so thick. No departure time was specified which was good, as it was 30⁰ at 8:30.  Most of us got out before 10 am. Ralph, Carol, Lori and Tom and Jim and Cindy all headed home.  That left 5 groups to make the trip south but we had 7 rigs to move.  Moving day is always busy.  Often we have grocery shopping and laundry to do as well as dumping the RV and refilling the water supply.  If you don’t camp with an RV, you may not realize how hard it is to find a dump station.  We are fortunate in that we have camped in this area before and know that in the town of Cascade, there is a gas station, Harpo’s, that not only has a dump and potable water set up but also sells propane. We grouped up there in the afternoon and went into Warm Lake as a group.

 

Trails through the campground

We found great camping at the North Shore Campground, a Forest Service camp.  It received a grant a few years back and used the money wisely.  The roads and parking spots are paved and actually level.  Two families camped together in a group site and the other 3 of us were in singles.  There are walking paths that connect all the campsites making it easy to have a group fire each morning and night.

 

 

Saturday: Riding

This is for those who know the area.The boys went riding today.Stolle Meadow to Tyndall trail. Up to Stony Meadow, down the 106 trail to connect to Cup Corral Cutoff, and the Sixteen to One trail.16-to-1 has not been rebuilt after the fire went through about the time that work was planned.Then on to Fool Creek Trail to connect to the East Mountain ATV trail back to Tyndall and Stolle Meadow. 

 

 

 

Trail Boss (JD) and Uncle Kurt

 

 

Trail Boss in Boulders

 

Wayne at Stony Meadows

 

The girls did a short road ride around camp and then up the Warm Lake Rd to Landmark and back.  The road is paved, and winds up and over a summit.  The fall colors are out and it is a great time to ride. We had some smoke in the air today, but not as much as we had at Burgdorf.

 

 

                                                                   The road from above

 

 

 

 

 

Once the ride was over, John packed up, ready to roll in the morning at zero dark thirty, heading for home in Monroe.  As always he has been a great guest to have in our small space.  Wayne likes to ride with him and I always enjoy his stories when they come back.  For the second year in a row he came with gifts.  He always brings great new beers for Wayne, and this year he brought me some Pumpkin Ales to try.  I usually don’t like beer, but for some reason the dark colored pumpkin beers work for me….

 

Sunday:  Maintenance Day

Rain!  The first rain we have had since we were in Monroe WA in May.  It wasn’t much, but it came down hard for about 5 minutes.  Just enough to get all the chairs and the cat bed wet. All the cats all dove under the coach for cover, but the humans in the group were all laughing and happy. The cats probably thought we were nuts!

Wayne stayed in camp while the other guys rode.  He had a lot of maintenance to do.  All three bikes got oil changes, while his Gas-Gas 250 got some additional work.  So far all our tires are holding up.  Perhaps we can make it to Arizona before they have to be changed.

Monday: Dual Sport Ride – Patti, Ride Day Wayne

 

Patsy, Raydonia and I rode our bikes to Sweet Sixteen Hot Springs.  It is located on Forest Road 474. This is the same road you would take to Yellow Pine. From Cascade ID you go east on the Warm Lake Road, turning north on FSR 474.  As you go north you pass 2 Bit, Six Bit and Dollar Creek.  This area was burned about 6 years ago and is starting to recover.  The foliage is turning color for the fall in those areas.  Other areas are still very primal looking, black ground and very little ground cover, lots of standing dead trees.  Once you go by Poverty Flats Campground you should start looking for mile markers.  After MM 15, look to the river side for a pole fence and wooden steps.  The parking is limited, but the hot spring pool is awesome. At some point the rocks were cemented in and the hot water is directed in with a pipe.  It looks like you still need a bucket to bring colder water from the river in to make it the right temperature. The walk down is a little challenging, but many people do it.  After we checked out the pool, we turned back to home.  The road is paved past the hot spring and in good condition, so it didn’t take long until we were back on the main road.

 

                                                  

 

                                                 

                                                                       Sweet Sixteen Hot Springs

                      

 



 

We also went to what was Molly’s Tubs.  Before the fire locals had brought several cast iron tubs down to where the springs come out of the rocks.  Now this primitive hot springs has only a river rock pool left to show its location.  The hike is rough, but it is located close to the main Warm Lake Road, just one mile south on FSR 474 (Stolle Meadows).  Look for the parking area on the riverside with a big tree, and an ATV trail across the road.

What is left of the soak at Molly's

 

 

Water comes right out of the rocks

 

Wednesday: Move Day

 

We moved to Pine Flats Wednesday.  We have lost 2 more rigs from our group.  JD & Raydonia, Bob and Wayne took the 3 motorhomes and I drove our truck.  I stopped in Cascade to do laundry before joining them.  I managed to get all my phone calls done while I waited for machines to finish.  However after I got all the way to Pine Flats, I realized that I had left one load in the washer all the way back in Cascade.  Of course it was my riding clothes.  So I got back in the truck and drove all the way back to finish off the laundry.  It took me 3 hours round trip.  What a silly thing to do.  At least I remembered; that was a good thing!