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3 days with sheeple...
- Thread starter PayetteRucker
- Start date
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So, I departed for the town of Crouch, Idaho at around 7PM on Friday, with about 3 pounds of chuck steaks, a few chunks of potato, onion and corn on the cob, a can of beans, a few cans of peaches, Smores enough for 20 people and a plastic bag full of coffee and tea and my pack stuffed with the typical goodies. There was a storm coming in over the mountains and it was a pretty awesome setting to start the trip. It was a 45 minute drive up Highway 55 and through another twisty turny canyon road along the Payette River. Pulled into Crouch, a tiny farming town that consisted of a church, a senior citizens center, two bars and a mercantile shop. I love finding the facilities of these small towns, it tells you where all their priorities lie.
We stopped at a bar called the Dirty Shame to get directions to our campsite on the Middle Fork of the Payette River. It just happened to be alumni night for the local high school which has no football team, so there was a huge party goin on at this whitewater kayaking/backcountry bum/outlaw/ranch hand themed bar that consisted of a big open patio overlooking the river and the mountains and the oncoming storm. There was a hoophollerin' party, awesome old school country music (lots of Mr. Cash) and classic rock, and lo and behold, the local venus flytrap sitting at the bar nursing a cocktail, looking all innocent and cute and vulnerable with an open seat on each side of her. This girl had the routine DOWN. I could see it from a hundred miles away and still almost fell for it. Directions turned into a party with the locals as I dropped a 10 on the counter and sucked down three jack-and-cokes as fast as I could while still enjoying them. Then I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her on the dance floor. (thanks, Jack...) We left the place at about 11, and I'm still reeling from that party. Say what you will about backcountry Idaho, but the girls are gorgeous, the whiskey is cheap and they sure know how to live it up. (plus it was nice not being the only guy with long hair in a cowboy hat...)
The campsite was right on the river, conveniently situated with about 5 different hot springs within a three mile walking distance. I visited three of them in the course of as many days. Boiling Springs took a machete to get to, the trail was not marked and wound up fighting through about a mile of green overgrowth and mosquitos and black flies (they didn't bother me much, thanks to the smoke smell...). The water came from a hole in the rock, ran down about 15 feet of slickrock and formed a shallow pool at the bottom. It was a sulfur spring and the water was literally boiling. I was kinda POed after having hacked through all that gnarly grass to get back there only to find it wasn't enjoyable.
However Ledge Hot Springs made up for it... Ledge hot springs starts with a hole in the rock about 75 feet up from the river, and the water cascades down to three rock pools cut into the face of the ledge. I had to cross the river on foot and scramble up the ledge to get to it but it was really nice, the clean cold river water contrasting with the 110 degree water in the pool. Took a lantern and chilled there for about 4 hours on Saturday night and another 4 hours on Sunday afternoon. Nothin' like crossing a wild backcountry river barefoot by lanternlight at 11PM at night after soaking in some natural hot springs...
Took a couple of nice dayhikes along the river, hoping to find some deer or elk along the valley coming down from the mountains for a drink. I got lucky on Sunday and saw two yearling bucks. Did some barefoot boldering along the river as well. The cliffs in the canyon were all nice hard textured white granite, relatively safe and easy to climb. I put up 5 fairweather routes, just challenging enough to be worthwhile. It was just nice to get vertical again. I caught three brook trout, cleaned and skinned all three in about 5 minutes with my RC3, stuffed them with chunks of my onion, wrapped them in aluminum foil and threw them in the fire. I left em in there until the outsides were charred black, then sucked the meat right off the little bones. 200% fun, and good practice cleaning the little buggers too. There's something satisfying about eating food you procured and prepared yourself that can't really be explained.
Other than that, I filled the cracks in the weekend playing rummy with pleasant people by the river, and stargazing... man was the sky awesome this weekend. I could clearly see the milky way, massive shooting stars with distinct colors and long wide trails... I fell asleep both nights while skygazing and sucking on a bottle of VO on top of my sleeping bag. The weather was great-85, 90 degrees with a cool breeze during the day, cooling down to 45 at night. I couldn't believe it got so cold at night in mid-November but good ol' Dale of Norway took care of me. Yup, even though there's no personal mental and physical challenge in car camping, the adventure factor is still there. Except for a few whiney moments, it was a great weekend. Not bad for 15 bucks in beer, 10 bucks in gas and about 10 bucks worth of food...
Pics to come
We stopped at a bar called the Dirty Shame to get directions to our campsite on the Middle Fork of the Payette River. It just happened to be alumni night for the local high school which has no football team, so there was a huge party goin on at this whitewater kayaking/backcountry bum/outlaw/ranch hand themed bar that consisted of a big open patio overlooking the river and the mountains and the oncoming storm. There was a hoophollerin' party, awesome old school country music (lots of Mr. Cash) and classic rock, and lo and behold, the local venus flytrap sitting at the bar nursing a cocktail, looking all innocent and cute and vulnerable with an open seat on each side of her. This girl had the routine DOWN. I could see it from a hundred miles away and still almost fell for it. Directions turned into a party with the locals as I dropped a 10 on the counter and sucked down three jack-and-cokes as fast as I could while still enjoying them. Then I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her on the dance floor. (thanks, Jack...) We left the place at about 11, and I'm still reeling from that party. Say what you will about backcountry Idaho, but the girls are gorgeous, the whiskey is cheap and they sure know how to live it up. (plus it was nice not being the only guy with long hair in a cowboy hat...)
The campsite was right on the river, conveniently situated with about 5 different hot springs within a three mile walking distance. I visited three of them in the course of as many days. Boiling Springs took a machete to get to, the trail was not marked and wound up fighting through about a mile of green overgrowth and mosquitos and black flies (they didn't bother me much, thanks to the smoke smell...). The water came from a hole in the rock, ran down about 15 feet of slickrock and formed a shallow pool at the bottom. It was a sulfur spring and the water was literally boiling. I was kinda POed after having hacked through all that gnarly grass to get back there only to find it wasn't enjoyable.
However Ledge Hot Springs made up for it... Ledge hot springs starts with a hole in the rock about 75 feet up from the river, and the water cascades down to three rock pools cut into the face of the ledge. I had to cross the river on foot and scramble up the ledge to get to it but it was really nice, the clean cold river water contrasting with the 110 degree water in the pool. Took a lantern and chilled there for about 4 hours on Saturday night and another 4 hours on Sunday afternoon. Nothin' like crossing a wild backcountry river barefoot by lanternlight at 11PM at night after soaking in some natural hot springs...
Took a couple of nice dayhikes along the river, hoping to find some deer or elk along the valley coming down from the mountains for a drink. I got lucky on Sunday and saw two yearling bucks. Did some barefoot boldering along the river as well. The cliffs in the canyon were all nice hard textured white granite, relatively safe and easy to climb. I put up 5 fairweather routes, just challenging enough to be worthwhile. It was just nice to get vertical again. I caught three brook trout, cleaned and skinned all three in about 5 minutes with my RC3, stuffed them with chunks of my onion, wrapped them in aluminum foil and threw them in the fire. I left em in there until the outsides were charred black, then sucked the meat right off the little bones. 200% fun, and good practice cleaning the little buggers too. There's something satisfying about eating food you procured and prepared yourself that can't really be explained.
Other than that, I filled the cracks in the weekend playing rummy with pleasant people by the river, and stargazing... man was the sky awesome this weekend. I could clearly see the milky way, massive shooting stars with distinct colors and long wide trails... I fell asleep both nights while skygazing and sucking on a bottle of VO on top of my sleeping bag. The weather was great-85, 90 degrees with a cool breeze during the day, cooling down to 45 at night. I couldn't believe it got so cold at night in mid-November but good ol' Dale of Norway took care of me. Yup, even though there's no personal mental and physical challenge in car camping, the adventure factor is still there. Except for a few whiney moments, it was a great weekend. Not bad for 15 bucks in beer, 10 bucks in gas and about 10 bucks worth of food...
Pics to come
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I took the CS Trail Hawk-it hasn't seen a ton of use to be honest, other than a bedside robbery deterrent and a recreational thrower-it does that well. I figured car camping was the only time it would see any real use since the bit is so completely impractical for most camp tasks. The Condor Khukri WAY outchopped it. If you want to get a real useable camp hawk get the Frontier model...
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If you are a true woodsman, you will strike but one match.
Middle Fork of the Payette
Trying to find some dead firewood...
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Driving into a storm in the hills
Coming down into Emmitt, Idaho
Payette Country-my playground
Looking down a 500 foot canyon into the Middle Fork-note the water fall across the way...
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brookies
rafters on the Main Payette-there were 70 some rafts and kayaks on the water at one time... busy weekend.
More Payette country
The Middle Fork @ Ledge Hot Springs
Playing in the Middle Fork after soaking in hot springs
Garden Valley
Hot springs by lanternlight
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Ledge Hot Springs, water comes out of a hole in the rock at the top and cascades down three different pools.
I'll upload more later, photobucket is being infuriating as always...
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Heh, I've heard jack black and jim carey from these forums as well...
everyone tells me that "i look just like someone they know", but they can rarely say who.
except for one girl who showed me a pic of her brother!
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- Nov 28, 2008
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- 107
well PR, your write up made reading the two pages of bickering worth while... thx for sharing...
Esav Benyamin
MidniteSuperMod
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Great thread, beautiful country. It's unfortunate some people can't enjoy the trip without preaching to the rest of us. I removed their bickering. If anyone wans to rejoin them, they are at Outtakes from 3 days with sheeple...
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PR>> I think it's so cool that you went camping with the Geico Caveman!
Looks like a nice place. I bet it's a bear in winter, though.
Glad you had a good time.
Looks like a nice place. I bet it's a bear in winter, though.
Glad you had a good time.
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PR>> I think it's so cool that you went camping with the Geico Caveman!
Looks like a nice place. I bet it's a bear in winter, though.
Glad you had a good time.
A snowmobile is a fact of everyday life. You see them parked at church, at the bar, at the gas station, at the diner... I spent the winter in another small town on the 45th Parallel, about 2 degrees farther north than this town, and saw about 5 snowmobiles to every car. It's actually alot of fun... just expensive.