Day 49-May 8, 2018-Route 93 through Idaho
Drove 160 miles in 4-1/4 hours
Temp got up to 74 and sunny
Must have been really cold last night, when we got up it was barely 40 and cold even though we had the heater on. Route 93 is now our favorite route in the US. The scenery is wonderful, the road is windy and just curvy enough to make you wonder what’s around the next corner. We followed the North Fork River which then joined the Salmon River through the town of Salmon, birth place of Sacajawea. Saw a few deer munching on the side of the road and lots of cattle and horses. The Salmon River isn’t as turbulent as the rivers we’ve seen lately but it’s a bit wider. This area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and there are a lot of river accesses, campgrounds, day use picnic and recreation areas along the road. They’ve even set up rest areas every few miles. There are log cabins, some big and elaborate, some barely standing dotting the river. Drove over the 45th parallel again, the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole and then past more ranches and farms. Canada geese are in the river, on the ponds and on the farms, lots of them, this must be a resting place for them. The farmers must love it. Drove through deep canyons and small gulches over and around mountains through small towns like Elk Bend and Ellis, where the only building was a post office. Then through Challis, quite a big town, it even has an Ace Hardware and a grocery store! This is where route 93 becomes the “Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway” and we start to see more and more snow covered mountains. We have the Sawtooth Mountains on one side and the Pioneer Mountains on the other and we keep going up in altitude til we get to Willow Creek Summit at 7160’. What a view! Then down a bit where we stopped for lunch on the side of the road and admired the scenery at the foot of Mount Borah, the highest peak in Idaho at 12,662. There were two interesting info plaques on the road about an earthquake in 1983 and how the Sawtooth Mts. developed over millions of years. Passed Mackay Reservoir and then the farms became much greener. Still lots of ranches with free range cattle. Passed through Moore, population 189, then to Arco, where we’re staying for the night. Campground is at the base of Graduation Mountain, so named because every year since 1929 the high school graduating class climbs the mountain and paints their year on it. We didn’t realize how big the numbers were ‘til we compared them with the buildings and cars at the bottom of the mountain. Got here early so we had time to relax, read and listen to the twittering of the birds.