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8/5
Woke up early and watched the sun peek over the mountains behind us and begin to shine on the mountains in front of us. As it gradually slid its rays down the mountains and shone on the river, the 2 brothers went to fish from the shoreline. They had some luck & returned to the coaches to start installing Ted’s old satellite system onto the roof of our motorhome. Ted had purchased & installed an HD system while they were in Idaho after we had separated to go to Montana. Anyway, it was a real thrill to have this system as part of the coach and it works beautifully. Great time to have it as this campground has no cable & there is nothing on straight antennae. It is much simpler to use than the portable unit Gary had jury-rigged. We feel pretty spiffy! It gradually got hotter & hotter as the day went on and was in the low 90’s before Ted & Gary got off the roof. I noticed it was 95* around 3pm. As the sun gradually disappeared over the mountains in front of us, it was time to fish again. Gary, Ted & Chuck caught several as they stood in their waders in the river.
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The Fishing Show
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How small we are in this big landscape. Gary, at river’s edge, trying his luck.
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Ted had some luck this early morning & this is Gary helping to get the fish off the hook & back into the river. This particular fish is a bull trout. They were catching young’uns frequently.
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The Salmon River as it ambles its way through Wagonhammer RV Park.
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Still early, but getting warmer by the minute, these 2 didn’t bother with the fancy fishing gear, just grabbed the poles & went for it. Ted is giving Gary some pointers.
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Look carefully above Gary’s head & you’ll see the fishing line heading for the water after some pretty good casting technique. (Could be my prejudice showing)
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Evening fishing & the 3 guys are in the river with their waders & spare necessary stuff. They are catching fish right & left. Once again, look above Gary’s head for the green line he is casting. Ted & Chuck are too far down-river for a good shot in the fading light.
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8/6
Anne has been the victim of a terrible cold. It has been getting slowly better, but now Ted is feeling as if he is coming down with it, as well. So, they are taking it a bit easy today. We had a lazy morning & went exploring a bit. About a mile north of here there is a man-made osprey platform that an osprey obligingly built a nest on. We watched a fledgling leave the nest to soar over the river and try his hand (his claw?), unsuccessfully this time, at fishing. He spread his wings and flew in large circles and eventually landed in a tree near the nest. There is one fledgling to go. Mom Osprey watched her youngster fly while perched on a nearby tree limb. We visited the town of North Fork 2 miles north of us and drove about 19 miles west over to the remnants of Shoup, ID. North Fork is another place that Lewis & Clark explored in 1805 looking for that elusive waterway to the west coast. They decided the Salmon River was the ‘river of no return’ and ‘the river of continuous rapids’. They then headed for Montana to search there. There is more to this story to come later. The drive over to Shoup showed us some incredible scenery. Steeply pitched mountains outlined a narrow valley with the Salmon River racing through it with a 2 lane road following alongside. This is an area full of old mines, most of which have disappeared entirely. A handful of people still live there in this town that once had 600 residents. We came back to the campground & went shopping. An amazing gift shop in this campground! Heavy clouds roll in overhead lending credence to the weather report of rain tomorrow. And cooling us off from the 96* temp. at 6:00 pm. The night will cool off more.
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This juvenile osprey wii leave his nest forever in about 5 minutes. He will take his first flight over the river, located next to the nest, that his mother has hunted for his nourishment. We were privileged, indeed, to witness this flight.
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The siblings. The one on the right is the one who will take flight. The one on the left is more the baby. His coloring indicates that he/she is the younger.
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As we stood below the nest, mom came flying in. She is perched on a branch to the right. She did not come with food, merely sat there looking around, while the older babe stared in her direction. We didn’t know what was coming next.
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WOW! All of a sudden, he just took off, surprising the heck out of us. Trying to follow a moving bird with a camera that has its zoom all the way out is difficult, but Gary was up to it. He grabbed the camera & just started shooting. The best effort was this, so you have to look dead center to find this guy. What a thrill it was!
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Did you look carefully at the picture above? You have now toured the ENTIRE townsite of North Fork, Idaho. If there is any more to it, we didn’t see it. Got your gas, cafe, general store and post office all in one location. Quick in and out!
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At North Fork, you can choose to take a side rode that will take you to Shoup. Shoup was a mining town, gold bullion was found there in 1866. This is a view from the road to Shoup.
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This is the business district of Shoup, ID. Much smaller than North Fork. There are a couple of rental cabins and a home that completes the townsite of Shoup. At one time, 600 people lived here. Not any more. People come to this area because of fishing & hunting. Or they may have a cabin they visit from time to time. There are remnants of mining scattered throughout & can be seen from the roadway.
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Right: The Salmon River at Shoup, clear & deep, looking more like a lake than a river.
Below: On the same road as we return to Hwy 93 & North Fork. The last few miles of the road to Shoup is oiled dirt. A little bumpy, but no dust.
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Somehow ‘Dead Water’ equals Stagnant Water. It does not make me want to picnic. Just screams of insects, mosquitoes, flies, trash, etc. All the things to avoid on the picnic. The picnic tables were enclosed in fencing with a sign stating ‘no horses in the picnic area’. Led me to believe that this area is used by people traveling by horseback, which is kinda cool.
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The lovely RV park we are in has this signage at the road followed by their nice entrance, shown below.
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c) Lanesroadhouse is a copyrighted web site. No reproduction of copy or pictures without express written consent.
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