Phil's Shots of Life: 2013 Adventure Ride, Day 6 (July 25)

Wakey wakey! I awoke to boaters tromping through camp...again! I don't know when or if I slept the whole night, but holy crap I was drowsy! I walked down to the river and counted at least 35 boats...crazy....

The ride out was just as beautiful as the ride in....

Hmmmm....color's a little wonky...

Ummmmm....now the color is REALLY wonky.... : (

.....and then my camera pooped the bed. Yeah, it's a brand new camera...one of the Fujii water, shock, freeze, idiot-proof jobbies. I was miffed...I mean REALLY miffed. Thank god I was carrying my work I-phone as well (thanks work!). Turns out, these cameras take even better pictures than the point-and-shoot bricks...now if only they made them Phil-proof....

Our plan was to head south and eventually end up around Stanley...while checking out as many old mining ghost towns as we could along the way. First on the list was Cobalt...which wasn't there anymore...bummer. So we moved on to Yellowjacket, which we thought was off the main road five miles or so. Five miles later we happen upon this place:

...pretty cool little cabin, if you like spending the night in the middle of nowhere's. About three miles later we finally found Yellowjacket...

...not really what I was expecting, but okay. Turns out someone was actually living in the house back there with the flag flying. We didn't go any further...I guess I was expecting more. There was some pretty cool old machinery though!

Cool dirt-scooper jobber-thingy

It was getting later in the day and I was gettin' a bit hungry, so it was time to boogey. We hopped on the main road and the landscape turned into what I had grown up in: high desert. The road was great and there wasn't much traffic. Fifth gear was comfy and we was puttin' behind the miles...

Through this canyon lies Challis. We wowed 'er up a bit through the canyon, and good thing too. Blazer prolly' woulda' greased one of these...

Sheeps!

...by the time I got there the whole family had retreated into the rocky mountainside. There were lots of 'em!
On our way into Challis I noticed the smoky mountains and then saw the town airstrip crawling with firefighters. First things first...had to find a liquor store. While checking out Scott and I talked to the really helpful gal there who told us all about the fires in the area. Unfortunately, she also informed us that the Custer Corridor was closed(I think that's what it's called). I'd been on this road years ago and was looking forward to seeing it again. So due to the fires we had to stay on the highway (grumpy face).
We found a pizza shop and popped in to cool off, stuff our tummies, and check the route.

...my goodness it was tasty, and there was plenty for leftovers (for a while, it turns out). On the way out of town we stopped at the local fishing shop, the 'Bent Rod' for some licenses and local know-how. The highway ride left something to be desired, but we found a camp close enough to the river that we could do some fishing...

...turns out all there was in the stream were little 6" rainbows. I think we all managed to get the lines all snotted up in the trees at some point, but no matter...me and my stogie were happy as pie with my dogs (feet) in the river. Just nice to be outdoors...