July 11-13, 2020 - Challis to Salmon, Idaho:
The ride on route 93 from Challis to Salmon, Idaho is no slacker in the scenic beauty department, it’s a remarkable drive along the Salmon River the entire way. Of particular interest to me, probably not for everyone (that’s fine) was a visit to see the final abode of the infamous “Dugout Dick”. I would have missed this if not for a roadside historical sign on the area hobos, most famous of which was Dugout Dave. Dick seems to have squatted along the Salmon River in this area for about 50 years or so in various caves, dugouts and homemade shacks. The BLM who does not usually allow this activity, gave Dick a special waiver, after he became a celebrity of sorts. His final cabin is easy to reach just off the highway, across the river at a river access parking area. Dick constructed it out of local rocks, scrap lumber, logs and found building material. It is a rather remarkable, creativecabin set into a sheltered hillside, rather hidden under a huge shade tree. After he died.the BLM normally would have torn the cabin down, but decided that Dick’s cabin had historical merit and has preserved it and made it into an attraction.
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| Miles and miles of this, but few places to pull over |
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| Old homestead just rotting away on roadside |
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| Wherever practical a hay field |
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| Lots of hermits in Idaho |
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| The king of then was Dugout Dick |
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| Dick's final nicely constructed home |
I arrive in Salmon in late afternoon, did a quick surveillance of Main Street and found it to be a nice small town of about 3,000 people. The downtown is attractive with several old buildings and a nice selection of shops, only one fast food restaurant and no Walmarts. There is a modern Library, City Hall / Museum complex, a great bakery and nice park area on the Salmon River. The Lemhi River and the Snake River merge in the central downtown area which I would think could be prone to flooding. I went inside a downtown bar and have a nice cold beer, no masks or social distancing here along with a cast of crude looking and sounding clientele. I find a seat way in the back, all by myself, when I notice a man is setting up to play acoustic guitar. I expected it to be pretty bad country, but he started with a good rendition of Gordon Lightfoot and sounded really decent.
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| The Salmon City Hall was a WPA project |
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| The Gilmore & Pittsburgh once serviced Salmon |
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| One of the best old buildings sadly appears out of business |
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The downtown coffee shop had a great sign
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| Downtown Salmon view |
There are two Salmon River access areas near Salmon where I can overnight free, hardly anyone seems to use them. At one I spotted a bald Eagle in a tree directly overhead and at the other campsite there was a family of Osprey family nesting in a box on a pole. There are river access points all along the Salmon River, some are free, some are from $10 - 16 a night, but not many spaces at the popular river sites, you need to get there early to get one. Since virtually everything here is National Forest, you can pretty much pull over anywhere to camp for the night.
Fly fishing and river rafting rules here at this time of year, the Salmon River and the multitudes of creeks running into it are all prime fishing and rafting spots. There are many fly fishing shops, river outfitters and guide services.
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| Typical Salmon River view |
This area is famous historically for the Lewis and Clark expedition which came right through this area. This was the home territory of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe and Sacajawea who played a major role in the success of the expedition. You are able to follow the Lewis and Clark trail closely on various roads with sights that match descriptions in the Lewis and Clark journals. Of course, there were no roads to follow in their day other than the Indian trails. The Indians had lived for thousands of years in this area and knew how to navigate around. Lewis and Clark did not discover anything, and would have never survived without the help of the tribes. They were extremely fortunate on many counts, foremost in hiring French-Canadian mountain man Toussaint Charbonneau as a translator (who seems to get little credit ?) who happened to have a young talented Indian wife, Sacajawea. She had been captured by a waring tribe at a young age, enslaved and sold to Charbonneau as his wife. Having an Indian woman who could communicate with area tribes was a huge help to the expedition. In this area, if not for her, the Lewis and Clark Expedition would likely have failed, They arrived here with no idea of how to navigate through the formidable mountains ahead, the rivers were too wild, winter was approaching, they were on foot without horses and in dire straits. Sacajawea knew they were coming near her home territory and they were on the lookout for her tribe for help. Eventually they found them and in a story book coincidence her brother Cameahwait was now the chief of the tribe. As a result, Lewis and Clark were able to purchase horses and get an experienced guide, Toby, to lead them through the mountains.
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| There must be hundreds of signs like this, I read many of them |
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| The Mormon's driven away |
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| Chief Tendoy was a very respected chief who was friendly to the anglo settlers, negotiated and signed a reservation treaty with the US which ultimately was taken back and his tribe was forcibly removed to a distant area |
In an effort to get to Lemhi Pass, I took a back country road that involves about 16 miles of back country dirt road. Of course, I didn’t do the research and after about 12 miles I come to a sign that said; road ahead requires four wheel drive and high clearance. It was a interesting drive to that point, but I had to turn around. It looks like I’ll have to get there from the Montana side which is where I plan to head after Salmon.
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| It was a beautiful drive, road was mostly smooth |
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| All range land |
After that dusty, thrill ride, I went to the Junkyard Bistro in Salmon which seems to be the popular cafe in town. The service leaves something to be desired, slow and weird, but the food was very excellent.
Next stop will be Dillion, Montana.
You should have stopped at Challis Hot springs for a swell soak..
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