A Bull Trout Walks into a Bar

Couldn’t resist. Our next two stops, Bull Trout Lake and Morgan Bar, just sounded like the start to a really good joke. 😊 

Rog was saying there are two kinds of RV trips – destination and exploration. Destination trips are all about getting to a certain place and usually mean a lot of freeway driving to get there as quickly as possible. Exploration involves taking new routes, usually secondary roads and scenic byways, to see new country. Most of our longer trips are a combination of the two. We’ve never spent any time in the Sawtooth or Bitterroot Mountains so this part of the trip we’re in exploration mode.

Our travels from Farewell Bend, OR to Bull Trout Lake, ID took us on a number of two-lane state highways (201 to 52 to 55 to 17 to 21!) and through lots of small-town America. It was also gob-smacking gorgeous, especially the view of the backside of the Sawtooth Mountains and all along the Payette River.

 

Back side of the Sawtooth Mountains.

Loved the Payette River!

Crystal clear water and lots of rapids.

Bull Trout Lake Campground is in Boise National Forest and located down several miles of gravel road. We weren’t 100% sure that we were at the right turn-off because there was absolutely NO signage off Hwy 21. And the sign after you turned onto the gravel road was almost completely illegible! We pulled over as a couple of folks were exiting the gravel road and Rog verified that it led to Bull Trout Lake. We pulled in around 3pm on Wednesday, 6/23. 

I'm thinking the signage leaves a little to be desired. Geesh!

So, we kicked back among the pines at about 7000ft and enjoyed perfect temps, the 70’s are way preferable to the triple digits much of the lowlands are experiencing. Farewell Bend was forecast to hit 110° after we left - no thank you!

 

Under the pines at 7000 ft of elevation. Good choice. 

We took Riley for a paddle on Bull Trout Lake, it isn’t a very large lake so we went around once, then did another half loop. We had a few spatters of rain, which of course started as soon as we got the lake, but it quickly passed and the big, fluffy clouds were beautiful. We figured about an hour in the kayak was plenty, but Riley thought otherwise. He didn’t want to get out! We literally started dismantling it around him. Lol. He did get ball play in the shallows as a consolation prize.

Bull Trout Lake.

 

In the kayak again. 

But Mommmm. I don't wanna get out. Let's go around again.

A little ball bribery got him out of the kayak. Lol. 

We spent two nights at Bull Trout and continued through the Sawtooth Mountains (even more amazing from this side!) before turning towards the Bitterroot Range. Our planned stop was Morgan Bar a tiny (8 spaces!) BLM campground on the Salmon River. We had a minor kerfluffle when it appeared Google maps was sending us down a private drive that dead ended at a cattle fence. What the hell? We unhooked and I scouted in the Acadia. Nope, definitely not where we needed to be. Luckily, we had cell service so Rog looked at the map in satellite view and we just had to go a little further down a dirt road marked “Warning Primitive Road Ahead”. Again, we kept the Short Bus parked and verified we were on the right track in the Acadia. The road was fine, better than some of the state highways we’ve driven to get here! We snagged the best of the two remaining spots right next to the river. See Riley… getting up early pays off!

 

The views of the Sawtooth Mountains were incredible.

We spent most of our two days at Morgan Bar just hanging out and playing with Riley in the river. There wasn’t any hiking from the campground and while we thought about trying to do a float down the Salmon, the heat sapped all of our initiative. Here, we’re catching some of the heat wave that is scorching the PNW. We really need to plan river float trips with a friend so we can have a vehicle at each end. We debated driving upriver to put in and then takeout at the campground, but the thought of having to ride a bike back to retrieve the car had no appeal. While we’re not close to the 100+ temps folks are experiencing at home, we did hit 87° which is plenty warm enough. I know, cry me a river. Lol.

 

The lovely Salmon River was on our doorstep.

Kicked back and relaxing.

Morgan Bar is popular with the locals and lots of folks were coming down to let their kids and dogs swim in the river. As some of you know, after a year of limited social interaction (thank you, COVID) Riley has gotten a lot less tolerant of strange dogs in his space. We work hard to keep his interactions positive and not put him in situations where he’s uncomfortable. So, what pulls into the spot next to us about 9pm on Friday evening? A tent-camping family with SEVEN dogs! I could not make this stuff up. They towed a horse trailer with five giant floofs, probably Great Pyrenees, a herding dog, and a token chihuahua. Then they unloaded a couple wire cages with several cats! Sure wish I had a picture to show you, it was impressive. Lol. They were actually good neighbors and did a decent job keeping everyone quiet and in their campsite. They only stayed one night and I really wonder what the story was there. I can’t imagine camping just for fun with that menagerie.

 

Yellowjacket range just across the river from our campsite.

Our next stop is Charles Waters, a National Forest campground near Florence, MT. Another one that’s all first come/first served, let’s see if our luck holds!

Dredging for Gold and Farewell Bend

Riley is getting really miffed about these early mornings. He is all about sleeping in, a leisurely wake up, maybe a brief potty stroll, and breakfast around 9:30ish. When we want to be on the road by 9am, it really messes with his morning. It was, however, the best way to score a good campsite at Clyde Holliday State Park near John Day, OR. Which we did (Yay!), arriving just after lunch on Thursday, 6/17. On the drive here we saw some cool geological features, we’re not too far from parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument which we visited in 2018.

 

Interesting colors and formations along the route.

Our spot is backed up to the John Day River again. Although it’s much smaller here and I do believe I could step across it in a few spots. No worries though, Riley only uses the first couple feet anyway. What he is really loving are the sprinklers! This is another Oregon park that waters the heck out of its grass and it seems there are always sprinklers on somewhere. He may be developing webbed toes but his oral hygiene is great. Lol.

Riley demonstrates his version of the Waterpik. Lol. 

 

We used the unoccupied hiker/biker camping area for play time. 

The temps topped 90° during our stay so we are happy for hook-ups, and left Riley in air-conditioned splendor while we drove the 63 miles to the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Site. Huh? The story goes like this… gold was discovered in the mountains near Sumpter Valley in 1862. The “rush” died out by the early 1900’s and all that remained were tiny flakes buried in the riverbeds. Panning by hand was too time consuming and too costly. Cue the dredge. Originally used to deepen waterways, they proved well-suited for large scale (and I do mean large scale!) gold mining. Three dredges were built in Sumpter Valley from 1912-1935. The last ceased operation and was abandoned in 1954. That one has been preserved and it is fascinating!

 

Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge

Rog checks out the bucket mechanism.

Much of the original machinery is intact. The dredge used a long row of front buckets to scoop and dump soil and rocks into the heart of the dredge which acted like a giant washing machine. There the material passed through a series of sorting mechanisms with the larger debris shooting out the rear of the dredge to create large tailing piles. We really enjoyed the information boards that described the process in detail. Once a week the Dredge Master would clean the wooden riffles, using mercury to separate the gold flakes from the sandy slurry. Cool stuff!

Different views of the exterior bucket chain.

 

Pulleys and Levers and Chains, Oh My. 

The inner workings of the dredge were fascinating.

The dredge floated in about 9 feet of water and made its own channel cutting perpendicularly into the riverbank then pivoting and coming back. Rog likened it to a giant chainsaw cutting through the ground. It unearthed more than 4 million dollars’ worth of gold over the years, but the mining operation devastated the river valley and its path, lined by huge tailing piles, is still clearly visible today.

 

A birds-eye view of the mining operation. Wow.
(Compliments of Google Maps)

On Saturday we skipped breakfast and headed for the Farmer's Market in the town of John Day… as it turned out, all four stalls. Lol. We snagged some homemade jam and a little produce, but there wasn’t a single baked good to be found. Totally bummed we decided to check out the 1811 Brewery and Bakery on Main Street. Wow, did that turn out to be a great idea! The food was great, but I was really intrigued by the beverage list. Hmmmm… Huckleberry infused vodka with strawberry puree and lemonade garnished with fresh blueberries and basil. Oh my. Doesn’t that sound like the breakfast of champions?! I’ve never in my life had a 9AM cocktail. Guess it was about time! Rog opted for the Breakfast Coffee Porter. Also yummy. Cheers!

A breakfast cocktail? YOLO! Cheers!

Another perk of Clyde Holliday is fairly good cell service. After having absolutely no connectivity at Cottonwood Canyon we were looking forward to getting caught up on email and doing some trip planning. Murphy intruded when Verizon helpfully used the last scraps of our data plan to inform us on June 17^th that we were out of data and on “safety mode”, which means they throttle the life out of us until our plan rolls over at midnight on July 19^th. Sigh. Sunday we spent three long hours with excruciatingly S-L-O-W internet revising our route. Why the change in plans? We got a text from Rog’s friend and former co-worker, Faith, that she was staying at their property in Rexford, MT and we were welcome to drop by. Careful what you wish for! We revised our route, ditching a few places and adding some new ones so we could spend a couple of days at Faith’s. We’re super tickled to see her and husband, Jim, and also to spend more time in the Sawtooth Mountains on the way there. Exploring new territory is always fun.

Our next stop was already on the itinerary, Farewell Bend State Park near Huntington, OR. We had reservations, so lucky for Riley no early morning start! Farewell Bend is on the Brownlee Reservoir, an impoundment of the Snake River. It’s the point on the Oregon Trail where emigrants, after following the Snake River for over 300 miles, bid Farewell to the Snake and took off overland toward the Columbia River.

 

Old Conestoga Wagons mark the entrance to the park.

We arrived on Sunday, 6/20 after a windy drive through a whole lot of nothing. All I have to say is those early settlers were a hardy bunch, it’s pretty desolate country around here.  The area doesn’t offer much interest for hiking so the primary attraction for us was kayaking on the reservoir. We had planned to take Riley along for another float, but the temps had gotten uncomfortably warm – high 90’s is too hot for our fur-clad boy. We figured he wouldn’t have much fun being broiled on the water when he’d rather be in it! As it turned out we did an early morning kayak and found enough shade along the banks that he’d have been fine.

Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River. 

Views from the water. I thought the sand dunes across the river were interesting!

Still a whole lotta nothing out there. 

More greenery on the water than on the hills. Lol. 

Our plans for a second float on Tuesday were canned when a line of nearby thunderstorms kicked up the wind. Instead, we took Riley to the park’s large off-leash dog area and gave him some ball time. The sprinklers were going and he REALLY wanted to play in those, but several days of staying damp in the heat at Clyde Holliday have resulted in a couple hot spots. We’d been keeping a close eye out for hot spots on the top of his head, but these popped up on both sides of his face. Arrrgh! Most likely munching those sprinklers was a significant contributing factor. If you recall he had a bad outbreak on a trip in 2018 and we want to avoid a repeat of “hamburger head” and a run to the emergency vet.

He'd rather play in the sprinklers but I guess this will do. 

From here we head to Bull Trout Lake in Idaho for two days. We’re hoping the weather cooperates and we get to spend some more time on the water.

  

Cottonwood Canyon: Marvelous and Muddy

We pulled into the Lone Tree campground in Cottonwood Canyon State Park near Wasco, OR around 11:30am on Monday, 6/14. We wanted to arrive early enough to snag a space since all sites are first come/first served. We’re glad we did. We got a lovely spot on the river side and by early evening the campground was almost full.

 

Five stars for Cottonwood Canyon!

Vintage farm equipment is scattered around the park.

This is our first stay at Cottonwood Canyon, but I sure hope it won’t be our last. The park and campground are stunning! Originally a ranch, many of the buildings have been refurbished and repurposed. The grounds are irrigated, so it’s a green oasis in a desert landscape. Of course, Riley is a huge fan of the sprinklers too, although his interest is strictly for the entertainment value. The only downside, there is absolutely no cell service. However, there were several solar powered charging stations with USB charging ports, how’s that for the height of irony? Lol.

 

The barn and several other old ranch buildings are still in use.

Love the old Aermotor windmill - I want one! Lol.

Another perk - a HUGE off-leash dog area.

Riley gives the sprinklers a solid workout. 

The weather during our stay was all over the board. Warm and sunny, then a precipitous drop in temps accompanied by high winds, rain, and a little thunderstorm action. On our arrival day we enjoyed the sun, hustled inside for the rain, and then were able to take a lovely evening walk. It seemed more typical for the western side of the mountains, if you don’t like the weather wait 10 minutes. Lol.

 

Sunshine when we arrived!

Cloudy and overcast by evening.

John Day River in the evening light. 

On Tuesday we pulled out the bikes to ride the 9-mile roundtrip Pinnacles Trail along the John Day River.  Not far into our ride it started to sprinkle. Hmmmmm. Keep going or turn back? We pulled off in the shelter of some trees to debate. Showers in the desert are usually short-lived. It should pass soon… at least those were the lies we told ourselves. We kept going. So did the rain. Pretty soon I had so much mud stuck to my front tire and calipers I could barely pedal. I have to say it was kind of fun, all part of the adventure. It turned out the trail was closed part way to afford nesting golden eagles some privacy. So we turned around and slogged our way back through the mud, clocking around 7½ miles altogether. I think it took us almost as long to hose the mud off our bikes (and ourselves!) as it did to ride the trail. There’s another trail on the other side of the river but we agreed to wait for dryer weather to do that one.

Debating under the trees.... ah, I think we made the wrong call. Lol. 

The passing shower didn't. It rained the whole ride.

Wednesday morning was clear and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. By 9:30 we were ready to roll. The Lost Corral Trail is also about 9 miles long but the trailhead is on the other side of the river a mile and half down the road from the campground. We rode out and dutifully followed a sign directing bicyclists off the road and to a “trail” which turned out to be about 6 inches wide, rocky and completely overgrown in places. Ridiculous. Cue extremely colorful language here. I promise you on the way back I stayed on the road and had a very impolite hand gesture for the sign. After that little detour, we made it to the trailhead without further drama.

The trail itself was a lot like Pinnacles, but without the rain and mud. It did seem like there was a lot more up and down and I took the bike for a stroll on several of the steeper uphills. Rog kept reminding me that I had more lower gears to use, but what he failed to realize was I didn’t have any more gears left. Lol.  It was, however, a beautiful day and a lovely ride (or walk, depending on the hill). Lots of birds and much of the trail was along the river where we saw a couple of huge steelhead.

 

We enjoy a break along the trail.

One cliff wall was covered in swallow's nests.

Hmmmm...Which one is the namesake Lost Corral?

The rest of the day we hung out at camp, made several forays to the river so Riley could cool off, and enjoyed the perfect weather. Our next stop is Clyde Holliday campground near the town of John Day, OR. It’s another first come/first served campground so we’re planning on an early start again. Fingers crossed! 

Multiple places to access the river right behind our campsite.

Riley takes advantage of the river access
to cool off (about 5 times a day!).

A Sad Trip Followed by a New Adventure

Since we began our blog in July of 2016 to document our year on the road, we have faithfully recorded every trip in the Short Bus except our last one. In early May Rog’s mom called to let us know that Grandma Ardys had suffered a stroke. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to recover we quickly loaded up the rig and made a dash for Redding. Emotionally it was a hard trip and since we overnighted at rest stops there and back, adventure-wise it was a bust.

Beautiful blooms.

Our favorite spot at French Prairie Rest Stop, right next to the roses. 

We arrived in Redding on Saturday, 5/8, and went straight to the hospital. We visited Grandma again on Sunday and she had a brief period of lucidity where we had a chance to tell her we loved her. She even managed an understandable, “I love you too” and then drifted back asleep.  That was the last time she was truly conscious and passed away on Tuesday, 5/11. Rian was able to visit with Grandma Ardys before we arrived and then had to return to Sacramento to start her new job. The timing for that was really hard on her.

A hug and a last "I love you".

Randi arrived Tuesday evening and, while she was sorry to have missed saying goodbye, she was a great help. We gave what support and assistance we could to Rog’s mom, Barb. Services were held in St. Helena where Grandma had lived most of her life and she was interred next to Grandpa Oscar. She was loved by many and will be terribly missed, but 97 good years is something we can all aspire to. We are so glad we were able to spend time visiting with Grandma in March. You never know when a goodbye may be your last.

Grandma Ardys joins Grandpa Oscar.

 

Randi and Rian peruse the picture board highlighting Grandma's life.

We spent a weekend in Sacramento with Rian and then returned to Redding to help Barb empty out Grandma’s apartment. Randi’s boyfriend, Jose, drove up and they took some of the furniture back with them. They’ll be house hunting next year, and Grandma would be happy to keep as much of it in the family as possible. After we’d done what we could to help out Barb, we left Redding and arrived home on Saturday, 5/29. We immediately began attacking the neglected house and yard (the grass was a foot tall!) and preparing for a June 10^th departure.  

 

We can put Riley in the yard and charge admission for a jungle safari!

Which brings us to our new adventure. We are taking a leisurely route to Glacier National Park to celebrate the 4^th of July there with my brother Tim, Mike, and friends Mikey and Glen. Our planned route takes us through Eastern Washington and Oregon then into Idaho through the Bitteroot Mountains and then onto Montana. We have several new areas to explore and, of course, we included several water stops to keep Riley happy.

Our first destination was Big Pines campground on the Yakima River. We spent one night here on the way home in 2019 (remember when the slide broke?!) and we wanted to come back and try a float down the river.

 

Settled in at Big Pines campground on the Yakima River.

We arrived about 2pm on Thursday, 6/10, and had four nights booked. Thursday was very windy and we hoped for calmer weather or floating the river in an inflatable kayak may be more challenging than we bargained for! We managed to fill our days easily. We did a hike with Riley which was supposed to be a relatively flat trail next to a creek, but we missed the fork in the trail and ended up climbing a steep, scree covered trail wondering where the creek was. Lol. We called a halt after a mile when the trail disappeared in the scrub. Oh well, the views weren’t bad and the climb was a much-needed workout.

 

A few showers and a vibrant rainbow remnant.

A very cool suspension bridge crosses the Yakima River.

Not the hike we wanted, but fun anyway. 

We did our float on Saturday. We put in at Umtanum, about 6-7 river miles above the takeout at our campground. We weren’t too sure how Riley would do with the swifter river current, but folks do this section of the river on pool floaties so how bad could it be? Well it was a little windy and choppy in places, but we’re happy to report Riley did great! He sat up and watched the birds for a while and then laid down and took a little nap. It was sunny and warm and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and the float. Luckily the current was strong enough to overcome a brisk headwind or we might have been floating backwards. Lol.

 

Cool volcanic formation in the canyon wall.

Yakima Canyon from the river.

Riley, our favorite float buddy!

We also made two trips into Yakima. We hit a bike shop for parts so Rog could redo the rear brakes on his bike. (Very important because we have reservations for a 15-mile downhill bike ride on the Hiawatha Trail! More on that later.) A visit to Tieton Cider Works was also a priority. I had the flight and then stocked up on the cherry and huckleberry ciders (Note for Bob and Carol: Yes, I got enough to share!) Our second priority was a stop at Valley Brewing for their sours. They do a Very Berry Cherry Swirl that is one of my absolute favorites and also a limited edition. More stocking up! Lol. Imagine my devastation when we arrived at Valley to find the Swirl was totally gone. No amount of pleading and begging (trust me, I tried!) could produce a single can. Oh well, a very acceptable consolation prize was their Peanut Butter and Jelly Sour. Whoohoo. Fickle me has a new fav. Lol.

 

The cider flight at Tieton. Yum!!

Missed the Swirl, but Valley Brewing came through. 

Our next destination is Oregon’s newest state park, Cottonwood Canyon. The campground is all first come/first serve so we’re planning on getting an early start and hoping for the best. It’s the first of several new camping spots we’ll explore, so stay tuned.