Day 6: To Stanley

September 2, 2008

In the middle of the night I put on thermal underwear, wool socks, and a balaclava to keep warm. In the morning there was a heavy frost and my hanging laundry was frozen. The temperature was 32F at 9 AM. It's hard to get moving when it's that cold, so I didn't get on the road until 10:15, shortly after the sun started shining on the campsite.

First was 1/2 mile of gravel to get back onto highway 21, then east on highway 21 a few miles to Forest Road 524 which continues up the middle fork of the Payette river to Sacajawea hot spring. The hot spring is 5.5 miles up the gravel road. I had a short soak at the hot spring, then continued another 1/2 mile up the road for lunch at the Sawtooth Lodge.

Sacajawea hot spring along the upper reaches of the south fork Payette river.

On the way back to the paved highway I took my last picture of the south fork Payette river. Here the river is much smaller than it was on the first day of the tour.

South fork Payette river near the junction with the middle fork.

When I got back to pavement I stopped to see why my underseat panners were swaying and discovered a broken metal strap on one side of the underseat rack. It took only a few minutes to reassemble the rack with the remains of the metal strap. Now one side of the rack is 1/2 inch higher, and I expect the metal strap on the other side of the rack to break soon in the same place.

After repairing the rack I started the 2300 foot climb to 7200 foot Banner Summit. Near the beginning of the climb I had my first good view of the Sawtooth mountains to my east. I will see much more of the Sawtooth mountains later in the tour.

My first view of the Sawtooth mountains to the east.

Traffic was light on the climb to Banner Summit. A big improvement compared to all the holiday traffic during the 3-day holiday weekend. No houses, fences, crossroads, or power lines along the road. Just a lonely ribbon of asphalt through the forested mountains. Fortunately the grade is an easy 5% most of the time.

I got to the summit at 5:50 PM with still a long way to Stanley. Clouds were building and it looked like it might rain. The descent from the summit is short because the Stanley side of the mountain is much higher elevation than the Payette river.

The road into Stanley was kind of frustrating. The road had been recently chipsealed, so there was loose rock on the road. Traffic tends to blow all the loose rock onto the shoulder where I was riding. Fortunately the traffic was light and the views were excellent. The temperature dropped steadily so I bundled up for the last few miles to Stanley.

Meadow north of Stanley. The red trees are Lodgepole pines killed by pine beetles.

Sawtooth mountains, view from north of Stanley.

I arrived at Stanley (population 100, elevation 6260 feet) at 7:40 PM. Plenty of time before it gets dark at 10 PM. I'm much higher elevation than I was last night, so I decided to get a motel room to avoid another sub-freezing night. In the motel I took a shower, washed clothes in the sink, spread out my sleeping bag to dry, charged batteries, called my wife, caught up on news, etc.

The Sawtooth mountains loom over Stanley, Idaho (population 100).

Distance: 53.1 miles (85 km), 12.5 miles unpaved

Climbing: 3954 feet (1200 m)

Average speed: 8.6 mph (13.8 km/h)

Maximum speed: 33 mph (53 km/h)

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 234 miles (377 km)

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