Sunday July 24, Near Lowman ID

Today has been a super hot one, reaching just under 40 degrees. Up till now our air conditioning while driving has been the open window, but this afternoon we had to wind up the windows and turn on the airconditioner.

But the 230 miles we have travelled took us along some really scenic roads, and realise how many wonderful rivers flow through Idaho.

Meant to add to yesterdays log, last night while we were sitting down by the river, we watched a beaver on the far side of the river taking a branch down under some rocks, obviously building a dam in the corner. Later he emerged and was surprised to see how big he was as he swam around. It was too dark to get a photo though.

We left camp reasonably early in the cool and after a quick stop in Grangeville to get onto wifi and load the blog, it was back onto Highway 95 and busy roads as we headed south. It was time to put our clocks forward and hour as we moved into Pacific Time.

After passing through some big open country we wound down to Riggins a huge white water rafting centre on the Salmon River. With a very hot Sunday, there were rafts floating along most of the rivers, a great sport. Had trouble working out what river we were on at times as there are so many of them, but they are all so scenic and the water is extremely clear.

From 95 we turned on 55 at New Meadows and the roads seemed to get busy until we got to the holiday town of McCall on Payette Lake. It is a real summer holiday destination and we could hardly move, there were boats and people everywhere. No chance at all of finding a parking spot near the lake, so after picking up some fresh bread at the market for lunch we continued on and found a spot under a tree for lunch where it was a little cooler. The traffic was getting really heavy as we were now on the main road back to Boise and people were returning from their weekends.

We were relieved to finally turn off the main road at Banks and head East on a road that followed the swiftly flowing South Fork of the Payette River. As we wound up the gorge we came around a corner and got an awful shock to find a group of people standing around a motorbike rider, he and his bike were on the ground and blood was pouring from his head, he was very still. It was scorching hot and they were all in the full sun. We stopped but they said someone had gone for help as there was no cell phone coverage, so we moved on. There seems to be no law in this state for wearing helmets and we see so many bikers with their hair flowing, it is an accident waiting to happen. It was very sobering.

It was getting onto 5pm and after checking out a few campgrounds finally found this unserviced free Forest Camp right beside the river with a gentle breeze blowing and some shade trees…a perfect spot. I even got my togs on and sat in the river for awhile which really cooled me down…in a hurry as it was pretty fresh.

A cold beer seemed the next best thing to do, guess dinner will be a bit later tonight as it just seems too hot to eat.