September 14, 2008
Day 18: To Powerplant campground
In the morning it was 47F inside my closed tent and 39F outside. Not too bad. Up at 7:50, on the road at 9:10. It was chilly at first but going upstream helps keep me warm. After 6.5 miles I stopped for breakfast #2 at the only restaurant in Featherville. No stores or pavement for the next 3 days...
A block past the restaurant I veered left on unpaved Forest Road 156 to Rocky Bar. The road is mostly packed sand, almost no rocks. I halved the tire pressure to 40 psi to help float through the soft spots. Steady uphill climbing 950 feet, then a short descent and 200 foot climb to the Rocky Bar ghost town.
Rocky Bar has many abandoned houses but also at least 2 occupied houses. So it's not really a ghost town. After Rocky Bar the road climbs steeply along James Creek. Still mostly smooth well packed sand but increasingly steep.
The grade gets steadily steeper. When the grade is much more than 10% I get anaerobic and eventually have to stop to catch my breath. On 20% grades I could only pedal for a minute before stopping to catch my breath. I walked the bike off and on for at least a mile, mostly on grades of 15-20 percent. The road surface was still mostly packed sand. Traction wasn't a problem. Near the 7640 foot summit I had great views of the Sawtooth mountains to the north. The road goes through dense forests, some live and some burned.
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The descent was almost as steep as the climb, 12-15%, much rockier and narrower. I had to watch the road carefully but also enjoyed views of various rock formations.
The road descends to the middle fork Boise river, elevation 5800 feet. Then I turned right on Forest Road 268 upstream to Atlanta. Atlanta has a couple hundred houses. Many of the houses appear to be occupied but the post office and the two former restaurant/tavern establishments all closed recently. Now there is no store or restaurant in Atlanta. I knew that. It's why I carried 3 days of food over the insanely steep climb.
About a mile past the town of Atlanta on my right is Atlanta hot spring. The pool was 109F, a bit too warm on an 80F afternoon. Maybe it will be cooler early in the morning...
Then a few hundred yards away down a cliff near the river is Chattanooga hot spring in an incredible setting.
I had a soak in 104F Chattanooga hot spring but after a while I started to get itchy. This particular hot spring is notorious for red mites. I couldn't see them but they are nearly invisible.
Then onward less than a mile to Powerplant campground which was deserted on a Sunday night. Close to the river with great views of the craggy Sawtooth mountains. And a riverside hot spring. It's at 5400 feet elevation, forested, and I camped on pine duff for the first time in a long time. The weather forecast calls for above freezing tonight.
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I had a long evening soak in the hot spring, staying until the moon rose above the mountain. Back in the tent it begins to sink in that I have at least 65 miles of gravel ahead of me with no services. I'm literally at the end of the road (beyond is the Sawtooth Wilderness). Not a single car passed by overnight.
Distance: 33.6 miles (53.7 km), 27 miles unpaved
Climbing: 4489 feet (1360 m)
Average speed: 5.8 mph (9.2 km/h)
Maximum speed: 22.5 mph (36 km/h)
Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 741 miles (1,193 km)
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