Day 4: To Pine Flats

August 31, 2008

The morning dawned with overcast skies and a mild temperature of 52F. I had an early morning soak at Little Anderson hot spring which had cooled to 103.5F overnight. I was in no hurry and got on the road at 10:30 AM. First was 2 uphill miles of gravel to get back to highway 21, then east on highway 21 towards Lowman. After biking less than 5 miles my first stop was for an early lunch at a restaurant in Garden Valley, then a few more miles to Campground hot spring. I arrived at noon, just before a hailstorm blew through for a few minutes. During the hailstorm I laid down in the hot pool while everyone else ran back to their cars.

Looking down on Campground hot spring from near the parking area.

The road has many views of the south fork of the Payette river which has a fast current and many huge rapids. It's obviously popular for rafting.

Highway 21 and south fork Payette river.

Paddlers on the south fork Payette river.

Rafting on the south fork Payette river.

Mandatory portage around a killer Class VI rapid.

The weather was overcast and much cooler than yesterday. High of only 75F, about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. 10 miles east of Garden Valley the highway climbs hundreds of feet above the river.

High above the river. Forested only on the shady north-facing slopes.

Then the road descends to the riverside Pine Flats campground and hot spring. It's a very large Boise National Forest campground. The hot spring is 1/3 mile down a path from the campground.

I set up camp and walked to look a the hot pools for a few minutes. The first pool was shallow and not very hot, only in the 80's Fahrenheit.

Warm waterfall pool at Pine Flats hot spring.

You have to walk knee deep in the fast-moving river for 100 feet to get to the main shower pool. This one was warmer but still only 93F. I wandered around higher up the rock escarpment and found a couple of pools that are much warmer.

The main warm shower pool at Pine Flats hot spring.

Then back to camp to wash clothes, make dinner, etc. 2 of the campground's 3 water pumps were broken, so I had to go to the farthest end of the large campground to get water. When it was nearly dark I went back to have a soak in the hot upper pool I found earlier.

I soaked in this 105F pool farther up the rock escarpment.

River view from the top of the hot spring.

Overall it was a nice relaxing day. I soaked in 3 hot springs, pedaled a bit, hiked a bit, and rested a lot. It's still the holiday weekend so it's crowded everywhere. Fortunately the heat wave has ended, making it more appealing to soak in hot springs.

Distance: 22.4 miles (35.9 km), 2 miles unpaved

Climbing: 1681 feet (510 m)

Average speed: 8.2 mph (13.1 km/h)

Maximum speed: 34 mph (54 km/h)

Hiked 2 miles (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 154 miles (248 km)

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