Day 13: Elk Bend to Challis

June 24, 2025

Today is a relatively short day, so I'm in no hurry. The weather is still cold early in the morning, so I departed the glamping tent at 10:15 when the temperature was in the 60s.

The day starts with the scenic 1 mile county road to US 93 across the river. I appreciated the blue sky. I haven't seen much blue sky lately.

My 4th and final time to enjoy the hilltop view, looking downstream.

US 93 stays very close to the Salmon river for many miles south of Elk Bend. The canyon is narrow, so the road needs to stay close to the river. The road is often only 6 feet above the river, so this part of the river must not be subject to extreme flooding.

Today's route is quite arid, allowing unobstructed views of the gnarly volcanic landscape. Colors change regularly. I find it very interesting.

I also appreciate the extreme contrast in the landscape. Blue-green river. Green riparian zone alongside the river. Barren hillsides with a variety of colors. And occasional peeks of big snowy mountains outside the canyon.

I wasn't feeling very energetic, so I pedaled at a slow easy pace. It's upstream into a gentle headwind, but the grade is gentle. I didn't have to work hard. Still no shoulder on US 93. Traffic was relatively light, but it was more traffic than I remembered in September 2008.

I stopped in Cronk's Canyon, intending to soak at Cronk's Canyon hot spring. It's easy to find, in plain view to a southbound cyclist riding along the fog line. The hot spring is far enough below the road that it's not visible to motorists who are closer to the center line.

Cronk's Canyon hot spring is between the river and US 93.

I soaked at Cronk's Canyon hot spring in 2008. The pool was a bit deeper then. Now the pool is only 6 -8 inches deep and the temperature was 109F. Way too hot and there is no bucket to add river water. I chose not to soak. Another reason not to soak is that I'm a bit sunburned from yesterday's soak.

After I left it occurred to me that I could have used a 1-liter water bottle to add river water. But it would take maybe 50 bottles of water to cool the pool, compared to 3-5 buckets of water if a 5 gallon bucket was handy. I'm not really disappointed that I couldn't soak there because it's not a top tier soak.

Cronk's Canyon hot spring pool was 109F, too hot.

I'm repeating myself, but I really enjoyed the constantly changing colors and shapes of the volcanic landscape.

I really enjoy the multi-colored volcanic landscape.

I also appreciated the occasional view of distant snowy mountains. I didn't expect to have views outside the deep canyon.

Today had more peeks of distant snowy mountains than expected.

Looking downstream (north) from a bridge.

I am not a volcanism expert, but I see areas with pointy cinder cones and areas of basalt (lava) cliffs. Colors vary depending on the chemical composition of each volcanic eruption.

One area had all the trees cut down along the riverbank. I presume the trees were invasive, didn't belong.

Today I was amazed at how close US 93 stays to the Salmon river. I wonder how often the highway floods.

I think the Salmon river is one of the best high desert rivers for bike touring. The highways stay close to the river with great river and canyon views, with frequent campgrounds and fishing access sites. The Salmon river canyon is more colorful than most other volcanic canyons in Idaho that are gray basalt. And the long route along the river climbs from barren high desert to a forested alpine environment.

But it's not a beginner's route because it has long distances between services and no shoulder with light to moderate traffic. I would avoid this route during a holiday weekend. I would prefer the route during late May or early September. Population is so low that there is almost no local traffic. It's such a remote road to nowhere that few long distance trucks use this route. Most of the traffic is recreational-motor homes and pickup trucks towing fishing boats, raft trailers, ATV trailers, 5th wheel camping trailers, etc. Plus a few delivery and construction vehicles. Because it's mostly recreational, traffic might be heavier on weekends than on weekdays like today (Tuesday).

Looking back, another peek of snowy mountains.

I took a picture of this during my 2008 tour. It hasn't changed.

Distinctive escarpment just north of Challis.

US 93 was mostly flat upstream along the Salmon river, but Challis is on a bench 200 feet above the river. So the last few miles to Challis are a slow uphill grind.

Challis was founded for gold mining but the town doesn't have much historic charm. Today it's a farm town, but also a government town with BLM and National Forest ranger stations and a helicopter base for fighting wildfires. Also the usual regional center amenities such as county courthouse, hospital, airport, and motels. Challis has a few tourists but it's not a tourist town like Salmon.

I arrived at Village Inn at 4:30. The motel is 3 blocks south of Main Street. My room has A/C which was not needed today. Today was quite sunny, but the high temperature was only 77F. Challis is 5214 feet elevation.

I walked to have dinner at the Challis Roadhouse on Main Street. It's a fancy 2-level restaurant/bar with a stage and dance floor. Surprisingly big for a town of 944 people.

I had dinner at Challis Roadhouse, and met Ian from Cambridge, UK, who is biking from Portland to Denver.

I sat at a table in the dining room. A few minutes later a sunburned single guy came in and sat at a table next to me. Maybe he recognized me as a cyclist. We didn't talk at first, but eventually we had a long talk. Ian was the only other traveling cyclist I met during this tour. He's 60 year old, from Cambridge, UK. A military retiree, not an academic. He has toured in many countries. This tour is from Portland to Denver. He described his route and some of it seemed awful to me. He left Portland by crossing the I-205 bridge and pedaling WA 14 on the north side of the Columbia river. He didn't know or care that the south side is a renowned historic scenic highway with many waterfalls, more shade, and less traffic. We talked for probably an hour about various bike tours. Ian said I look much younger than 64. I don't hear that often. It was a great novelty to talk to another cyclist. We're about the same age and both solo travelers with a non-traveling wife at home.

Meeting Ian cheered me up, but I'm still tired and dreading tomorrow's extremely long ride to Stanley. Ian said it was easy, but he went downstream with a tailwind.

Distance: 37.3 miles
Average Speed: 7.7 mph
Ascent/Descent: +1284/-453 feet

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 420 miles (676 km)

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