Camping on Summit Creek

My wife Shirley and I decided we needed to take our travel trailer and make one more trip to the mountains before the snow fell and the weather got too cold. Our favorite camping spot on Phi Kappa Creek in the Salmon/Challis National Forrest was taken when we arrived so we decided to check out the Phi Kappa Creek campground. The campground had too many people like us, or maybe they were archery hunters, so we decided to check out other places.

We found a nice spot on Summit Creek about half way between Phi Kappa and Park Creek campgrounds opposite Little Fall Creek. It was easy to get into and we had it all to ourselves. We were a little closer to the road (Trail Creek Road) than we wanted to be but this proved to be a non-problem.

We spent 2 days camping and enjoyed every minute. When we were leaving (got about 1/2 mile down the road from where we were camped and saw a cow and calf moose standing in the middle of the road. I slowed almost to a stop so Shirley could get the camera and take their picture, but they were too fast, we were to slow and there won't be any pictures of moose in this blog.

Our Campsite On Summit Creek Opposite Little Fall Creek Canyon

(Our Shih Tzu Tucker Welcomes You)

Summit Creek Beside Our Campsite

Wayne Olsen Photo

Fall Willow Colors on Summit Creek Above Our Campsite

Wayne Olsen Photo

Shirley and I took our 4-wheeler up the Little Fall Creek Road until we got to the second switchback on the first shale slide and decided to go back as the sky was clouding up and it looked like a big storm was coming in. We only had one machine and that was another reason not to get to far from camp. We never want to go farther with one machine than we want to walk back (we were about 3 miles up the canyon). When I was in early grade school, my Dad logged in Little Fall Creek, so some day we want to go back with two machines and see how far we can still get up the old logging roads.

Little Fall Creek Canyon

Wayne Olsen Photo

We also took the 4-wheeler and went up the Park Creek Road into the head waters of the West Fork of Trail Creek. It is a pretty ride and is only about 2-3/4 miles from the Park Creek Campground to the end of the road and the trail head.

Meadow at the Head of West Fork of Trail Creek

(This is in the Sawtooth National Forest Which Borders Salmon/Challis National Forest)

Wayne Olsen Photo

Looking Down Summit Creek Toward the Big Lost River Valley

Wayne Olsen Photo

Comments

Early Mining on Mackay Peak

Early Mining on Mackay Peak Mackay Peak (10273 ft ) Ore was first discovered in what is called the Alder Creek mining district in 1879. However the prospectors who discovered the ore were too poor to develop their claims. In 1884, additional discoveries, including one in the area of what would become the Darlington Shaft of the Empire mine, created a boom in the area. NOTE: The Darlington Shaft (700 feet in depth) is located at the top of the the current open pit mine. . A 50-ton smelter was built at Cliff City on Cliff Creek This smelter was build by Wayne Darlington as an experiment to see if it would be economically feasible to recover copper from the ore by smelting. Wayne Darlington NOTE: I t could be said that Wayne Darlington was the visionary who saw the potential for the mining of copper in the Alder Creek Mining District. The Office of State Engineer was established by the Idaho legislature in 1895. The State Engineer was respo

Jesse McCaleb

Jesse McCaleb Jesse was born on Christmas Day, (December 25) 1837 in Roane County, Tennessee (west of present day Knoxville) to James Newton McCaleb and Susannah Hope. Jesse was one of 7 children. There is not much information about his childhood except for census records showing that the children may have been deserted by their parents and their being raised by close family members. Jesse left Tennessee (at the age of 20) in 1857/8 going to Camden County, Missouri (southeast of present day Kansas City). The 1860 census records list Jesse as living with the James Vernon family (James' wife Harriet was Jesse's first cousin). It was here that Jesse met his second cousin and future bride, Anna Boyd Vernon (Harriet's daughter, who in 1860 was 13 years old). Jesse was working as a clerk in the mercantile owned by James W. Vernon, but when the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Confederate Army at Camden County, Missouri and went away to

Hole In The Wall

I am a long time history buff. Especially when it comes to history of the Western United States. Parker When reading about Robert LeRoy Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (Sundance Kid) and the Wild Bunch; and, numerous fictional western histories describing the gangs hide-out called the Hole In The Wall which is located in north central Wyoming; Shirley and I decided to take a trip with her brother and sister-in -law and see the hide-out for ourselves. Since my wife Shirley was born and grew up in central Wyoming, I am always asking her if she knows where such and such a town is; or if she knows about a ranch, lake, etc. Parker and Longabaugh along with their gang, the Wild Bunch, performed the longest string of successful train and bank robberies in American history. Longabaugh So on September 7, 2014, the four of us along with Shirley's sister left Riverton, Wyoming, where Shirley's brother lives, and headed for Kaycee, Wyoming. West o

Wayne's Reflections