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 establ...

Wayne Darlington Mining Visionary

WAYNE DARLINGTON MINING VISIONARY It could be said that Wayne Darlington was the visionary who saw the potential for the mining of copper in the Alder Creek Mining District. “Mr. Wayne Darlington, one of the most successful and experienced mining engineers in America, was for five years in charge of John William Mackay’s mining properties.” (Harper’s Weekly – 1907) Wayne MacVeagh Darlington was born on March 3, 1862 in Pennsylvania. The early 1880s found him in Idaho. Idaho State mine records show that Darlington had a theory that smelting rock containing the copper ore would be an effective way of recovering the copper. Darlington persuaded some New York investors to help finance his operation. Upon securing financing, a 50 ton per day through put smelter was built and operated from late 1890 to February 1891. Darlington would have been about 28 years old at that time. The smelter produced about 200,000 pounds of base copper bullion by di...

Lake Creek Trail

Several years ago (probably more like 8 or 9) Shirley and I went camping with friends in the Lake Creek Campground, Salmon Challis National Forest, (about 60 miles from our home in Mackay, Idaho). Our friends went some where with their kids fishing, so we decided to check out the trail to the chain of Lake Creek lakes: Round Lake, Long Lake, Big Lake, Rough Lake, Golden Lake, etc.. Well we got up the trail about 6 miles or so and the trail being so rocky and rough and because we were both on one 4-Wheeler, we decided to turn back to camp. Also, no one knew where we were because we left after our friends had gone and we had been out several hours. We never got to any of the lakes, and always wondered what the rest of the trail was like and what the various lakes looked like. Well, a few weeks ago, we got to find out! Our son Dirk called and said that he and his family would like to go camping for the weekend. They wanted to camp at the Lake Cr...

Wayne's Reflections