I REALLY wanted to go camping! My husband wanted to wait a week but I was itching to get out of town and into the mountains. I put together what I could on Thursday night then Bob went shopping, found a pet sitter, and straightened up the house on Friday while I worked. We were on the road shortly before 6 p.m. Not too bad.
After about 2 ½ hours we approached the small town of Stanley. In the distance clouds stretched across the sky, some looking very ominous. We took a left turn onto Highway 75 and pressed on another half hour to our favorite campground, located across the highway on the Salmon River. To our delight, the campground wasn’t full at all. We managed to claim a lovely campsite right next to the river, a site that I had eyed on previous trips. Now, we are masters of late, just-before-dark camp setups and this was no exception. A few drops of rain fell as we attached the rain fly. Next, we managed to get the shelter assembled over the picnic table just before the real rain fell. I cooked our mac and cheese under the cover in my raincoat, but it worked out. Dinner about 10 p.m. and we were mostly dry. And, of course, everything tastes better when you’re camping.
By the time we were ready to go to bed, the clouds had moved on and there were stars, lots of stars. When you live in a city you can forget what stars look like. There was no moon so the thousands of stars sparkled like tiny jewels against the coal black sky. Breathtaking. It would have been lovely to have removed the rain fly and gazed through the netting at the top of our tent but we’re not that crazy. Storms can move in quickly. We compromised by partially opening the door and window of the tent. We fell asleep looking at the stars and listening to the sound of the Salmon River rushing by.
I awoke to sun streaming through the tent but it didn’t last long. When I began cooking our scrambled eggs over the camp stove it was raining. By the time we had washed our dishes, the clouds were gone and the sun was once again shining. We looked over area maps, our chairs facing the river. Periodically groups of matching rafts floated by with smiling occupants, wearing matching life vests, who waved at us. We waved back from our perfect campsite.
Shortly after noon we headed off in our van for an afternoon adventure (little did we know). Not too far down the road we crossed a bridge construction area. Bob turned around and pulled over, frustrated that he could not find Slate Creek Road. He got out, walked through the construction and found the small dirt road. He hopped back in the van and we headed down a rather bumpy road. We had been down much worse roads but not in our Quest with its low clearance. Bob used to have a ’69 VW van which he took everywhere. Our current van is not really made for back roads so he drove very slowly. We hit one bad bump and kept going. Up ahead the snow capped White Cloud Mountains came into view. Absolutely beautiful! As we drove I looked for good photo angles; the green grass and trees provided great framing. There was no place to pull over easily so I thought I’d wait until later. We passed a couple of ranches, and waved at a guy camped near the road, then headed to the top.
I hopped out to check out the trailhead. I turned around to find Bob checking the ground instead. There was a trail of fluid coming from our car. To our dismay we found out it was transmission fluid. Bob started up the car but the transmission had already failed. We rolled down the road about ¼ mile to the campsite we had seen and met Mike. He was a very friendly guy and eager to help us. We tried to maneuver to van to where they could actually get under it (very low clearance). Mike pulled out his collection of tools and tubes with the hope of repairing the damaged pan. Lots of discussion. We learned that his camper actually had a dead battery. Make that two dead batteries; he was charging one with a solar panel but since it was cloudy (again) the process was slow. Mike said that he was camped in that location for a couple of weeks. He helped keep the nearby hot springs tub clean, and enjoyed hiking to the local lakes. It was finally decided that he would ride his motorcycle to the nearest town. The driver of a passing car (headed to the hot springs) recognized Mike. She gave him the name and number of the tow truck driver in Challis (over 40 miles away). Mike headed out to find a phone in Clayton, the nearest town, to call this guy in Challis. Bob and I headed up the trail to check out the hot springs.
Before we returned to the camp, Mike was back. He offered us a beer while we waited and visited. The tow truck arrived. Eddie hooked up our van with the skill that comes from lots of experience. Mike declined our offer of gas money but asked for our phone number so he could hear the rest of the story. Eddie drove very slowly down the 7-mile road, sharing his knowledge of the area. While Bob and Eddie chatted, I went over in my mind what we could do next. Once we got to the highway, Eddie checked underneath the van and determined that the damage to the pan was too great for him to repair. He could have taken us back to our campsite but there was no cell phone service and no way to contact anyone. There was no way to get back to Boise or to Challis from there. We opted to go to Challis. As we drove into town we spotted my goddaughter’s bright blue car parked in front of a trailer in the Forest Service compound. (She works as a seasonal.) We stopped at the repair shop. Eddie said we might be able to ride back to Boise with his daughter, if he got her car fixed, either the next day or Monday. He could not even order the part until Monday so the van would not be repaired at least until Tuesday. Stuck in Challis!
We walked over to the trailer where Maritza’s (my goddaughter) car was parked. Bob knocked. A short time later a young woman answered the door, Maritza’s roommate. She was able to find out for us that Maritza was in the field until Tuesday evening. She welcomed us in to rest while we figured out what to do. Called our pet sitter (at least Challis has cell service). We chatted a while with Maya and learned that she was an archeologist. Her car was in the shop but she offered to find a car to drive us to our campsite. Maya walked over to Maritza’s boss’s place, borrowed his station wagon, and then drove us 40+ miles to the campground. We broke camp in record time, just as the sun was setting. It just killed me to have to give up such a great campsite! Maya drove us back to our van in Challis where we unloaded our stuff, then drove us to a motel room, where we dropped off our clothes, and then drove us back to her place where we cooked our hamburgers at about 10 p.m. She wouldn’t take any money either!
We walked over to a very basic motel room with cheap wood paneling, and mattresses with springs poking through. Our heads hit the pillows after midnight. Beginning about 5 a.m. the big truck diesel engines, belonging to the miners staying next to us, began to roar. Their owners yelled to each other, in order to be heard over the noise of the engines. We tried to go back to sleep for a while. Breakfast was cereal and milk, pulled from the cooler in our van. We walked to a quick stop/gas station to get a cup of coffee. We hung out there for a while looking for 1A cars (our county designation) with space in them, hoping to hitch a ride to Boise. No luck. Walked to another gas station then to the city park. Bob made a call to a church friend, Judy, to let her know that he might not be there to help with Vacation Bible School; he talked to her husband, Ron, a bit. I left messages for a couple of my coworkers. We finally decided to get some lunch stuff out of our car plus any items we would be taking back to Boise (just in case we suddenly found a ride). Maya had offered her place as a hangout so we trudged over there with our stuff. While visiting with Maya, Ron called us and offered to pick us up. “Are you sure?” I asked. He decided to take our Honda instead of his little truck, so another call was made to the pet sitter to let him into our house to find car keys. More calls (luckily the batteries held out).
Bob and I sat and read our books in front of Maya’s trailer while Ron filled our gas tank and drove nearly 4 hours to pick us up. What a welcome sight! We loaded up the car, thanked Maya and we were on our way with Bob driving. By the time we reached Lower Stanley we were ready for dinner. We enjoyed good food, good company and a fantastic view of the Salmon River and the Sawtooth Mountains from the deck of a restaurant. From there we headed home, arriving about 11:30 p.m. and very grateful to be there.
Although it certainly wasn’t the weekend we had planned, we definitely had an interesting time. We experienced the kindness and generosity of complete strangers. And our friend, Ron, was our hero! I got back for work and Bob made it to Vacation Bible School. And we get to go back to Challis soon to retrieve our van. . .but no more back roads for it. I think Bob needs a jeep!
