Return to the River

 Sometimes we never learn. When the forecast calls for 95 degree + days, we need to listen and be prepared for hot weather. But morning rain each day? Come on now, you can't have it both ways, can you.

For grins and giggles, Linda checked the availability of possibly camping at Huckleberry Campground on the St. Joe River and found a nice spot open from Tuesday through Thursday. She boked it and once again we found our selves upon the Joe for a mid-week stay. 

Daren and Marcy Upchurch had booked a site so we had friends to chat with and do some catching up.

Due to the heat, we relaxed in the shade each day and enjoyed our campsite.  The weather was hot each day, but the rain came through each night in the morning hours. It is always nice to get thunder and rain to cool off everything just before the sun comes up. We kept our fingers crossed that the lightning didn't start forest fires, but the cool rain was very welcome.

Hot Huckleberry

A few weeks ago, Linda went on-line and checked the Huckleberry Campground Reservation site and snagged a site for the middle of the week.  The Andersons agreed to join us in a little mid-week get-a-way and even though the weather report called for incredibly hot days during our stay we all said we needed the time away.

Linda and I drove down via the Rose Lake cut-off and arrived at the site at about 1:30. The Andersons, Mike, Rayelle, Julia and Annie, their dog, joined us about an hour later. Our site had good afternoon shade. We set up and immediately started playing Corn Hole on a set Mike had made. The afternoon grew hotter and folks began walking down to the river for nice cooling dips.

The sun was setting when we went for our evening walk around the campground. We met some folks coming home from fishing. They told us that there was a young moose grazing by the river, so we grabbed our cameras and walked quickly to the edge of the river. Sure enough, there was a young moose just upriver on the far bank.  I took some photos, but the distance I was away from the critter and the evening low light made it hard to get good shots.

We walked back to camp and made dinner, ate, and played a game of  Hucklebuck. The evening cooled off a bit and Mike started a fire. We enjoyed playing the game well into the dark. By 9:30 PM we were ready for bed and everything had quieted down around the campground.

The first logging truck rumbled by at about 2:00 AM and then about every 20 minutes another one followed. We found this would continue throughout the night and well into mid-afternoon. Both Linda and I remembered this happening several times when we have stayed up at Huckleberry. You just have to ignore the "compression breaks" of the big rigs trying to slow for the corner by the campground. As the days went on, we all grew accustomed to the noise.

The next morning, after we all ate and got ready for the day, everyone loaded into Mike's new truck and we took a drive up, Marble Creek. Linda and I have followed the same path twice prior to this trip. We knew vaguely where we should head, but our exact location and some of the turns we took were not done with confidence. 

Winding along, we came to a split in the road where there was a sign that directed passersby to a gravesite. We all agreed that we needed to explore the site and so Mike followed the arrow, made a left turn, and proceeded on. The road led us on and we figured out that if we followed the blue ribbons we would eventually come to the site. Sure enough, we came to a final arrow pointing off the road and into the woods. After about fifty yards we came to some fence posts that ringed an old tree stump. On the stump was carved "Ed Boulette, Died, Aug. 21 -04".  We studied the area to see if there were historical reasons for the site to be preserved and the trail kept up, but we found nothing. Later when we returned home, both Rayelle and I did internet searches for any information about old Ed, but we found nothing. I posted a question to the "Old School North Idaho" Facebook group and got quite a bit of information. Turns out old Ed was a claims jumper who was shot and killed by the homesteaders. The story of the gravesite was published in a book by Bert Russell called Swiftwater People.

Back in the truck we traveled on and came to a historical marker and trail providing information on the Lines Creek Memorial trail. We stopped and read the signs. Linda and I had been here before when we walked the two-mile-long trail. (Follow this link to our previous blog post and photos.)

By this time it was getting later in the afternoon and our goal was to hike in amongst the big cedar trees at the Hobo Cedar Grove, so we moved on. After a couple wrong turns and backtracking, we found the road leading to the cedar grove.

We hiked the short trail into the Hobo Grove. It is amazing how cool the air was deep in this forest. As we wandered about, we all talked about how the temperatures were very nice and comfortable. Later when we returned to the campground we found that our thermometers had registered above 100 degrees. We were glad we had taken this drive and been so comfortable.

Back in camp, most everyone headed to the water to cool off.  Dinners were prepared and consumed and then we played more cards and Corn Hole.

Our last full day was spent in the shade and down by the water. Temperatures were hot, but you could stay fairly comfortable if you sat in the shade. Mike and I drove up into the woods and did some target shooting. It was fun, but for the second year in a row Mike won the big shoot off. I guess I should not expect much since I only shoot targets once a year.

The rest of our stay was spent in the shade. We had dinner and Mike displayed his Dutch Oven cooking skills. This mid-week trip turned out to be exactly what everyone needed!