September 19th
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Saturday, September 19th, 2009
With our geriatric pets now gone, we are free to roam a little further and longer from home. So we decided to head up to Featherville with our ATV and explore at a slower pace. Our 4-wheeler was packed up and we we threw a few clothes in a bag and headed to the Feather River Motel on Saturday morning. We were lucky enough to get the last available room at this hotel where we unpacked the truck and headed up Trinity Mountain Road.
Saturday, September 19 was a crystal clear blue day like most summer days in Idaho. At the higher elevations, there were hints of Fall in the air but the aspens hadn’t really started changing colors yet. I did a little gold panning on a small creek on the way up towards the Trinity Lakes turn-off. I found some flecks of gold but not enough to even bother with as I am just trying to learn the "proper technique" first. Maybe , in the future, I’ll get more serious about gold panning.
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Some gold in the pan – not much
Once on top of the Trinity Mountain Road ridgeline, the usual views of the Boise and Sawtooth Mountains unfolded for us in all directions. Neither Toni nor I tire of the mountain scenery and unlimited views from Trinity Mountain Road. I’m guessing, but this weekend must be the "low" season for this area as we saw very few people on this trip. The exception was a convoy of about 6 trucks headed into the Trinity Lakes area.
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Deer bone in hand
We took a quick trip down to a gem hunting spot called Dismal Swamp. I think most people get down and dirty digging around the swampy and wet areas looking for crystals but we tend to take the easier route. We walked the roads and found some nice looking gems but all of them were broken up. We are still under the impression that digging in this area might not be strictly legal. Our method of collecting these cool smoky quartz crystals may not be as productive but we are happy with what we find.
Video of a Grouse in the Road
The above video was taken on Trinity Mountain Road , below Steel Mountain. My guess is this not so shy bird is some kind of grouse. We really expected it to fly away as we got closer but it didn’t seem to have much fear of us even though we were on an ATV. The day started out warm and sunny but high clouds moved in throughout the day. Overall, we enjoyed this ATV trip very much.
Where We Were
Our ATV trip on September 19th, 2009 started in Featherville, Idaho. We took Trinity Mountain Road (dirt road) from southwest side of the town towards the northwest up into the mountain. We eventually looped down into Rocky Bar and continues on to Featherville on the Rocky Bar Road. The end of the trip was our motel called the Feather River Motel.
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Feather River Motel in Featherville Idaho