We left Eugene early on the morning of July 4th 2024. We drove to Idaho City, but arrived too late for the museum or any other shops to be open. I had read that they had a fireworks show at the High School Football field, so we ate dinner and hung around until dusk. They actually had a pretty good show for a small community. The gravel road from the field was packed after the show, and it took a while to get back to the highway. We drove a few miles out of town and camped at a large gravel parking lot.
The next morning, we drove north on Highway 21, past Lowman and up to Bonneville Hot Springs. We hiked into the hot springs for a soak and then a quick dip in the creek. Feeling refreshed, we continued on toward Stanley, Idaho, in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
The campground at Stanley Lake was full, so we ended up camping about 1.25 miles north of the lake in a free camping area. We picked out a spot, left a table and chairs, drove back to the lake. I hiked a trail toward McGown Peak looking for a spot for sunset. Not finding a good composition, I hurried back to the lake, where Vicki and our grandson were playing in the water. I found a good spot for some images right at sunset. There were a lot of waves on the lake, so I put on a 6 stop ND filter to clean up the reflections.
The next morning I was up before the sun and hiked back to the lake. There was a lot less wind, so there was no need for an ND filter.
As the sun came up over the ridge, the mist started rolling off the lake. It seemed like it was trying to tell me what direction I should shoot. Follow the light!
Telephoto shot of the mountain peaks above Stanley Lake.
Reflection of the Sawtooth Mountains in a small pond, near Highway 21.
Headed toward the Town of Stanley, Idaho, from Stanley Lake were a lot of buck rail fences. This spot had a nice view across the meadow to the Sawtooth Mountains.
Unfortunately, on July 24th a lightning storm started several wildfires in the Boise National Forest on the west side of the Sawtooth Mountains. Based on the fire maps I looked at, Bonneville Hot Springs, and the Stanley Lake area were burned. Most of the preceding locations were likely burned, and quite possibly the image below will not look the same. As of September 21st, 2024, the fire is 72% contained and over 125,400 acres.
Prospectors discovered mineral deposits near Bayhorse in 1864. In 1877, a major lead-silver vein was discovered at the Ramshorn Mine. By 1878, a rush to the area had begun. Initially, ore from the Ramshorn had to be shipped to Salt Lake City for smelting.
By the early 1880s, Bayhorse had a population of about 300 and a number of permanent buildings. The town had a meat market, a general store, several boarding houses, and a number of saloons.
Mining at Bayhorse peaked in 1888, then fire hit Bayhorse in 1889, destroying several structures. Declining silver and lead prices caused a shutdown of the Bayhorse mines in November. The smelter was closed in 1889, reopened briefly in 1893 and 1894, but by 1897 was permanently closed and later dismantled
The mines at Bayhorse would return to production until 1925. Total production for the area has been estimated at more than $10 million, including approximately 200 oz. gold, 6.3 million oz. silver, 6.6 million lb. copper, 37 million lb. lead, and 39,000 lb. zinc.
The stamp mill building is intact, even if none of its original machinery remains. Overall, Bayhorse is a worthwhile stop if you are interested in mining or the Old West. Even if the town’s state of preservation is not ideal, we can still be thankful that the town was preserved in the Idaho State Park system and can still be enjoyed by history enthusiasts.
More detailed information can be found at Western Mining History including information on the Custer and Bonanza mines.
The privately owned town was added to the Nation Register of Historic Places in 1976. In 2006, the state purchased the site and included it in the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park. The Visitor’s Center at the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park is a worthwhile stop. Land of the Yankee Fork State Park has several interesting historical sites including the Challis Bison Kill site, the ghost towns of Custer, Bayhorse, Bonanza, and the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.
We drove from our camp near Stanley Lake to Challis, Idaho, stopping on the way to look for the elusive wild horses. They eluded us anyway. Then we stopped at the old mines as we worked our way back toward Stanley. There is plenty to do along this route, including multiple hot springs along the highway. If you want to stop at any of the hot springs, I would suggest doing it earlier in the morning, unless you like sharing them with 20 of your “best friends”. We did stop at Sunbeam Resort for huckleberry milkshakes on the way back to camp.
Dipping the toes in the water, right next to Highway 75 at Sunbeam Hot Springs
The next morning, we drove to Redfish Lake to look for a new campsite. We found a spot in Glacier View campground that was a last minute cancellation. I prefer to dry camp or boondock, but this was close walking distance to the Redfish Lake Visitor Center and the Redfish Lodge. The Annual Senior Park Pass works great at most campsites for 50% off camping fees. I would also recommend stopping at the Visitor Center for more information about the area. There was a playground and a number of good swimming beaches close by as well, which tire out our grandson and keeps him occupied.
We spent the day relaxing in camp and swimming. The Redfish Lodge has bands come in to play about 3 times a week. So we walked down to the lodge on Sunday night and listened to Audio Moonshine play some of their music. One more reason to camp and swim near Redfish Lodge. Ice Cream Cones!
That night, about 11pm, I left camp and hiked about 2.4 miles to the Sawtooth Wilderness, where at about 2am I could get the Milky Way over the Sawtooth Mountain Range. I had never hiked this trail before, so it was all new and very dark under the new moon. I heard animals several times and saw a few deer on the way in. Looking around, I found a spot to set up my Lume Cube, at 1% power, for some low level landscape lighting. It does not look like much light from 80 yards away at low power, but the camera picks up a lot of light.
A little bit of current on the beaver pond made the star reflections stretch out. I had planned to stay for sunrise that morning, but I had forgotten my sleeping pad. The humidity of the beaver pond area, being in a valley with not enough clothes, and the ground being too hard for good sleep caused me to pack up and head back toward camp. I arrived back at camp around 4:30 am and crawled into bed.
The next morning I was up, while the stars were still bright in the sky, and hiked back into the beaver pond area, in the Sawtooth Wilderness. I got there before the sun came up and found a good composition for this blue hour shot.
As the sun crested the ridge, it started to light up the peaks, leaving the valley in shadow.
I waited for it to climb a little higher and captured this reflection in the beaver pond. The beaver dam is in the lower left of the image.
There was a trail on the ridge above the beaver pond meadow area, and I decided to see if there were any wildflowers up on the ridge. To get there, I could either follow the trail back to the ridge trail junction, which was about 3 miles, or go straight up the slope. I chose straight up the slope as it was only 6/10ths of a mile. I took the image below, when I was about 2/3 of the way to the ridge trail.
The trail continued into the wilderness, but I hiked back toward the Glacier View Campground. There weren’t very many wildflowers, as it was a little late in the season, but you never know until you look. I took the trail back to the junction and got to see the rest of the trail in the daylight for the first time.
We explored several other places that afternoon, looking for a spot to spend the night. One of the places on my list was Fourth of July Lake. Since I didn’t see any good spots to camp with opportunities for sunset or sunrise spots close by, we headed to the trail head. After we ate dinner, I planned my hike to the lake. It was 1.4 miles and I figured it would take me about 1 hour to hike there. I underestimated a little bit, since the trail head is at 8800 foot and the lake at 9400 foot elevation. I wasn’t off by much, and I even had time to take a few images on the way up (while catching my breath).
As I set up to take this image, a doe kept going back and forth behind me and then walking off while looking back at me. I finally figured it out when I last saw her with a fawn trailing behind. I believe she wanted to lead me away from where her fawn was, then she quit worrying about it when she saw I wasn’t interested in her.
There were a few wildflowers at the lake, but it was a lot higher in elevation than anywhere else I had been on this trip.
Last light on the trail that continued toward Washington Lake and beyond. I hustled back down the trail in an attempt to get back before it was completely dark.
On the drive back toward Highway 75 we say several deer, a couple of fawns and a porcupine. We pulled off the road in a wide spot next to a creek and caught up on some sleep.
Our morning view of the Sawtooth Mountains, while camped below the White Cloud Mountains.
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