We're travelling along the Sawtooth scenic byway and the Salmon River scenic byway heading to Montana. Along the way we found the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge and the ghost gold mining town called Custer. We spent quite a few hours here looking through the workings of the dredge and the old buildings in the town. We then drove to Challis for a free campsite in the forest.
The dredge had an 80ft swing and went to a depth of 35ft to bedrock
Mr. Hughie at the controls. They only ever got 40% of the gold that they dredged so I guess there's a lot still to be found.
The blacksmiths shop
Inside one of the houses with newspaper lining the walls for insulation
Time for a beer at the pub
Here's a sad story. The Johnson family lost their three daughters aged 10, 6 and 4 in a snow avalanche which landed on their house. The parents were rescued but the children died. It was so hard to get them out that they ended up burying them right there on the place where it happened.
Driving through the valley we had some fantastic scenery
And here's our free campsite by the river for the night
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