Like clockwork, we were up with the sun, but our campsite was nestled so deeply in a canyon, that’s about an hour later than normal. Still, the haze of forest fire hung in the air. We got on the road, traveling deeper into the valley. We followed about 6 miles of gravel road, looking for a hot spring, but the site we found was in full sunlight and my thighs were looking pinker as the day progressed, so we passed on it. However, we did see the rump of a brown bear galloping away from us into the woods, which was pretty great!
We explored south from the Payettte Valley, and eventually made our way into Boise so I could find WiFi and check my work email. Yeah, I’m supposed to be on vacation, but it’s the tail end of this project and there are a couple of issues still to be wrapped up. At least I can say I’ve seen Boise now. Though it was shrouded in as much haze as the mountains were. I hope that’s all from fire smoke; I hate to think that’s just plain ole urban smog. All things considered, I’m more excited by the bear butt than I am Boise. Still, we found a coffee shop and I scratched my work itch as briefly as I could get away with.
We soon bolted town and headed north, to the mouth of the Payette Valley again. We stopped at a couple of camp sites, looking for hot springs. At one, we even ended up high on a steep hillside, finding the source of a hot spring, but no real place to rest your body more than 8 inches deep. We finally returned to the Deadwood campground and set up for the night.