Robert Stuart Trail 1812 — 1813

Day 21: September 1st, 2007 Afton

Because I haven’t seen a nice place for breakfast yesterday, I walk over to the office to see if they know some place. Unfortunately no one is there. But on my way back I meet other visitors and I ask them. They have lived around here many years ago and they recommend the Cheese Factory. It is easy to find because of a big pillar carrying the name. Then I even meet the owners. But they just bought this property and are not familiar with the area yet. Anyways, they have heard about Cheese Factory and that it should be a good place!

So I give it a try and drive over to this place. Unfortunately, they are extremely busy and I must wait for an eternity for my food. Eventually I receive my breakfast. When leaving the restaurant, I see the other guests who recommended this place and I say thank you again for this hint. Unfortunately, they are a bit short on words, so I depart.

Then I drive over to the next gas station and around half past ten I am ready to depart for my first destination, the Periodic Spring.

FR10211/CR138/Swift Creek, ID

FR10211/CR138/Swift Creek, ID

A forest road takes me to the parking lot. This one is already pretty full. But I am still able to find a nice spot.

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Swift Creek, ID

I put my sunscreen on, pack my stuff together and start the hike. On my way, I do a lot of video taping and realize that a big and noisy group is just behind me. Due to my video taping, they overtake me soon. So I give myself now even more time to get some distance to them…

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Periodic Spring, ID

The periodic spring is a spring, which works similar to a geyser, but just with cold water. There is also a reservoir, which fills up with water and empties over time. I arrive at the spring when it is at the progress of shutting down. Because all the people line up on the side of the hiking trail, I climb to the other side to not have everyone in front of my camera. After a longer waiting, the spring starts to erupt again and I am able to get some nice shots.

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Periodic Spring, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Periodic Spring, ID

Upper Swift Creek Trail, Periodic Spring, ID

When everything is over I climb back to the hiking trail and walk back to my car. On my way back, I amuse myself when thinking about how the American people have helped the nature here: To keep the spring alive, they put concrete at the outlet and you can see a hose inside. You can now ask yourself, what is the reason for this…

FR10211/CR138, ID

When I arrive at my car, I start my drive back to Afton. Stuart probably has never seen the Periodic Spring.

Now I am on my way to Sheep Pass, which Stuart took back then.

FR10208/CR153, Cottonwood Creek, ID

One road, which I planned to drive, is only allowed for ATV’s. So I must look for an alternative route. But also there the road ends earlier than expected. Therefore it will be now a longer hike.

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

Slide Lake Trail, ID

The landscape is wonderful and the only one I meet are two horseback riders and two hikers, which approach me. But the trail is extremely steep and very long. It is also starting to cool down tremendously. All in all, I am at almost 9000ft. Around 5pm I decide to turn around to not be forced to hike in the dark. More than an hour later, I am back at my car and pretty much exhausted — even that I departed just before 3pm. But the inclines were pretty strenuous.

FR10225, Cottonwood Lake, ID

Now I am driving on the same forest roads back to the main road.

I drive back to my motel, which is completely booked to my surprise. Also my neighbor is parking on my spot, but he immediately parks his car on his side. I quickly put my stuff into the room and I must realize, that they haven’t even made the bed nor have they put fresh towels in the room. This is real bad service, definitely a pratfall! Because it is already extremely late and also Labor Day Weekend, I immediately leave for Dad’s Steakhouse — where I run into the next disappointment: They are so busy, that I would receive a table not before half past nine!

In fact, they give me a recommendation just across the street. But this restaurant does not really look promising. So I start my search and drive almost an hour through this area before I find in the old town of Afton the Los Cabos, a Mexican family restaurant. There I immediately receive a table. But due to the amount of people I must also wait for my food for a long time. Also there are many kids around and it is extremely noisy. But the dinner is pretty good. So I pay kind of satisfied around half past eight and drive back to my cabin. There I do my book keeping, check my video taping and program the minmum of my GPS coordinates for the trip tomorrow. Unfortunately, my neighbors are a bit noisy. But until I am ready for bedtime, things are okay again…