August 27, 2017

I arrive at Silver Creek West Access near Picabo about 10 this morning.  This is a fishing access site that permits camping, no fee.  There are several sites around a loop.  I back in to a site that is right on the creek and get set up.  It’s nice to arrive at camp this early in the day!

It turns out Silver Creek is very popular for fishing and floating.  And this being a Sunday there were a few people who came to put into the creek. I had been hearing something splashing in the creek.  Then  in a little bit I heard voices, so I assumed it was fishermen coming down stream.  But it seemed like they had stopped right by my camp.  There were shrubs along the creek bank so I couldn’t see them.  They were there for a few minutes when finally they came walking out and asked if I knew there was a moose in the creek!

I grabbed my camera and went to look.  This guy was about 50 feet away from me!  So that’s what I heard splashing around!  The two men, who were father and son, were floating downstream in a canoe and fishing.  The creek is very narrow and they were nervous about going past it in their canoe.  They were hanging around to see if he would leave, but no dice. He came out on the bank and continued browsing.

Their truck was about a mile away on the highway, so I drove the dad out there as they were done in with the sun and didn’t want to go on.  They were locals and had heard that there were two moose hanging out in this area.  Several other people came around and they also knew about the moose being here.  So I guess this is their favorite hang out.

Just before dark both moose came out in the meadow, it was too dark to get a photo.  But the other one was about the same size as the one I saw in the creek.

This was a nice camp for a day or two.  It’s only a mile off the highway, so a little traffic noise but not too noticeable.  And I had 2 bars of Verizon.

It’s still very smoky.

There are several of these State of Idaho fishing access sites along Hwy 20 that permit camping, most no fee.  This one was a nice stop over for a night or two.