BILL AND JEANNE

BILL AND JEANNE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE IN IDAHO

OCT 13-21, 2003

MONDAY, OCT 13, 2003

We departed San Diego by Delta Air at 615AM and arrived at Boise, Id at 11AM Mountain Time after a one-hour connection in Salt Lake City. After picking up our rental car (a SUV, gas guzzler) we headed west on I-84 then north on 55 to New Meadows. We had an unscheduled detour just north of the town of Eagle when we missed a short jog to the east on Rt 44 before Rt 55 again headed north. Anyway, the detour was OK since we saw some horse country with golden hills much like those of CA. When the road turned to dirt we decided we must be on the wrong highway. However, to be sure I pulled out my trusty Garmin GPS receiver and confirmed that we were, indeed, a few miles west of highway 55.

Rt 55 follows the Payette River, which flows south from Payette Lake (more later on this lake). We would do lots of driving beside rivers on this trip as will be pointed out later. After about 100 miles we reach the town of McCall, which is on the edge of Payette Lake (a very large and beautiful natural lake and the source of the same named river). McCall is also a resort town because of the lake and the nearby Brundage Ski area. Just north of McCall we turned north on rt 95 and at the 45^th parallel we turned left into the Meadows Golf Club area to visit our friends, Ed and Marlene Clark. There was a road sign pointing out the 45^th latitude and that we were now half way between the Equator and North Pole. Just a few weeks earlier I had been on the Tropic of Cancer (22.5 parallel) in Mexico so I covered a lots of lines of latitude this fall.

Ed and Marlene have a lovely A-frame mountain home in a wooded area with great views looking down on the Meadows Valley and then east to Granite Mountain and towards the Brundage Ski runs. This area has countless outdoor things to do with hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, etc. We stayed with our marvelous hosts for 3 nights. The Meadow Valley is vast with good water supply from the Little Salmon River and much cattle grazing. The cows are shipped in from great distances to graze during the summer months and fatten up for the market at a later date.

TUESDAY, OCT 14, 2003

We all got up early and made a 3 hour, 100 mile drive to Hells Canyon Recreation Area which is in the “Grand Canyon” of the Snake River. This canyon is advertised as the deepest in North America (about 6000’). The actual canyon is only about 20 miles from the Clark’s place as the crow flies but 100 miles as the car drives via rt 95 south, then 55 and finally 71. The road dead-ends at the Hells Canyon Dam, which is the last dam on the Snake before it enters the Hells Canyon region. The Snake flows north along the boundary between Idaho and Oregon and eventfully flows into the Columbia River and then to the Pacific.

At Hells Canyon Dam we joined a jet boat trip that was taking 4 gentlemen downstream (north) for camping and fishing. The guys were apparently planning to catch a lot of fish and/or drink a lot of beer considering the number of coolers they had. We all pitched in and helped them haul their stuff up a hill to their camp site and then the 4 Clarks and Brian, our guide and boat driver, headed north about 8 more miles. These jet boats go up and downstream through rapids with no problem (assuming the pilot knows what he is doing and Brian certainly did). We stopped at a spot and went to view an old homestead on a remote site where a creek joined the Snake. We also saw some “pictographs” left by Indians and very similar to the petroglyphs we know from the Mojave deserts of Calif. We also spotted a herd of big horn sheep as we headed back upstream.

WEDNESDAY, OCT 15, 2003

This day was quite chilly and windy and finally raining and snow at the higher elevations. In fact, the locals were saying the snows could start at any time at this point in the Fall. I invested $10 in a fishing license and $13 in a fishing pole and Ed and I headed up to Goose Lake, which is on the road that passes the Brundage Ski area. We started fishing with cold winds and snow falling horizontally so we did not last long! However, Ed caught one trout and he already had some fish donated by his friend so we had a great fish dinner that evening. We also checked out Zim’s Hot Spring resort, which is only about 0.5 miles from the house. We decided against a soak since it was raining and cold and enthusiasm for a swim in out door pool was minimal.

THURSDAY, OCT 16, 2003

We departed the Clark’s place at about 10AM and headed north (with questionable weather conditions-lots of fresh snow on the mountains visible to the east). We followed the Little Salmon River along Rt 95 to the town of Riggins where the Little Salmon joins the real Salmon River. Here we drove east about 26 miles along a very narrow dirt road that goes upstream along the Salmon. This road dead ends at a place called Vinegar Landing where there were lots of boat trailers from folks who had jetted upriver or down doing Steelhead fishing (basically rainbow trout that migrate up from the Pacific to spawn in the Fall). After returning to Riggins for lunch, JJ convinced me to try the road to the west that goes up to “heavens Gate” about 19 miles up a decent road to about 8400’. I had thought the road would be snow covered and not passable but we were pleasantly surprised to see no snow! However, it was plenty cold and windy at the viewing station but views to west of Snake River Canyon and east to Salmon River Canyon (where we had just driven). We also got good views (after the clouds lifted) of the “Seven Devils” range of mountain peaks which lookdown on the Snake far below..

It was dark when we got back to Riggins but decided to push on a few miles north to the town of Grangeville for the night.

FRIDAY, OCT 17, 2003

Departing Grangeville on Rt 95 we enter the Camas Prairie (camas is a flowering plant that apparently has an edible root that was popular among native Americans). This area is open farmlands with rolling, golden hills and little population. The Salmon River terminates in the north flowing Snake River just to the west of here. We stopped at the Nez Perce visitor’s center near the town of Spalding, ID. We learned a lot about the Nez Perce Indians on this trip since there were a zillion road signs talking about either the Nez Perce trail and/or the Lewis and Clark trails, which, in many cases, were one and the same. When Lewis and Clark first met (peacefully) the Nez Perce in 1805 the tribal lands covered much of today’s central Idaho and extended into Oregon, Washington and Montana. They were a pretty well off tribe due to abundant resources (fish, game, land, trees) and advanced civilization with lots of artwork, etc. Unfortunately for them, some of the natives expressed an interest in the white man’s religion, which ultimately resulted in the arrival (1830s) of missionaries (Rev Spalding was the one who built a still functioning church in the town with his name). The bottom line is that by the 1850-1870s there were rifts among the Nez Perce tribes with some aligning with the white guys and some maintaining their own cultures. After gold was discovered in the 1870s things got ugly; the US offered one of many treaties to take the Nez Perce lands and put them on reservations of every diminishing size. One group, under Chief Joseph, refused to sign on and decided to move to Montana where they hoped to live in peace with other tribes. Chief Joseph’s group of about 800 people was pursued by US Calvary for around 1170 miles (the Nez Perce trail) and then heading north to Canada before they were finally captured and defeated in Montana. These were the last of the real Indian wars (May –Aug, 1877) resulting in lots of roadside historical markers denoting a skirmish or near skirmish among the waring groups.

At Spalding we first met up with the Clearwater River which here is flowing west towards the towns of Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, OR where the Clearwater and Snake Rivers join. These towns are actually seaports as ships come from the Pacific via Columbia and Snake Rivers. At least, that is what the books say although we never saw a ship. There was a port district in both of the towns, which are connected by several bridges across the 2 rivers. We decided to push on back east along scenic highway Rt 12 which follows the Clearwater upstream This is a marvelous drive starting out in golden, arid country and driving into evergreen forested mountains. Just beyond the town of Kooskia (pronounced Koos kee) we stopped at a bed and breakfast (www.reflectionsinn.com) and we were two of the 3 guests they had for the evening. We agreed this would be a good place to come back to for a few days as there are lots of places to hike and a lovely location right on the Clearwater River.

SATURDAY, OCT 18, 2203

After breakfast (and spotting a flock of wild turkeys) we departed the B&B and continued east along Rt 12 passing the town of Lowell in about 12 miles. At Lowell the Locksa and Selway Rivers converge to form the Clearwater and the rest of Rt 12 is now following the Locksa River upstream. According to our hosts at the B&B there are many good hiking spots along the Selway which is a white water, wilderness river! We will do this on a future trip.

Our morning’ destination was Stanley Hot Springs which Hank had recommended and the B&B folks also favored the spot. At the Wilderness Campground we found the trailhead along the Boulder Creek which heads for 5.5 miles and 1600’ up to the hot springs. (Fortunately, we had Hank’s book that gave excellent directions to the spring.) After about 3+ hours we crossed the creek (actually, I feel INTO the creek) and we continued up a hill to the Stanley Hot Springs. This was a really neat spot with hot water coming out of artesian well on the side of a hill which created soaking pools as it drained down the hill. Our only disappointment was that the resident female moose was not soaking today although Hank had partied with her back in 1995 and several people along the trail confirmed she was still around.

We got back to the car just before dark and had a few miles to go to our night’s lodging in the Locksa Lodge.

SUNDAY OCT 19, 2003

The Locksa Lodge was rustic but comfortable and quite chilly last night. We have determined that one should be wary of restaurants that specialize in “home cooking” because that means the chef knows how to open cans and warm up the ingredients. We departed the Lodge at 830AM and continued up the hill towards Lolo Pass (5233’) where we stopped at a visitor center with lots of info on, guess what, Lewis and Clark. Also, there are lots of wetland meadows here that create headwaters of the Locksa River that we had followed.

We crossed into the state of Montana and headed south on rt 93 through the Bitterroot Valley with Bitteroot Mountains on the west. This valley with Bitterroot River is wide with lots of cattle and agriculture. We recrossed the Bitterroot Mountains crossing back into Idaho over the Lost Trail Pass (7014’) and picked up the Salmon River (our old friend) again. This area was very much a desert environment with many pretty yellow cottonwood (I think) trees along the river bottom. About 22 miles south of the town of Salmon we went to the trailhead of another hot spring (Goldbug) but decided it was too late in the day to start another hike (besides it was now hot and we were not anxious to start out in the desert sun and heat). At the town of Challis we turned west on rt 75 towards the town of Stanley. Just outside Stanley there is another hot spring (Sunbeam) that is right on the Salmon river with hot water gushing out a hillside, going under the highway via culvert and into the river. Several guys were doing an afternoon soak when we stopped to look.

MONDAY OCT 20, 2003

Last night was in Stanley which is a delightful and rustic community with great views of the Sawtooth Mountains. Unfortunately, we had another “home cooked” meal at one of the town’s 3 restaurants. Upon departing Stanley we got some good pictures of Fall foliage and spotted a herd of 40+antelope grazing in a field by the road. JJ decided they were pretending to be cows since it is hunting season with many hunters at all the motels.

Ascending the Salmon we, finally, came to the headwaters of the Salmon River (also known as River of No Return) that is at the base of Galena Pass (8500’). Beyond the Galena Pass we followed the Big Wood River down to the town of Ketchum. Ketchum is a lovely resort town (the famous Sun Valley ski area is serviced by Ketchum). We visited the gravesite of Ernest Hemingway who spent a lot of time here between 1939 and his death (by suicide) in July 1961. Hemingway wrote most of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” in Ketchum and did lots of hunting in the area. (As a bullfight aficionado it is mandatory to stop and pay homage to Mr Hemingway since he is the god of American aficion).

After several hours here we continued south past the town of Hailey and then onto rt 20 west bound across very arid land between the Sawtooth Mountains and a range of volcanic hills to the south beyond which lay the great plains of the Snake river at the south end of Idaho.

Along route 20 we encountered a prairie fire beside the highway and got some photos before continuing on back to Boise.

TUESDAY OCT 21, 2003

We stayed at a DoubleTree Inn on west edge of Boise and hiked a little on the “Boise Greenbelt” which is a paved hiking and biking trail by the Boise River. The it was good bye vacation and back to San Diego after great trip, visit and about 1000 miles of driving across some fabulous country.