Week 103 - Idaho, Western Montana - 08-03-2008

River Writings from Idaho and Montana,

One of our traveling "rules" is to take new roads whenever we can. We did that this week as we exited Washington and moved on to Idaho and Montana.

The Palouse region in Western Washington makes Washington the third largest wheat exporting state. As you drive through this area you see multi-colored hills that look as if they are covered with velvet. This is Hwy 26 between Moses Lake and Pullman, Washington.

1) Pullman WA is home to the Washington State University Cougars. Farmers in this area of Washington, take sports seriously. We just missed getting a picture of a 200 foot long barn labeled with the words GO COUGS. 2) Old town Moscow, Idaho. Moscow was the home of Greg, Pete's high school basketball coaching mentor and good friend.

1) We stopped in Moscow for a wonderful three-hour lunch with Ellen's cousin Jean and husband Mark and their three sons, Aiden, Stephen and Micah and Aiden's fiancée Angela. 2) That spot on the right is not on your PC monitor; it's a bug on our windshield.

The view 2,000 feet above Lewiston and Clarkston from US Hwy 95. The river on the left is the Clearwater River that flows 182 miles from the Idaho-Montana border to join the Snake River. The 1,014 mile long Snake River with headwaters in Yellowstone National Park, in turn, joins the Columbia River. The Columbia River starts in Canada and finally dumps in the Pacific Ocean after passing through Portland, OR.

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Lewiston ID is actually a seaport! Locks and dams make passage possible all the way to Portland. The Snake River divides Idaho and Washington.

Spiral Canyon Road descends from Hwy 95 to Lewiston, 2,000 feet below. It is a slow but great motorhome friendly road that turns and twists for 7 miles. The sign says it's ten miles. Either they straightened out the 1917 turns or odometers are more accurate now!

1) Hell's Canyon on the Snake River is a favorite for experienced rafters. We stayed at Hell's Gate State Park along the Snake River. 2) Other nights we stayed at Granite Lake RV Resort. Granite Lake is at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers and backs up due to the Granite Lake Lock/Dam just west of this RV park.

1) Ellen rides her bike alongside the Columbia Queen riverboat. There are 22 miles of bikes paths here and we saw them all. 2) The Queen of the West heading west back to Portland.

The border between Washington and Idaho is defined as the meridian running north from the confluence of the Clearwater River and the Snake River. The white caps below remain relatively stationary. They delineate exactly where the two rivers meet.

Highway 12 took us from Lewiston/Clarkson to Lolo, Montana along the Clearwater River. This scenic route stays right at the rivers edge for over 100 miles.

US Highway 12, Northwest Passage Scenic Byway along the Clearwater River. Tell me, could you stand this for 100 miles? We did it for you! We had planned to camp and kayak for a day or two on the Clearwater, Selway and Lochsa rivers. Unfortunately we were traveling on Wednesday, a work day for Pete, and there was zero cell service. No problem, we stopped at one of the USA's last remaining phone booths to check on business calls. We have had cells phones since 1993 and had no calling card. Pete found he could use his credit card to call Atascadero. Before the call, he asked the charge. It would be $28 and change for the first three minutes. Bye, bye river rafting, hello Missoula!

Helena is the town that gold built, an honor no other modern Montana city can claim. While other gold camps boomed and dwindled into ghost towns, gold transformed remote Last Chance Gulch into Montana’s capital. It is both the capital of the state of Montana and the county seat for Lewis and Clark County.

We kayaked and canoed a couple days with Pete's brother Mike, and his roommates Bryce and Joyce. On the left is the Jefferson River and the Madison River on the right.

We love kayaking. We are going to try to find more rivers as we travel through Yellowstone and lower Idaho.

The quaint little town of Ennis had this sculpture of a fly fisherman at it's entrance. A classic car club was visiting Ennis this day.

We toured Virginia City (left) and Nevada City (right). Both historic tourist towns. Virginia City was born with the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in 1863. A "boom town" of the post-Civil War era, it served as the Montana territorial capital for 10 years, until the gold ran out. Nevada City, a western town created from a collection of buildings from other ghost towns, is one mile west of Virginia City.

Compared to our usual 300 miles a week, we really boogied, mostly due to no cell service :-(

We had such a wonderful visit and Pete's brother Mike, Joyce and Bryce and look forward to our return. Our general direction is Yellowstone, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and beyond. Of course, this can change daily. For example, we were headed to Idaho Falls but got a late start and stopped in West Yellowstone, Montana. We saw Yellowstone Park last year and did not intend on going again. But once we stopped, only 1000 feet from the west entrance, the lure of the park has drawn us in. We will visit the park and may change our route to go through Wyoming instead.

Be blessed this week, love, Pete and Ellen.

Photos from Aug 2008