Friday, July 24, 2020

Boondocking, Wallydocking, And Moochdocking, Oh My! (Also Some Camping...)

After arriving June 28th, we haven't strayed so much as an hour from Missoula, splitting our nights among the Rotts' valley rent-house, the Mullan Road Walmart, Bretz RV, and an East Missoula truck-stop we favor. You can't say we are hard to please. Most of the time we were camped at the Powell campground in the Clearwater National Forest, over the Pass, and just down the hill from Lochsa Lodge. $10/night for seniors, with electricity. And right on the river. We spent some time at our storage unit, some time on an optometrist appointment (there will be more), some very little time on shopping/repairs, some wonderful time with old friends (one cow's length apart), and considerable time on the trails around Powell, enjoying the scenery and some productive huckleberry patches. We expect to do some more of the same in the coming few weeks before heading back to Middle California for a couple weeks, then heading back to Missoula for the rest of August and September. And whither then? Hard to know in these times, but we're pretty sure we won't be leaving the States.
Moochdocking in Missoula

Among the curiosities: it is July 3rd, our Glorious Leader is
doing his 4th of July stunt at Mt. Rushmore, and for half an hour
this giant C17 has been circling the field above Missoula, maybe
a couple thousand feet up, lumbering along; it's a C17 that totes
Marine Corps #1 around for the POTUS, but it's a long way to
Rapid City....

Climbing wall at a neighborhood daycare

Social distancing in Missoula; a week later Gov. Bullock
mandated face masks

From the Powell campground, the Lochsa

Why the Clearwater is so clear: among its major tributaries are
the Lochsa and the similarly clear Selway

At the Lochsa Lodge; a few days later, masks were required;
even the bikers were complying (OK, they're generally of the
older, endangered cohort)

We always try to stay at historic campgrounds

Our encampment at Powell

Out hiking on Parachute Hill; last time I informed a ranger there
were no grizzlies hereabouts, I got quite a surprise (Wind Rivers,
1995)

Vicki about to embark on Lewis and Clark Trail #25

Standing for scale: this is how high they place snowmobiling
blazes

Old, old cedar

Curiosity of the day: at an Idaho Transportation site

Near White Sand campground, the actual confluence of the
Crooked Fork and the Colt Killed Creek, sources of the Lochsa;
"Colt Killed" Lewis and Clark named it because they were
starving (the Bitterrroot are famously devoid of game) and began
eating their horses; and grilled colt was on the menu

Today's Colt Killed Creek

Getting your wood in...at a Forest Service employees' residence
at Powell

Forest depredation...not beetles, now moths...and global warming

Often our hikes took us where no Google had
gone before

Vicki earning her Trail Builder Patch Class IV:
barring a path that led to a dangerously angular
and gravelly stretch between the river and road;
and pointing the way to an alternate

Beautiful river, now quite low

This was once the great ski/snowmobile blaze to Lochsa Lodge

The trail west of Powell led through a number of snags and
jumbles of deadfall














































































Thus


















But there was great huckleberry reward for those who persevered

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

On To Montana

A glance at the map suggested that route 3 would give us a straight shot from the Wallowa Valley to Lewiston and then route 12, through Clearwater country--nearly home--to Montana. We should have given the map a bit more than a glance. At the top, the straight line turned very squiggly, as the road plunged a couple thousand feet down to the La Grande Ronde river (part of the Hell's Canyon system, I surmise), and a couple thousand back up. It amounted to no more than a long hour's tedious driving, a couple radiator breaks on the way back up, and Vicki's distracting herself as usual by taking scores of pix of the scenery, a few of which appear below.
Still in the Whitman/Wallowa national forest,
possibly the worst tree/cell tower yet; a redwood
among all the mature pines

At the bottom of the descent


La Grande Ronde canyon

Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea monument in Lewiston; 
Sacagawea is saying "why don't you just ask someone?"
We savage-camped at the beautiful Lenore rest area on route 12
in Idaho, with the beautiful Clearwater river in view

Next morning, June 28th, we passed the confluence of the Selway
and the Lochsa, and followed the Lochsa nearly to the border;
perhaps our favorite of all the scenic drives in the world; nearly
home

We rafted the Lochsa in the late 90s...25 Classs IV rapids in 24
miles; we were the only raft in six together that didn't dump-truck

At the Idaho/Montana border, Packer Meadow, where Lewis and
Clark camped both going to and coming from the Pacific; site of
one of our more memorable snowmobile mishaps, too

The first time we saw Packer Meadow, we thought it was a lake;
in early summer the camas flowers carpet the meadow wall to
wall; we were just a bit late this year, although a few are still
visible here
Finally, Missoula












































































































"Home"

Monday, June 29, 2020

Wallowa Valley

In one of the RV magazines we had read an article extolling the Wallowa Valley in far eastern Oregon--historic, scenic, accessible, but not very developed or crowded--and resolved to give it a look. We found it indeed impressive in those respects. In earlier years, we had traveled route 95 in Idaho, just across Hell's Canyon, many times, heading south through Idaho or snowmobiling near McCall, but had never gotten far enough west to explore this part of Oregon. It reminded us a bit of the Bitterroot Valley in Montana, smaller, and perhaps as the Bitterroot might have been, development-wise, a couple generations back. We had a good two-day look and resolved to come back.
Campsite at Wallowa River RV Park


















The Wallowa River nearly at flood; with plenty of snow still up
there



Nez Perce pow-wow center nearby; this is the valley of Chief
Joseph's people

After a couple days in Walowa (town), we
drove up the valley past Lostine, then the
commercial center of Enterprise, to Joseph, the
arts center, to see the many bronzes, among
other things

Chief Joseph himself

"Carmel Corn"...fresh from the Big Sur?

St. Quonset Baptist Church

Nice murals

Mountain background

Curious relationship between topless cowboy and
his dog

Old fashioned soda fountain

Not so old fashioned

More bronzes; painted

More mountain back-drop

OK, so it's not Donatello; but it's still great to have so much
public art

Not seen in other eastern Oregon towns we passed through

We think this one might be called The Matterhorn

Memorable

Marina at Lake Wallowa, up at the top of the valley; a beautiful
state park

More back-drop

Leaving on route 3...

A pano of Joseph Canyon


Friday, June 26, 2020

National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

Not far from Baker City is the BLM's National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Alas, it's operating under reduced hours these days, and it was closed when we visited June 24. Still we walked a bit of the Panorama Point Trail and saw some of the outdoor exhibits. We have of course encountered the Trail in many other places, commencing in 1972, but it's always of interest.
The Center is up on a hill top overlooking the valley and the Trail
Actual ruts down there by the wagon; we surmised
Among the exhibits, replica wagons
Nice interpretive signage
An 1860s wagon; pretty much after the Trail was over...
In Nebraska, 1972

Ruts in 1972