The drive was beautiful, following the Lochsa River which merges with the Clearwater River, all the way across the middle of Idaho. Having spent two days crossing the dry treeless plains of S. Idaho, it was a nice change to travel through the forested mountains that cover the northern 2/3 of the state.
This was one off the hardest parts of Lewis and Clark's journey in 1805. They started where we began our trip today (near Missoula) on September 9th, and it took them almost a month, until October 7th, to traverse the rugged mountains on foot with their Indian guides. Near Orofino, just a few miles east of Lewiston, they were able to make canoes and set off on the Clearwater River which connects with the Snake, which connects with the Columbia, which took them to the Pacific by November 7th. All this way by river in just one month!
We stopped for lunch in the pleasant little mountain town of Kooskia and had some great burgers and the kids had wonderful milk shakes too. At the urging of some local kids who were nearly stopping the few cars that came through in the middle of town, we got a great hand car wash for a donation to benefit the local 4H.We made it to Lewiston by about 4 in the afternoon and did not expect any difficulty finding a room. Wrong! An American Legion baseball tournament was underway, and we were turned away from two motels before finally finding a room. Ann and the kids decided, for a treat, to go see the Simpson's Movie. I decided to stay in the motel and blog.
Tomorrow it's on to Wallowa Lake, about 93 miles due south through the back country of SE Washington and NE Oregon.
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