Idaho - Day 22 - back north to Grangeville

Bear Den RV Resort, Grangeville
Friday, 22 July 2022

We went back to the Meridian Bark Park one last time, and I thought it might work out okay for Dext because we got there before 7:00, when it was still cool.  And sure enough, this time, for the first time since Gracie died, he actually tried to get one of the other dogs to play with him!  I was so relieved to see it.  There were only 5 or 6 other dogs there, most bigger than he is, and one of them wanted to play chase with Dext, or tag-not-it, or something.  It didn't last long but it was a first step.  Thank goodness.

today's route

I wanted an early start because Google said the drive today would take more than 4 hours, which of course meant about 7 for me, so we left the dog park just after 7:00.

I heard on the radio that much of Idaho's in a "mega-drought," they said.  The current drought is the most severe in the last several thousand years, which is saying something.

The first part of today's route is the way we came into Boise 2 days ago.  I hadn't realized I'd been climbing up to the town of Horseshoe Bend the other day, but today I found a 7% grade for the next 5 miles - and it included 4 runaway truck ramps.  That was part of the Payette River Scenic Byway.

Past Gardena I got my first Idaho thank you for pulling over.

Past the junction where we'd joined this road coming from Challis, a sign said I was in Boise National Forest.

The road ran by the Payette River and I was stunned by the incredible amount of whitewater along the way.  Miles of it, then more miles of it.  The Payette doesn't seem to be a regular river but instead a whitewater river.  I wanted to get a photo of it but couldn't seem to find a safe place to pull over.  I finally found this place - below - but you can see at this point it was acting more like a regular river.  It's still pretty, though, which is why I'm putting it in here.

By the time we got to Cascade, we'd gone through more than 60 miles of canyons.  Then at this point we were suddenly in wide meadows ringed by mountains.

Cascade, pop. 1,005, said the fire danger today was moderate.

At the town of Lake Cascade, I saw a large flock of Canada Geese grazing in a field.  And in the next field I saw a large herd of cows grazing.

I came to Donnelly, pop. 249, which bills itself as "Crossroads to Recreation."

At Lake Fork (there are several towns that have the names of the lakes they're near), I saw a sign at a butcher shop that said, "Puns are bad but jokes about sausage are the wurst."

We stopped for a break in McCall, pop. 3,686, elev. 5,324'.  At the gas station they directed me a few blocks off the main street to a park so Dext and I could walk.  It wasn't actually a park but more of a waterside activity area.  Businesses included "Cheap Thrills - Rentals & Watercraft" and "Mile High Marina."  It was a very attractive little area - and extremely popular, even though it was a weekday morning.

I heard on the radio about a book published in 2019 called Do The Work! An Antiracist Activity Book, and a newer companion called Workbook For How To Be An Antiracist.  From the interview I heard on NPR, it sounded like these could be really useful for all of us, to help locate the subconscious ideas that we aren't aware are influencing us.  And you don't have to have a non-white skin to experience prejudice, as most overweight people know, for instance, which is why this information could be broadly helpful.

Almost immediately after McCall I came to another 7% grade for the next 3 miles.  I finally got curious about all these downhills, and learned that Boise is comparatively low at 2,704', but Meridian is actually a little lower, at 2,605'.  So since we'd already done one stretch of 7% grade hills at Horseshoe Bay, yet still ended up above a mile high in McCall, and were now heading down again, this road is a serious rollercoaster.  We came to New Meadows, pop. 517, where the elevation is 3,868'.  This area, by the way, is distinguished by very large meadows, some with crops and some with cows.

I passed the 45th Parallel again - Halfway Between the North Pole and the Equator.

And just past here I got my 2nd Idaho thank you for pulling over.

We crossed the Little Salmon River multiple times and then found ourselves back in the canyons.

I saw a new-looking Trump/Pence sign, which didn't make sense (maybe it just looked new from a distance).  And elsewhere I saw a sign reading: "Celebrate life - Roe is no mo."

At one point I reached down to pat Dext, but he wasn't on the dog beds between the seats.  He wasn't on the seat or on the floor.  I had to assume he was on the beds underneath the table and wondered if he were sharing it with Lily or if he'd preempted her.

When I stopped soon after at a rest area, I found they'd been sharing the bed.  That must be nearly a first for Lily, who's always resisted getting too close to either of the dogs.

Then we were back at Riggins, pop. 410, Idaho's Whitewater Capital.  I noticed that Riggins had little flags for pedestrians to use for greater safety in crossing the road, and I remembered having seen them in McCall, too.  In fact, I actually saw pedestrians use them, though I couldn't tell if the flags made them safer.

We reentered the Pacific Time Zone and just past Riggins we crossed a surprisingly large bridge that went over the Salmon River.

A little farther along the road I saw a sign alerting me to a produce stand coming up, and I remembered it from 3 weeks ago when I'd driven along here southbound.  This time I stopped.

I found some decent-looking peaches, though they reminded me of what peaches looked like when they aren't subjected to massive pesticide doses (they have blemishes).  I asked the owner where they'd been grown, and he said right out the back door.  Cuts down on the farm-to-market problem.

I took this photo just as I was leaving the produce market
to show what the hills in this area looked like.  These are typical
for many of the hills I've seen in Idaho, but they don't look like
those I've seen in other states.

A sign told me I was following the Nez Perce Trail.

I saw a lot of bicycles on this road.  You can see what the hills are like, and I'd think this ride would be only for the very experienced bicyclist.  

I passed a historical marker titled "Salmon River Canyon."  It said,

Some 15 million years ago, Salmon River ran across great Miocene lava flows above here and started to carve this deep canyon.  Then this part of the earth's surface gradually rose.  As the mountains were rising, the river gradually cut down into the older rock below.  Many other northwestern rivers cut similar gorges.  The Snake flows through Hell's Canyon - deepest of them all - 8 miles west of here.

And then I was in the Nez Perce National Forest.  Idaho has 7 national forests, and I think I've been through parts of them all this month.

In this area, the fire danger is high today.

I saw a fire spotting tower up in the hills.  And I crossed the Salmon River a couple more times.

On the radio I heard that the heavy rains they got here this spring are actually causing fire dangers now, because they made the grasses grow tall.  But now with the drought back, the grasses are getting dry.

I came first to a very high bridge over White Bird Creek, then to White Bird Battlefield and historical markers, and then White Bird Summit, 4,245'.  I looked up this battlefield and learned it was one of those US trying to move Native tribes off their historical land and onto reservations situations - and some of the tribal members were ready to fight to avoid that ignominy.  The short version of this situation is on the set of historical markers here.  You can read them at this link.   https://www.hmdb.org/White-Bird-Battlefield

A sign told me to turn for the Tolo Lake Mammoth Site.  I remember seeing that sign when I went by here before and, though I didn't make the turn, I looked it up.  Turns out that when folks were making Tolo Lake deeper, they uncovered 6 or 7 mammoths and an ancient bison.  Down that road I didn't go, they've reconstructed one of the mammoth skeletons for the public.

And then I came to tonight's campground.  My clock said it was 1:25, but my phone said it was 12:25, and I realized I'd gained an hour with the time zone change.

This campground was very nice, lots of trees, and had an excellent wifi signal, but it was still a little weird.  The owner never answered the phone directly but instead returned voicemails, but not until a couple of days later.  A fact I know from my experience because I'd tried for days to get a reservation here.  This place didn't have a separate dog park (it's planned for the future, they say), but it had 2 grassy areas for pet walks.  One of them was very pleasant.  The other was jam packed with Stinging Nettle, or Bull Nettle (its name in Texas) or Devil's Club (Alaska) or whatever that awful plant is called here.  I found out when I got a couple of spines in my foot and found them too small even to see, let alone to pull out.  I just had to live with them till they'd settled in or worked out.  And I don't even want to think about what they were doing to Dexter.  He didn't seem to notice, and when I realized they were there I got us out of that field as fast as I could, but I'm sure he still got stuck at least a bit.  Strange place.