Part #1 - 2 Weeks in the middle of NOWHERE - the TRAIL of LEWIS & CLARK -

Where do I begin to try to explain a highway that runs 190 miles east to west and has very little to nothing in between! This Idaho Highway is called US 12, Lewis and Clark Trail and the Nez Perce Trail. This is one truly amazing road that is nothing but wilderness all around, it cuts threw the largest track of wilderness in the lower 48! It remains just as The Nez Perce Indians used it to trade and travel to visit other tribes. It remains Just as it was when Lewis and Clark searched for a way to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. My words and photos will not do it justice, you will have to travel it someday to see for yourself!
Link: https://magicvalley.com/news/local/u-s-highway-idaho-s-long-and-winding-road/article_7d5cf67c-70e8-5dd3-b7fb-b0e47786c417.html

Geni and I spent 2 weeks traveling this road with no gas stations, no cell service and very few people. Forest service road 500 parallels the paved highway and runs on top of the Mountain ridge lines, it is dirt and is the original path of Lewis and Clark. Geni and I stuck to the paved road this time maybe next time we will be bold and really get lost.

Our trip starts in Orofino Idaho where we spent a few beautiful days along the Clearwater river picking fresh black berries, and picked up Highway 12 heading East (The wrong way, Lewis and Clark traveled East to West). We took a small detour and headed up highway 11( The Goldrush Hyw) North to the very small town of Weippe Idaho (population 402!). You can pick up Forest road 500 up here if you wish. The town of Weippe has a lot of history, it was where the Lewis and Clark party found itself starving and cold in September of 1805 and the Nez Perce Indians took them in and fed them and gave them fresh horses. It was also the first area that gold was discovered in Idaho in 1860.
Link: http://www.clearwatermuseum.org/our-history/lewis-clark.html 


                                                                                    

 

A fresh Cougar print!

Our camp at the Dam

Route 11 Gold rush byway

We just happened to be in Weippe for the annual Rodeo

Nez Perce

One bar in town

Ride Cowboy Ride!

These are all REAL cowboys

Women chasing a steer

A Idaho parking lot, dirt with one car and 100 trucks!

A Idaho fence, old tractor wheels

Rodeo Queen



Downtown Orofino

Near Orofino, Idaho

Canoe Camp is where Lewis and Clark made their canoes with the Help of the Nez Perce, Just outside of Orofino

One big Canoe!

The Trail of Lewis and Clark

 

TWO WEEKS OF HEAVEN - The SCENIC st. Joe River Byway

Its going on three weeks now with our time spending on the very Scenic St. Joe Byway in Idaho.
God how we love the Great state of Idaho! We lived here for 16 years from 1980 to 1996, we forgot what a beautiful state it is! The Rivers are crystal clear, the air smells like pine, the people are all so nice.
We are camped right on the St. Joe river the very scenic road runs for over 100 miles and actually goes into Montana. We have a few more days here and then we are heading south to explore the Lewis and Clark trail in Idaho.
LINK: http://visitnorthidaho.com/activity/st-joe-river-scenic-byway/
                             
                                                                                         

Logging Museum along byway

History of Logging in this area

Old school way was to cut trees and float down river to St. Maries

Now that's a chainsaw!

Still lots of logging in area

Babies waiting for mom

I stuck my Reef sandals in the white sands of Florida , now in the clear Rivers of Idaho too! 

Cooling of in the St. Joe River



My view everyday!

                                                                                                       

PEDAL PEDAL - 140 miles on Idaho's most stunning bike trail

The Bike trail is named "Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's" and it is 72 miles from the Start in Wallace, Id. to the Finnish in Plummer, Id. It is part of the Rails to Trails program and is in its Hall of Fame.
 Link: https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/2010/october/01/idahos-trail-of-the-coeur-dalenes-and-route-of-the-hiawatha/

Since Geni and I did not have an extra chase car we had to ride to each trail head which is 10-15 miles apart and then ride back to our truck, that means we actually rode the trail twice their and back or 140 miles of awesome scenery! We got to view wild Moose, Eagles, osprey, Deer, Swans, and many other birds and wildlife. One thing we did not see much of was people, which really surprised us a great deal. Sure on the weekends we did see a few family's with the kids along but during the weekdays we saw only a few people a day!

The Trail of The Coeur d'Alene's is on a paved blacktop trail, on an old Great Northern Railroad rail bed. It is graded so nice at 2% to 3% that you think you are on flat track. It really is a undiscovered treasure of awesome riding!
                                                                                       
                                                                                  

The Mission

Beautiful inside!

Took a break to sell a few items in Kellogg, Idaho

This memorial was just off trail

Cooling in the shade

Map of trail

Old Railroad bridge built in 1921 over Coeur d'Alene Lake

osprey nesting on bridge