As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, I distinctly heard the Richard Strauss-Also Sprach Zarathustra/2001 Space Odyssey opening theme song. My heart started pounding to the beat of the drums because I knew that we were about to partake on the greatest RonnieAdventure ever – Traveling North until we run out of money and/or vacation days!
I decided that I had better take a picture of our pickup and trailer before we departed Las Vegas because I'm certain that they will never look this good again. Before we return, I fully expect some rock chips, a few dings and dents, and possibly a cracked windshield or broken headlight!
The first 100 miles of any trip are always the longest, so it was great to male 250 miles the first day. Now we can relax and enjoy the rest of the trip!
DAY 02. - McGill, Lages, Wells, Jackpot (Nevada), Filer, Buhl, Hagerman (Idaho)
The Rexall Drug Store in McGill (White Pine County, Nevada) is a step back in time to the days of jute boxes and soda fountains
with lime-green vinyl covered chrome bar stools that swivel at the soda fountain. Unfortunately, the McGill Drug Store is only open on special occasions, or by appointment, so we had to
settle for a peek through the window. However, outside of the store is one of
the original Lincoln Hi-way markers that was placed along the road in the 1930s
by the Boy Scouts of America traveling across the country with Lt. Col. Dwight
Eisenhower. The U.S. Army assigned Eisenhower to mark roads, so that people could find the correct trail to follow as they traveled
across Nevada. The other marker is a reproduction that was made for the 2005
Lincoln Hi-way Association meeting.
McGill Rexall Drug Store
Soda Fountain
Original Eisenhower Road Marker on Right
Driving
into Hagerman, (Owyhee County, Idaho) the view along the Snake River is spectacular! The canyon walls
are “spongy lava,” which act as both reservoirs and underground conduits that
gather water from the surrounding area to the north. The area is called
“Thousand springs” because of the many springs that cascade down the canyon
walls.
One of the many waterfalls
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument near Hagerman encompass the 600-foot bluffs along the Snake River and contain 3-4 million year old fossils of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and plants. The most famous fossil is the “Hagerman Horse,” which is from the Pliocene epoch time period. The Smithsonian Institute has been excavating this area since 1929 and they have discovered about 20 complete horse skeletons, all in the same area. This area is reported to have the world's highest concentration of Pliocene fossils!
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
"Hagerman Horse"
About
5 million years ago Lake Idaho covered most of what is now Southwestern Idaho.
However, when the natural dam dike broke, it is estimated that the flood
draining the dam lasted 8 weeks and left the area covered with “Bonneville
Melon Gravel.”
Bonneville Melon Gravel
Also
in the same area is the confluence of the Emigrant and Oregon Trails. You can
still see the deep ruts as the trails ascends the hills.
Near the confluence of Emigrant and Oregon Trails
DAY
03. – Bliss, Boise, Horseshoe Bend, Gardena, Banks, Smiths Ferry, Cascade,
Donnelly, Lake Fork, McCall, Meadows, New Meadows, Riggins, Lucile, White Bird,
Grangeville (Idaho).
Traveling
north from Boise on Highway 55 turned out to be a slow, but beautiful drive.
The road parallels the Payette River as it winds its way up the steep mountain
grade. Due to the steepness of the grade, the river is very popular with kayakers and commercial river
runners. When we reached the City of McCall, we were treated with beautiful
views of the Payette Lake and the surrounding snow-capped mountains. Leaving
Highway 55 we turned north on Highway 95 and within a few miles we crossed the
45th Parallel. (A line around the world that is half way between the
North Pole and the Equator.) We have also noted that the days are getting
longer!
Payette River Kayaker (Boise County, Idaho)
Payette Lake (Valley County, Idaho)
45th Parallel (Adams County, Idaho)
DAY
04. – Fenn, Cottonwood, Ferdinand, Spalding, Nez Perce Reservation, Lewiston,
Moscow, De Smet, Tensed, Plummer, Worley, Coeur D’Alene, Hayden, Careywood,
Cocolalla, Westmond, Sandpoint, Colburn, Samuels, Elmira, Naples, Blue Lake
(Idaho)
The Nez Perce Visitor’s Center and Museum are located just outside of Lewiston and are managed by the U.S. National Park Service. There is a very good movie at the visitor’s center that provides a comprehensive understanding of the Nez Perce history.
Nez
Perce means “We Have Always Been Here” and when the Nez Perce Indian
Reservation was created it originally covered most of south-central Idaho. However,
when gold was discovered in the area, the reservation size was substantially
reduced. One of the visitor’s center staff told us that today only about 19% of
the lands are owned by the Nez Perce.
The
most famous Nez Perce Chief was called “The Lawyer” by early fur traders
because of his exceptional oratory skills. He had learned English before the
missionaries arrived in 1836 and later helped prepare a dictionary of the Nez
Perce language. He also translated the Bible into the Nez Perce language for the
missionaries.
Lawyer’s
Canyon was named after the Chief and is located a few miles to the south of the visitor’s center. In 1908 the railroad built a tall metal trestle across the canyon to extend the rail line to the west. The metal structure is
unusual because most of the railroad trestles built in this era were
constructed from wood timbers; however, due to the height of the trestle the
railroad used metal, as they were afraid that wood would collapse under the weight of the loaded trains.
On
May 29, 1806, near Lawyer’s Canyon, the Nez Perce sold salmon to Lewis &
Clark and Pvt. Frazer traded an old razor to the Nez Perce for two Spanish
Mill Dollars.
Nez Perce Visitor's Center (Lewis County, Idaho)
Lawyer's Canyon
We had planned to stop driving early in the day, but we could not find a campground until we were about 30 miles south of the Canadian border. Although the campground we found had a beautiful setting adjacent to a small lake, all of the bugs and mosquitoes arrived before we did and claimed the best camping spots. Consequently, we did not sit out in our lawn chairs after dinner.
Campground Lake (Boundary County, Idaho)
Campground Lake
DAY
05. – Bonners Ferry, Porthill (Idaho), Rykerts, Creston, Salmo, Ymir, Nelson
[British Columbia (BC), Canada]
Day
5 started out with a driving lesson – don’t turn a corner too tight when you are near a drainage ditch. Luckily, there was a tow company just across the street and within
a few minutes a wrecker was on the scene to help us.
However,
I don’t think the tow truck driver had too much experience, since I had to keep
giving him advice on what to do and I had to help him hook things up to get the
trailer back on the road. Therefore, I was surprised when he gave me his bill and it
was for $35 more than he had quoted me before we started on the job. When I
questioned him about the extra charge, he said that the extra charge was for all of my advice
and help!
Fortunately,
there was minimal damage to the trailer. Two hours later were back on our way
and then we had another hour delay at the Canadian border where they ransacked
our truck and trailer. The border patrol’s motto seems to be “leave no item unopened or
in its original place.”
Learning Experience
Within
a few miles after leaving the border, the road grade starting increasing and
soon our speed was down to about 45 mph on an 8% uphill grade. After a long climb we finally
reached the snow-covered summit, where we decide to give the truck a rest. When I got out of
the truck to take a few pictures, it looked and felt like it was about to snow. (The entire area was covered with snow - It looked like December.) A Mounty happened to walk by, so I asked him if it was always this cold in June
and with a puzzled look on his face he said “Cold?” This year we’re having a
heat wave! Last year this road wasn't even open in June --we just called the
month Junember!
At Summit
When
we arrived in Nelson, we found a great municipal campground nestled in a grove
of tall treas. The campground host was outstanding and really kept the place in
tip-top shape. We ended up staying three days, but considered staying for an entire week!
DAY
06. – Balfour, Ainsworth, Kalso, Sandon, New Denver, Silverton, Slocan, Winlaw,
Vallican, Slocan Park, Crescent Valley, Souty Slocan, Taghum, Nelson
Our campground host informed us that no trip to Nelson was complete
without making the 200 mile circle tour to Kalso, Sandon, and New Denver. We were happy that we decided to drive the loopbecause we were rewarded with many spectacular views. Even the Lilac bushes were in bloom!
Snow Melt
Lake with Snow-capped Mountains
Butterfly on Lilac Bush
At
Kelso we found the dry-docked SS Moyie, the world’s oldest intact passenger stern-wheeler. After watching a movie in the visitor’s center about the Moyie,
we had a self-guided tour of the vessel. Since the preservation group purchased
the ship for $1 the day after its last voyage, everything on the ship was still
intact. Plus, after the ship went through an extensive renovation it was
refurbished with lots of additional time period artifacts.
SS Moyie
The
highlight of the trip, however, was the ghost town of Sandon. The rush to
Sandon started in 1891 when two prospectors found a 125-ton boulder that had a
very high silver content. Convinced that they had found the Mother Lode, they
immediately staked claims all around the boulder. Of course, there wasn't any mineable
silver on any of their claims because the boulder had rolled down the hill
years earlier. The prospectors that came later were the ones that found the
rich vein of silver where the boulder had originally been located.
The
mining boom around Sandon lasted less than 20 years and then the town fell into
decline. Today, a number of buildings still remain and some have been reopened
to service tourists that visit the area. Only one store was open the day we
visited Sandon and the caretaker played an old reed organ for us.
Sandon Main Street
City Hall
Judy Playing the Reed Organ
Residential District
Steam Train
New
Denver is just a short distance from Sandon and is the location of the Nikkei
Internment Memorial Centre, a museum dedicated to the preservation of the
physical history and personal memories of Japanese-Canadian internees. One of
the site docents was very knowledgeable about the US and Canadian internment programs and gave us a very detailed history of the similarities and differences between the two countries.
Internment Houses
After having an early dinner we drove to Ainsworth to soak in the hot springs. The springs flow from some very decorative caves at a temperature of 109 degrees and then the water cools to about 98 degrees when it arrives in the various swimming pools. Maximum recommended time in the caves is 15 minutes, which is more than I could take. When I got out of the pools I felt so relaxed I wasn't sure that I could even drive back to our trailer. However, I did make it safely home and had a great night’s sleep.
Ainsworth Hot Springs Caves
(Photographer, Date, and Person Unknown)
DAY
07. – Balfour, Kootenay Bay, Crawford Bay, Nelson
Crawford
Bay is reached by the longest free ferry ride in the world (It takes
approximately 45 minutes to cross Kootenay Lake on the ferry.) and is home to
numerous artisans. It is fun just to watch talented people make beautiful
objects from raw materials. Unfortunately, it can also be hard on the pocketbook!
The road ditches in the area were covered with a proliferation of wild flowers, so I used up a lot of memory space on my camera. I also saw a black snake sunning himself on a rock while I was taking flower pictures. Other wildlife encountered on the trip so far include: antelope, deer, moose, eagles, and probably some that I have forgotten.
Longest Free Ferry Ride in the World
Ferry
View from Ferry
Artisan at Work
Hand-Crafted Broom Factory
Wildflowers
Wildflowers
Wildflowers
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