Finally made it to New York! No really, I have no idea why there is a mini Lady Liberty on Lake Pend near Sandpoint, ID. As much as I loved Canada - it just feels good to be back in familiar territory. I have met so many great and friendly people already since being back stateside. Big thanks to Bob Johnson in Bonners Ferry for letting me crash in his yard. Besides the occasional river bath and hotspring, I hadnt had a proper washin up and laundering since Whitehorse, Yukon - which is a hell of a way.
Heading south from Sandpoint I passed the night at Furragut State Park which was chuck full of great single track riding and a nice beach to take a dip.
Northern Idaho is really an impressive place... the towns are cute and the people are friendly.... plus the landscape is quite amazing! Spent a bit of time in Coeur d'Alene haning out with Randy - a warmshowers host nearby swapping stories and dreaming up new adventures.
Was tempted to take a dirt road up and over the lake, but decided I wanted to camp on the water and enjoy the sunset instead.
Heading south thru Idaho I decided to take a less traveled route past Elk River Falls and down to the Dent Reservoir Recreation Area.
This long bridge is listed as one of America's Greatest Engineering feats. It crosses the reservoir along the Elriver Back Country Byway. Idaho is chuck full of Byways... already I've travelled the Wild Horse Trail, Pend Orreille Byway, Lake Couer d'Alene Byway, the White Pine Byway, the Northwest Passage Byway and before I leave I have yet to travel the Hells Canyon Byway..... that's a ton of Byways.
Farmers burning their fields after the harvest. When I first saw the smoke - I thought it was from the wild fires that are burning in the area. I had tried the day before to go up towards Montana and the Jerry Johnson Hotsprings but was luckily informed before I got there that the springs trail had burned.
After turning around quite disappointed, I ended up meeting Hermilo, a fruit vendor, whom let me stay in his yard. He is originally from Mexico but has been a resident here for over 8 years. It sure was great to practice my spanish and meet such a generous person.
The ride down White Bird Summit was a hell of a downhill. It inspired me to finally fix my back breaks which I have to admit havent been functioning properly for over a month.
Once down in the Salmon River Canyon the main fire that I had head about became apparent. This particular fire burned over 15,000 acres and was still going strong.
Chatted with a few of the firefighters whilst watching the helicopters grab giant buckets of water from the Salmon River to dump over the hot spots.
The fire made its way all the way down to the main highway 95.
Stayed in Riggins, Idaho with Richelle - the owner and operator of the Current News local paper. Riggins is located right on the Salmon and is the river rat's gateway to some serious rafting!
The next day - unfortunately for the firefighters the wind pick up and changed directions.
The smoke was setting in the valley and could be seen/smelt all the way over to McCall.
McCall is a cool little town a few hours north of Boise. Staying with Stacy and Robbie for a couple of days recovering. For some reason my knees have started to act up again and am in dire need of a rest. Thanks heaps guys for telling me be the chick on your couch for a few days. Spent an afternoon at some really nice hotsprings north of town.
Will be heading west from here - arriving in Bend, Oregon in about a week or so. Hope to spend some time there with friends and of course hit up a few hotsprings along the way as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment