Out of the Frying Pan

We left Portland almost a month ago and we've only made it to Idaho. We started off by heading up to central Washington and then over to Seattle to meet Matthias' parents. We spent just over a week with them around the Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsula and back to Portland. Some stressful moments but a good visit overall. Now we're on our own with about two months to get to Florida.

Family Photo in Olympic NP

Matthias and his dad in Anacortes

 We took a bit of a detour, opting not to go to Glacier National Park because of the fires. We probably could have made it, but when I called one of the campsites where we wanted to stay and asked about the fires, the response was “well, there's smoke and high winds today – try calling again tomorrow. But don't worry about finding a place, there's plenty.” That, plus a town in Montana near one of the other campsites I wanted to stop at was being evacuated. Not sure we made the right decision, but here we are.

Instead, we headed toward the Wallowa mountains, stopping at a nice site outside La Grande where we caught our first glimpse of wildlife (Elk!) and took care of laundry, propane, etc. Our next stop was Wallawa Lake, which was nice and then along the Wallowa Scenic Loop to a national forest campsite recommended by the welcome center guy in Joseph, Oregon. Next day, our second wildlife encounter and huge highlight on the Indian Crossing trail – spawning salmon at blue hole! The hike was great, too, and we were the only ones on the trail, even though it was the Friday before Labor Day. Even the ranger we met afterward at the trailhead was surprised. I said maybe people didn't want to camp if they couldn't have a fire (campfires were banned so we didn't get to have one yet) but she replied that as of the night before, fires were permitted in established campsites. Of course, we raced back to our campsite, gathered wood and started a fire. And then, as if on cue, it started to rain. Well, I sat by the fire and cooked my spud in it anyway, dammit!

By the Blue Hole in the Wallowa Mtns - think this will be my new FB photo!

Next day, we set off for Idaho, and even though it was Labor Day weekend, we hoped the campsites would be available there as well. We checked a couple up in the mountains in the Boise National Forest but they were full. Fortunately, the host of one of them told us about a nearby airstrip where we could camp for free (toilet and drinking water, but no campfire allowed). We were the only ones there!

On our morning hike at Warm Springs, Idaho

“We flew up to do some fishing”

The next morning, after a lovely hike, we came back to the airstrip to see that a small plane had landed. A woman and small child were sitting by the plane – her partner had gone down to the river to fish. In the afternoon, we walked down to the nearby campsite and hot spring, where I took a dip (along with lots of others – it being the holiday weekend) and then back to the campsite in time to watch the plane take off. Fab!

Take-off

We spent Labor Day (and our anniversary) at a riverside campsite in the Sawtooth Mountain recreation area where we could have a fire, and relaxed a bit before crossing the rest of Idaho, which we are doing now. Another night in Idaho and then on to Jackson, Wyoming!

Link to next post - Lost in America