June 15 - 16

June 15
White Bird to Lowell, a ride noteworthy for the immediate climb out of there....switchback after switchback and a heck of a climb. The ride was marked with history about battles that occurred with the Nez Perce Indians and the calvary. We topped the pass to encounter a young lady that had just lost control and wrecked her car on the pass. She was visibly shaken, totaled her car, but was not hurt. We traveled on through Kooskia, which was an internment camp for the Japanese in WW II. We reached Lowell and stayed at 3 Rivers Campground at the confluence of the Selway, and Lochsa, and Clearwater Rivers. We ate at their restaurant, then jumped in their pool and hot tub. The keeper let us sleep on the porch of some unused cabins. I saw a Bald Eagle, a doe with her fawn, a hawk with a snake in its talons, and we saw a second wreck, an 18 wheeler with a lumber load that turned over on a switchback. Slept well that night.

June 16
Lowell to Powell, 64 miles without services! Needless to say, we waited on a good breakfast at the Wilderness Inn across the street, and bought groceries for a pack lunch. The ride was pretty, but the scenery was unchanging. As Howard said, "River on the right, road in the middle, and mountain on the left. We watched the River shrink in size as we moved upstream from feeding tributaries.

This whole trip thus far seems to follow a stream or river emphasizIng the ever presence and beauty and dependency upon it. We ate our pack lunch on a bridge, then rambled on for only a short while till Jordan got his first flat tire caused by a small shard of glass. There were numerous road signs and markers describing the Lewis and Clark expeditions, as well as the plight of the Nez Perce Indians driven out of their homeland through the Lolo Trail. We had fun and laughs along the route, most of it fueled by good natured badgering between Alex and Howard. We stayed in the Lochsa Lodge, a truly great place, replete with showers, laundry, a restaurant, and we stayed in a cabin with 4 beds, Jordan and I sharing a queen bed. The cabin was heated by a wood stove as outside temperatures were 44 degrees, but the efficiency of the stove forced us to open the cabin door during the night.