We now have a nice new clean windshield. 

We got a call from Clearwater Glass in Orofino (if you forgot we are in Idaho) on Friday that they could do our windshield replacement. So off we went to get that done. They said it would take several hours so we all three, piled into a tiny Tyota pickup.  I had to slam the door to make it latch. I could hardly breath, as we were driven back to our campsite. Later it was done and they came to pick me up at the campground in the same tiny PU. This time only I road back and it was still cramped. But the truck was done... They even cleaned our dash and instrument panel. And vacuumed the floor. How Cool. Our floor mats were getting filled up with dirt. Now clean and they did it for us. We were told not to wash the truck, as if that had been done in the near past. It takes 24 hours for the glue to set. After we got back we did get out the paper towels and window cleaner to complement other areas of the front and rear of our pulling maching. Even did a number on a small section of the 5er. Not to much you understand as we are after all two guys who are not the best at cleaning. Should I use the term Slugs. That may be a bit harsh but close.  If you visit, bring ArmourAll or a bottle of Awesome cleaner from the Dollar Store with you as a trailer warming gift. If you show up with rubber gloves ready to clean you will be a treasured guest. You wont have to do the bathroom you understand, unless you're into to that sort of thing. 

Now back to the next day trip story...

On Saturday we wanted to take another day trip... We still had tape holding the windshield tight but thought it was getting close to 24 hours so off we went on a new day trip. I thought if we stayed on pavement instead of washboard gravel roads we would be OK. 

Of course a map is the first thing to show what we are up to. 

This Historic Byway route begins at the junction of Highways 12 and 11, following Highway 11 for 42.5 miles through the towns of Greer, Weippe, and Pierce to its end at Headquarters. It takes travelers past historic sites of the gold rush era of the mid-to-late 1800s. Great views of the Clearwater River and the Weippe Prairie can be seen. Full services are available in Pierce and Weippe with partial services in Greer.

We drove into Orofino and planned to go east out of town on the Gold Rush Historic Byway.  We got part way and ran into a sign saying the Grangemont Road  was closed to through traffic due to construction from late July to mid Oct. Well what could we do but head back and go down to Greer and head up HW 11. 

As we passed back through Orofino we took some some pictures of the County Fair events.

Now looking back down the road as we head up an 8 mile climb to the top of the ridge to get back on the Gold Rush Byway at Greer.

It seams like I am getting into more and more high winding roads.  Climbing up to the Palose Prairie out of the valley or more like a canyon is like climbing up and over a mountain pass each time. This time on the east side of the Clearvally River. When we land in Quartzsite, AZ later this will all be a memory to be cherished. A wonderful area of Idaho to explore that we have wanted to do for some time, and now are doing. We are so gald we took this route in our travels this fall.

We did find this First courthouse in Idaho along the Byway. 

This was about the only upscale place we found. Much of the area is looking so very down and out. 
There is still some lumber but the area is very depressed. You wont find many McMansions in this area up in the high country. 

But if I remember the town of Pierce had a Grocery, Hardware, a couple of bars and Hotel still trying to make out like it was good to go. 

These folks are just trying to hang on me thinks. If you need to find someone in the area this sign should help. 

A link to the History of the God Rush Area. A good read. 

I would like to go back when the road out of Orofino is redone as this is a way to get into the high back country without the climb we had to take. 
Would never pull a big 5er up HW 11 from Greer. 

Now back at our BLM home we started a small campfire in the grill and relaxed. 

We had to come inside early as it started to rain. A weather pox on the local festivities and it may get worse for this once a year big time event at their Lumberjack Days as the forecast is for rain 100% for Sunday. We wish them well. 
 
 

Thursday Sept. 16

Moved up the Clearwater River to Orofino, ID. 

We drove up the  Middle Fork of the Clearwater River to get here. These rivers go on and on for several hundred miles in Idaho. What a treasure they are. But you have to be a good driver as the roads follow the river canyons. You do use both hands on the wheel to be sure. 

We found (no, researched the route to be sure) a great campsite at Pink House BLM Rec area right on the Clearwater River and many things to do. 
Just a little up the road from the You Are Here RED star. 

The Clearwater County Fair and Lumberjack Festival is this weekend. 
So much to see in this land of many faces. 

After we got in the campground we headed to tour town and then take a drive up to the Dworshak Reservoir - 53 Mile long lake created by Dworshak Dam. Largest Straight Axis Dam in North America. 

Dworshak Dam Visitor Center, located at the top of the dam. Exhibits highlight the history and wildlife of the area.

This is one huge chunk of cement, me thinks. 

The visitor center had this bald eagle on display. Yes it was stuffed. 

We got here on Wednesday so after Terry did laundry we took a day trip up and I do mean up to the Palose Prairie to see the high wheat growing area.

The views are like being on top of the world as you can see looking west below.

Now heading back toward Orofino. We made a big loop drive and now the last 13 miles of the road turned to gravel right after we crossed  into Clearwater county.  We had to get to the bottom down there. Another winding not so friendly road. We made it just in time for happy hour. 

Like I said this is the big weekend in this area. 

The midway is huge as compared to most small town town fairs, me thinks. 
Now they do also have a big Orofino Lumberjack Days on Sunday. We might just have to go to that. 
Do click on the link to see all the events for the participants to compete in. This is a big deal in this lumbering area. It was started in 1947. 
That has to tell you about the culture here. 

Now for the bad news... We have been unhappy with the seal coated highways in Idaho. First on the road into West Yellowstone. Rocks flying up from passing vehicles were hitting our windshield and now at last we have developed a growing crack. We didn't notice this one in time to get it repaired. See the white chip right next to the black trim. It started to crack me thinks right away since it was so close to the edge. It was right next to our BLM sticker as you can see the glue marks from where I removed it to take a better look. 

I called my insurance company and found out it will have to come out of my deductible. I have $1000 to keep rates down. They said if I reduce my deductible to $500 the windshield would be covered for free. Now lets look at that. It would cost about $200 more a year for that. But a new windshield I found out by the local Orofino glass company installed will cost $200. Think I'm way ahead to pay out of pocket, to be sure. I thought a windshield would cost much more but am happy to find out only $200. I can do that. 

Now the local glass dealer will try to get us in tomorrow, will call us in the AM after they know how their other installs are going.  They offered, I didn't press for them to fit us in. Can't ask for more than that. We have had a few other chips repaired in the past and I will be glad to see a repaired chip that still sparkles in the sunlight, that is right in the drivers main view, be gone with a new windshield.   But me thinks a new windshield would be prime for a nice new rock chip down the road. Am I a pessimist or what. My glass (as in drinking) is always normaly half empty, not half full. So when it does overflow it makes it so much more pleasant, if you know what I mean. Now if I can just have Terry keep my happy hour glass more than half full. 
 
 
 
 

Monday Sept. 13

What's not to love about Idaho.

We had a couple of days of rain but this last weekend turned out fantastic and it is predicted to be nice all week. 
I can take 70 - 80 and clear to partly cloudy. Me thinks we will stay right here while the weather holds. We have determined there are three nice spots between here and Lewiston, ID all of which have power right on the Clearwater River that we can be comfy in if the weather turns nasty. One is a city park at Kamiah on the river for $5 and the other two are BLM Recreaation Sites $9 (you remember 1/2 price to us young old farts). One (Pink House) 3 miles west of Orofino  and (McKay's Bend) 12 miles east of Lewiston.  Anyway back to the here and now. 

So we took more day trips up into the mountains on back FS roads. You can see how high up we are and imagine how many switch backs it takes to get to this point. It is slow going with your bright lights on as who know what is around the next blind corner coming at us. 

The group campground where we are at was put to good use over the weekend when a bunch of college age people showed up to go rafting and of course had a few kegs of beer to boot.  They didn't get too wild and I missed not having a band show up. The Ranger said they did issue a few underage drinking citations but not like in past years.

We took a drive over to Kooskia and Kamiah to get diesel and propane. Along the way was a Farmers Market where we got some fresh from the garden tomatoes. 

It is over 25 miles one way to get diesel or propane. We are in the outback.
The gas station, cafe/motel in Lowell doesn't sell diesel and the Three Rivers RV park doesn't sell propane. How strange.

The Clearwater River on our way back to Lowell where we later turn south to go up the Selway River where we are camped. 

On Sunday we just had to go a for a day trip up into the National Forest again. Always on the lookout for firewood you see. 

We went in much further than we had planned and had to back track big time to get out of the maze again. It was getting late, cutting into our campfire, happy hour, fly fishing time. 

A stop to check our FS maps and see if we were lost yet. In other words a potty break.

Hold the wheel tight as it's a straight drop off.

Alas we did find more firewood and at one stop below we hit the jackpot.

They must have had too much to carry as someone left all this just for us. 

We were able to follow O'hara Creek for a couple of miles before the road cuts off to climb high into the Nez Perce NF.

Today just lounging around the campsite. Looks like we've moved in pretty good. 
 
 

Wednesday Sept. 8

Time to move on down the road to our next campsite.

We did do a day trip on Tuesday after Labor Day for a long needed trip to Walmart where we used two carts to hold it all. Never did that before. My Oh My we did our bit to keep the economy going.  I cruised the camping equipment section and of course the electronics department while Terry worked the grocery section. Several hundred dollars later we got out of there. Both carts were full with mine with tarps and tent polls, (might want to cover a picnic table with rain protection) new FRS radios, headphones so I can talk over the internet with WiFi when there is no cell signal, but we still have satellite service. Oh did I mention I got socks and underware, and some new blue jeans. It's like I came out form the back country and discovered shopping al over again. 
Still later we stopped at a Safeway for meat etc. for another $45. While in Missoula we visited special friends from the Q rock club who have a wonderful home here. They sent us off with fresh veggies from their garden that we used to have great BLT's later for a late supper.  We at last got out of town for the trip back over the divide again to our campsite on the Lochsa River. 

We had planned to move on in the AM and when when about to leave after we were all hooked up,  we found this on our windshield. 

It is the flap section of a FS campsite pay envelope. They must have thought we were the campground hosts. In this campground there was never more than two or three other campers and we looked like we had moved in big time for a week. 
About that time the FS Ranger truck was coming up the camp road. I stopped the ranger and showed her the note. She got a big kick out of it. We did make sure we swept the wood chips off the blacktop apron so our site would be as clean as we found it. 
But we did take with us the wood we had collected from other sites that were left over after the big holiday weekend from our tour from other campgrounds up the road on Monday. It's what fulltimers do on like Sunday afternoons when the locals leave. 
Cruise the grounds and collect the left over firewood. Why not, it is left for others to use, and me thinks, we are others. 

Now on Wednesday we moved on and were able to dump at the Wilderness Gateway campground (see map) and later on crossed the bridge and went up the Selway River road and landed at Johnson Bar campground. We are right on the Selway River and would you believe with my expertise we found a campsite (we had scouted ahead last week on a day trip for possible sites). We got in here and found site #2 where our dish was able to find all four of the satellites. One for internet (89W) and three for DirecTV HD service. So we are now online with TV and Internet. That is no small feat in so many FS campgrounds. Especially in this section of  northern Idaho which is full of deep canyons with rivers that run for miles and miles. We plan on being here for at least through the weekend. The fishing looks good as Terry went for a walk to scope it out in the rain. This is a special site that we have found, me thinks. More pictures of the area to come... You can be sure. 

See the river right behind us. I posted some pictures few days ago of this section of the Selway River on our checking ahead post. Duh, just realized... all you have to do is scroll down to see them... 
There are a couple of mountain roads to explore so as we are inside right now as it has been raining.  We know we have lots of things to do for several days in this area. What to do next will provide the makings for the dreams to flow tonight. 

Oh and trying the new FRS radios... I got out the old ones that had failed, and they started working again. So now we have 4 FRS radio units.  Having backups is good but this is nuts... Guess we can use one in each hand...
 
 
 
 

Sunday Sept. 5

Day trip to Lochsa Lodge for their Sunday BBQ Rib special.

They said they start serving the special at noon, and it lasts till it's gone. 

We got there about 3 PM and they were not busy. We thought it might be crowded as it was cold and raining. 

Soon my plate arrived. All was very good but it should be at a special price of $18 They claimed 1 1/2 lb. of ribs.

Looking at their main menu a Petite Steak (8 oz) for $24.95. You have to remember we are in the outback many miles from anywhere so the reason for higher prices, me thinks. 

You can also get gas and a few supplies at the lodge which is open year round. Diesal is $3.29.

We took a drive through the main Lowell FS campground to see how the wet campers were doing.
The sun came out for a brief time but as we got back to our site several miles down the road, clouds rolled in again and a heavy thunderstorm erupted.

Parked along the road we saw this "towed" behind a motor home. 
They were down in the river fly fishing. 
Wonder how the  "Ma, will you head into town for some milk"  conversation goes?
 
 
 
 

Saturday Sept. 4

Scouted ahead for our next campground.

That's what you do when you are trying to boondock in Forest Service areas. So many of the campgrounds are deep in the trees with very short aprons and narrow tight approaches. It all has to be researched as to where we can go and fit in so to speak.
So off we went to explore the Upper Selway Area.  We first do our research on Forestcamoing.com  and USCampgrounds.info

Heading west from our present site on HW 12 and then up the side road along the Selway River. Just look at all the places to explore on this map. By the way the map is from the Public lands Information Center web site. 

Since the map is still in view we did find several great sites right on the river, open enough for our dish and solar at Johnson Bar campground. Glad we did, as we found we would not fit in most of the other campgrounds. Funny thing is right now we are at Jerry Johnson campground. I need to do a Google search on what's up with these names used for campgrounds in this area. 

Selway River Scenic Drive, Idaho Description:  Only 20 miles of the Selway River, from its junction with the Lochsa River upstream to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness boundary, is accessible by road. A 42-mile sightseeing drive from Lowell to Selway Falls and back offers the traveler an opportunity to appreciate the pristine beauty of the river as well as picturesque Selway Falls.
There are several sand bars with undeveloped beaches for picnicking and swimming. For the camper, the Selway corridor offers 13 campgrounds with restrooms. Drinking water is available at most developed campgrounds.
For the angler, the Selway River is home to trout species including rainbow cutthroat, bull and eastern brook. Fishing is catch-and-release only. However, Fenn Pond, located across from Fenn Ranger Station, has an accessible trail and boardwalk and is stocked with catchable fish. (From the Public Lands Info site.)

Now on with the pictures...

The black top ends at O'hara Bar bridge and campground and from there for the next 11 miles it looks more like this. 
It's not that bad, as all the pictures were taken from the road.

Selway Falls at the end of the road.

We don't seem to have the holiday crush of campers in this area. We are a little far off the beaten path. From the east you have to cross the divide and there are so many choices closer to the population centers that people can go to. Me thinks the locals have their hidden out of the way, known only to them campsites that they sneak off to. Later we will go for a drive to the two other campgrounds close, and see if they filled. 

Oh I didn't tell you Terry has been doing well fly fishing. He is having the best luck, ever. Yesterday he caught 17 trout. He even saw a huge chinook salmon going slowly up river to spawn. To think it came all the way up the Columbia river, then the Snake, then the Clearwater and now on up the Lochsa. Northern Idaho, what unique area we are exploring. 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday Sept. 1

Now we're gettin to where we want to be. 
Updated with text and new pictures 8 PM Wednesday night. 

That's the back country where you have to go for many a mile to find civilization. 
To get there we moved north from the Salmon, ID area on over the huge pass to Montana up to the Lolo cutoff and headed west on Route 12 back over the Divide again and into the wilderness or as close as you can get to it in a 38 ft 5th wheel. 

Got to provide a link to the area after all.  Lolo Trail National Historic Landmark via U.S. Highway 12

Going back down the Lolo Pass back into Idaho you get a hint of the road ahead. 

It follows the Lochsa River and later combines with the Selway to form the Clearwater River. 
All of which we will be exploring in the weeks ahead. Looking good for fishing for Terry. 
The report at the Lochsa Lodge is when the rain stops the October caddis will hatch and fishing is expected to be top notch. Terry had a glow on his face when he came back with that news. We may go back for their Sunday BBQ ribs at $18 or Chicken for $12. Combo at $16 or so. A little pricy but we are in the outback and they say it starts at noon till they run out at about 7 PM. A weekely event for them and this is the last weekend for the BBQ this season. The Lodge is open year round. 

After stopping at a few campsites like this one which had great sites right on the river we still moved on as we knew we could not get satellite service from any of them.  Also no solar with the high canopy of trees in these sites. But if you don't need solar or dish internet go for any of these. 

Not finding a soutable site where we could get a view for our satellite through the trees we chanced upon the Jerry Johonson campground and low and behold it was open and sunny. Just what we were looking for.  Doesn't this look like a great site. We had a nice campfire and partial sun later yesterday. Now if the weather would just clear up a bit as we had light rain most of the night. I could hear it on the roof as no cell service back in here, as expected, so no G3 service to listion to Pandora for music at night in bed. I knew I shouldn't have canceled my XM radio. 
But this is the first place we have been that I had no G3 data service.  I can deal with it, and it's not like I don't have the internet on my DataStorm dish. And I can set my Droid smart phone to WiFi from my onboard router when I really need the NPR morning news. 

As I type at noon today it is starting to rain again. Coulds are hanging in the trees which makes for a eerie sight. 
Our campsite backs right up to the dense forest and anything could come wondering out of it, me thinks. We shall keep our eyes open. We did hear a thump this morning while in bed. Later found a dead bird that had flown into our bedroom window which looks like a mirror from the outside. 
 
 
 
 
 

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