It has been seven years since we moved from Montana to rural Idaho. And it has been almost that long since we have left our homestead for anything resembling a vacation!
This year we had to dry up all the cows, because they were going to calve within six weeks of each other.
We decided to enjoy our time off with some traveling we haven't been able to do in a very long time and visit some friends and relatives. Our mostly in-state journey followed a large portion of Chief Joseph and the Nez Pierce Indians’ flight from the U.S. cavalry in 1877.
We started off by heading south and seeing my dad's mom, and Kit's great Aunt Dorothy who is in her mid-90s. She spoke of a time when they were not "horse poor", at one point owning around 100 horses, of the stories she heard from her grandparents, and how the people fed Colt Younger and the James Gang as they passed through. Then we headed to Kit's aunt and uncle's place. We pitched our tent beside their creek, and listened to the creek lullaby every night.
The boys played in the creek to their hearts’ content, and enjoyed bonfires at night. Aunt Lynn, (Great Aunt Dorothy's daughter) tells stories of wild horses and ranching back in Colorado that can keep up with the best yarns spun. The older boys also helped get a bit of firewood gathered and cut up while we were there. And MJW suffered a broken arm after falling over backwards in a lawn chair during supper time.
The next portion of our trip we decided to visit my dad, mom, and grandparents. We decided to take the back roads and camp all along the way, about four days. We took Kit's parents with us for the four days of camping.
We traveled along the old trail the Nez Perce Indians traveled in their escape from General Howard, and also the same trail that Lewis and Clark took from Montana over to Idaho on their way to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. Although the road is much improved from the above mentioned "trail", we still only averaged about 10 mph for 100 miles.
The first day we stopped at our favorite mountain lake for several hours to let the kids get wet and cool off.
VAR heartily approved. She preferred the sand and mud on the shore of the lake.
Her brothers donned life jackets and grabbed the inner tube to cool off in the lake.
An old log also provided ample fun as they paddled around the lake.
In case anyone is wondering how the Law Family slept, this is what camp looked like. Kit and I purchased a 12'x12' wall tent about 10 years ago and it works great. Our family of nine slept in it for four days, and one of those nine slept in a pack and play while the rest slept in sleeping bags. It took us an hour and a half to unpack and set up our camp every evening. Kit’s parents slept in a small dome tent they brought along. We cooked on a propane 2-burner stove that also has a large griddle. The only way to feed an army!
The scenery was breathtaking! Wherever we looked it was just peak after peak, forever. This trail basically travels the ridges and so there are many times we could see mountain peaks to our left and right. It was amazing!
The wild flowers were out in absolute abundance. I have never seen wildflowers in the mountains like this. Everything that could bloom was blooming!
This was another gorgeous hike . . . Except for the muddy banks!
MJW somehow missed the stepping stones to the rock we were sitting on, and sank past his knees in the goo, before we could pull him out. He ended up hiking out looking more like an Indian in his wet muddy moccasins.
Here you can see why the road is less then 10 miles an hour in places. If we hit 15 mph we felt like we were flying. Kit enjoyed tying down our mantied up gear using the double diamond hitch in preparation for a later horse pack trip with the boys. We met a few motorcycles and side by side ATVs along the way. One couple making the trip with very minimal gear riding a single motorbike asked us if we were moving.
This was our exercise routine while traveling. Usually, first thing in the morning, a few of the boys would run ahead of our vehicle for a mile or two before getting in to ride the rest of the day. If anyone got too crabby or silly from sitting too long, the exercise was repeated. We only managed to travel about twice the distance per day as the Nez Pierce tribe so running alongside or in front of our horseless carriage was quite feasible.
Indian post office, elevation 6,966. There are places along the road where the Nez Perce trail and blazes on the trees can still be seen, though we weren't quite sure which trees.
Looking into Montana.
This moose was the only wildlife we saw at this point along with two deer. We spotted her right along the main paved highway. Later, while hiking at the Big Hole Battlefield, a large mountain lion leaped across the trail about 15 feet in front of PW, his brothers, and Daddy! The portion of Idaho which we traveled was home to a large elk herd numbering about 20,000 when we were children. It took about 10 years after the introduction of wolves in the 1990s, for the elk, a wild food resource which fed the people of Idaho, to become nearly extinct. Later in the summer, after completing a 50-mile pack trip into the Selway wilderness with his dad and his three oldest boys, Kit saw the tracks of one moose, and a few deer. It is becoming more common to see predators than prey now.
Nevertheless, we had a GREAT time! Definitely made some memories and saw some wild country. I was very appreciative when a hot shower again became available, along with a soft bed. The ground was never that hard when I was younger!
We also had a great time visiting my side of the family. And now, after 12 years, we have a four generation picture with a girl! My mom is on the left, with Grami in the middle.
Of course the boys all gathered around the 4-wheeler for their picture. Their great great uncle Jack at 90 years old had a fun time giving rides and telling stories of bronc rides, logging and mountain country adventures to a young audience. We are glad that our children could spend time listening to family stories and real history from a disappearing western culture.
Our friend Jay took this picture of VAR in her Great Grami's flower bed and submitted it to the county fair. It took a red ribbon at the fair! What a vacation it was! All for $125 in fuel!