now i'm in the palouse

i'm going to check out where i was graduated -- univ of idaho in moscow.  i suppose it's kind of like returning to the scene of the crime.  i'll most likely be off-line as i plan to do some backpacking for a while...

looks fake

but it's not

nothing compared to colorado

thanks to colorado, this hill was fun and painless.

climbing the lewiston grade

another bucket list item. check

i have to eventually climb up that plateau in the background

crazy canoes

lewiston id/clarkston wa

oh poo. another hill?!

oh wait, i turn left just before it. ha!

never mind the gravel all over the shoulder

it's the frequent closing the highway down to one lane that was a bother. luckily, there wasn't much traffic so i didn't have to play chicken with oncoming big rigs. lucky for them, i mean (right!).

winchester id

winchester lake

110713

more 4 kevin

the breadbox of america?

here kitty, kitty

i saw this cat the size of a german shepherd bounding around in this field and stopped to take its picture. by the time i got the camera out, it had crouched down and was watching me. i know there are cougars in the area, but this is not one of those, so i don't know exactly what it was -- just that it's a cat and way bigger than a house cat, but not a dog.

getting into the palouse

more nez perce

nez perce rez

more from idaho

110712

knifes edge river access (somewhere in there)

had a fire tonight

wet wood be danged

lovely, and free, camping at knifes edge river access

more on the way to the hot springs

trail to jerry johnson hot springs

jerry johnson hot springs

almost everyone i told i was doing lolo pass told me to visit this place. glad i did. it was about a mile hike on a very pretty trail. one guy along the way told me some joker always puts a sign that NO clothing is mandatory. ha!

someone (i presume jerry johnson) created semi-natural pools for the hot springs. a cure-for-cancer bike tour full of college kids and i shared the upper one with plenty of room for all. clothing stayed on (they're just kids and don't need the rest of their lives ruined by that!).

some of us did the usual: heat up in the pool, then go to the river and dunk in the ice-melt waters. invigorating! i might have screamed, but only might have, and even if i did, only dogs could prove it.

the bummer is that i drowned my iphone. apple, if you're reading this, please make them waterproof cuz watching the phone die in agony was torture. as much as i wanted to blame my h2o bottle, i know it was my mistake. well crap, now it's a matter of money.

did i tell you this place was beautiful?

eponymous

lolo pass descent

the ascent to lolo pass was slow and gradual, but the descent was pretty quick. oh and very beautiful

montana no more

110711

laaaaa

was told the protest of this big blue thing...

..., that had to do with oil refining, was a matter of national security. i believe it, if you're a nation governed by oil.

hwy 12 towards lolo pass

back in college some old guy told me lolo pass was quite beautiful. not having any money to check it out while in college, lolo pass has been a bucket list item for me. not sure it's the most beautiful place in the world, but it is quite beautiful.

lolo peak

feels weird to be looking up to a peak that high rather than summiting it.

very cool

all the utility boxes i saw were painted nicely such as this one.

getting close to missoula

more sunset in the bighorns