At the Day’s End the Day Begins

We made it to Idaho and are now camped on National Forest Land, in the Selway area. We arrived here late after determining that the Orofino Rodeo Grounds was (at least for us) substandard. It consisted of one good pen that had a rough muddy surface. I told Pete no, and so we moved on. So we ended up travelling another one and half hours, Pete grumbling about being hungry and tired. But I knew we’d made the right decision in continuing on as we drove the last 12 miles to the camping areas. On our right was the Selway River, wide, fast moving, rumbling – fun to sit in the car and imagine being out there in a kayak.

It took a while to set up camp because we had to use the electric fence. The farthest portion of the stockade was a wooden fence – nevertheless, we didn’t have enough poles and wire to give the horses adequate room.

It was hard leaving Spokane and our friends Tom and Cynthia. And it was even harder for me, leaving El. She’s the only family that I now have left. And I so enjoy being with her and sharing past and present memories. Maybe fate will someday intervene and we will end up living closer together. When, so many years ago, I moved to Alaska, I did not foresee that I would feel the need to be close to her.

This morning Cynthia took El and me on yet another road trip, to a plant nursery. El was convinced that Cynthia would enjoy having lobelia grown her yard and so she purchased two plants and gave them to her. Then Cynthia took us on a tour of Spokane. I was intrigued by one particular area – one obviously inhabited by hippie types. There were small houses, no two the same, with varied lots. These houses were situated near a large bridge that was adjacent to state land, which had a lot of brush. I pictured myself living there. I’d take advantage of foliage situation and I’d have a goat herd. They’d browse in the daytime and during the morning and night I’d milk them and sell the raw milk.

It would be a stretch to get the horses into the scheme of things, but I could do it. Anything is possible, right?

Our late afternoon drive began with us going along the Palouse area, which is located in Eastern Washington. No more trees, just rolling hills. This is a wheat growing area. We then drove alongside the Nez Pierce trail, which was flanked by the Clearwater River. The rolling hills gave way to mountainous forested land.

Early on a couple who had moved from CA to ID befriended up and attempted to provide us with information about what lay ahead. Pete had been thinking that we might camp in the National Forest and do a 3-4 day trip. Our hopes were dashed by the fact that livestock aren’t allowed in campgrounds. This is why we went farther and ended up camping on the outskirts of the main campground, which is where we are now going to spend the night.

Tomorrow we’ll return to the ranger station and check out the corral/trail situation. It would bode well for the horses if there’s a corral farther down road. Right now, the electric fence is providing them with tight quarters. Pete’s thinking that we can do the electric fence thing – we just need to get more wire and poles. My thought, that we should purchase panels, has been disregarded. I guess Pete sees this as being too expensive an alternative.

Next: 150. 6/1/19: CCC trail, 673, Nez Pierce Forest