North America 2024
Day 22: Friday 16 August 2024
Clarkston, Washington State – Lolo, Montana
Leaving Lewiston, we see again the basalt outcrops and rock formations which were formed by the flooding after the last ice age. This strange formation overhangs the Snake River.
The town of Lewiston looking north. The river valley is on the edge of the Columbia Basin, and lies well below the surrounding mountain ranges, due to sinking of the crust after a magmatic outflow.
An amusing legend from Indian folklore, explaining the unusual rock formations seen in the area. The coyote held the primary position in their animal spirit ranking. Australian Aborigines have similar animal spirit legends to explain the shape of the world around them.
This landscape, with its faded colouring and paucity of vegetation, due to the lack of deep topsoil, accompanied us until we reached the forests along the Clearwater River further south.
As we begin to cross the Bitterroot Mountains, we discover an extraordinary sight: miles of logging wagons stored on a railway line.
The Clearwater River is fast flowing, with many bends and rapids. A paradise for kayakers, fishermen and campers.
The scenery was like this for over a hundred miles, as we climbed to the 2,000m Lolo Pass. This is the Lolo Trail, which was used by the Blackfeet Indians when they raided other tribes for horses and food. It is the scene of battles and pursuits in the 1870s, as cavalry units fought the warring Indians.
The Lolo Steakhouse, where we enjoyed a vibrant atmosphere, and hunting trophies exemplifyng the relationship between the people and the rich variety of life in their environemnt.
Travel Diary
We leave the motel and go to buy a battery for the mouse in the extensive supermarket complex across the road. A enormously fat man is behind me at the cashier, and he is buying a large box of chocolate-smothered donuts. Yuck!
We drive a short distance in WA on the west side of the Snake River, to Asotin, where a colleague of Cindy´s from the Joyce school lives. Her husband and children are away purchasing a 1920 vintage car in California, a Franklin. Karen Parker is very pleased to see Cindy after 40 years. They chat for 3.5 hours, while we explore her 1.5-acre property, full of plants, birds and animals. This little farm is her passion, and they are lucky to have water rights, so they can draw water from the passing stream. They have 3 labradors, who excitedly slather us constantly. Humming birds come for the sugar water Karen puts out in special containers. They get unwelcome visitors too, foxes, once of cougar, and rattlesnakes.
We take the US 12 along the Clearwater River, which winds first south through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The scenery changes from bare bluffs to forest, then we ascend, alongside the Loschsa River, with its rapids. We go over two passes, the Sarage (6168 feet) and the Lolo (5235 feet), neither of which are above the treeline. The high firs stay with us all the way, simultaneously colouring and obscuring our view of the narrowing valleys and gulches. I take over the driving and there is very little traffic.
We arrive towards 8 p.m. (time change plus one hour to mountain time), and find our motel in a flat expanse of valley on the US 93. The room is enormous and comfortable, and not so expensive (c. $187). We exit quickly and find the Lolo Creek Steak House, we had seen at the end of the US 12. This large log building has a splendid display of stuffed animal trophies of the meese, deer, cougar, and other wildlife of the area. We have steaks which are too large for our appetites, so take a doggy bag for a snack for the route tomorrow.