Grangeville-1

From Boise we trundled up the west side of Idaho, nearly 200 miles, to Grangeville. I picked this locale because it was close to the mountains and near several scenic drives.  Also, the Bear Den RV Park had an interesting website -- the park was started by a couple who wanted to scale back their active life.  How's that working for ya? I wondered.  It's a nice park, currently being expanded.  We stayed three nights and enjoyed some neat surprises -- unplanned gems that make travel so much fun.

Wednesday (7/21) morning we did laundry (not an unplanned gem), then took an afternoon drive to Elk City -- a mining boom town in 1861, not so active now except maybe in hunting season.  For some reason, it made me think of the sort of remote place where somebody like the Unabomber might hang out - his cabin was in Montana - where you might go to get away from almost everybody.  I'm sure there are no potential Unabombers in Elk City, though.

Elk City is at the end of a 49-mile cul-de-sac -- that's what I mean about remote, though the road is paved -- that follows the South Fork of the Clearwater River -- a typically scenic mountain stream.  Here are some typical scenes.

Not much traffic or activity along the way -- on a Wednesday.  We did meet an UPS truck, though, and Elk City did have an unexpectedly large general store that provided our ice cream break of the day. 

Also came across a photogenic barn on our way back to G'ville.

See the cross?

When we left Grangeville on this drive we met a group of maybe a dozen cross-country bicycle riders, all spread out, riding heavily laden bikes, struggling up the climb that takes you from the South Fork river valley to the plain on which Grangeville sits.  Figured they must be a group.  We would cross paths with them again the next day.

Back in town we visited a bookstore, then as we were walking back to the car I espied a poster advertizing summer concerts in the park, starting the next night with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  Let's plan on that, I said.  Susie, ever the cautious skeptic, said I bet they're just going to play recordings; that orchestra couldn't be playing Grangeville.  Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

The day ended with a nice sunset.

Approaching Grangeville from the SW you make a long, steep climb up White Bird hill.  This climb takes you from the Salmon River valley up almost 3000 ft. to the (fruited) plain above.  On Tuesday we had stopped part way up to give Tuzigoot a breather and to look at the scenery. 

Later, when we picked up a guide to the area I saw that one of the suggested scenic drives was to drive "old 95" up or down White Bird hill, the hill in the background of the previous picture.  Also saw that just south of the small town of White Bird, at the bottom of the hill, there is a road into Hells Canyon, to Pittsburg Landing, the only vehicle access to the Snake River in Hells Canyon.  So, the Thursday agenda formed almost unbidden:  Pittsburg Landing, White Bird for lunch, Old 95 up the hill, Glenn Miller in the evening.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Susie and Rob