A River Runs Through It

Big Creek runs through the border of the Frank Church Wilderness area in remote Idaho. That is where we spent the past 5 days. Kate, Hadley, Doug and I loaded up the trailer and headed south to spend the first week of elk hunting season on the front lines. Doug purchased an elk tag for this hunt on New Years day and has been looking forward to it ever since. So we made the trek. Our journey would take us into Lewiston and then down through the Camas Prairie and finally arriving in the beautiful country of McCall where we would eventually turn off and head towards the wilderness. Now, on Mapquest it looked like our trip would take an estimated 9 hours. I am always amazed and surprised at how much longer things take when traveling with children. 13 hours later we arrive, in the dark, into Big Creek lodge. 13 hours sounds like a long time doesn't it? Imagine the last 3 hours of it on a bumpy gravel road. Yes, 3 hours. When I read it on the mapquest I thought surely it was a mistake. There aren't gravel roads that take that long to cover are there? But in fact there are. And let me say I wasn't a bit sorry to have Doug driving the truck and trailer (30' long on the deck) when we made this long leg of the journey. There were too many steeps spots to count. And numerous sections which required the truck being in 4 low to climb. My mom would have had to have been heavily medicated to drive in some of the sections we drove. Long drops offs that led down to a rocky river below. But anyway, we finally arrived and settled in quickly for sleep.

When we awoke it was cold. Much colder than we are used to. Things were covered with frost but Doug and I were out of bed and out the door to see what the country looked like. It was beautiful, as promised, and rocky and really amazing. We spent a good part of the day scouting the area and realizing just where we really were. Backcountry Idaho. It soon became apparent we were really going to be at a loss because motorized vehicles were not allowed back into the wilderness. The only way to access it was by foot or horseback. And it also became apparent that the elk were no where near our camp. Doug saw no sign of elk. Bummer.

In addition to this discovery, I had a good chance to watch the outfitters at the lodge preparing to take a couple of hunters back into the wilderness for a week. A week at $5000 a person. This outfitter, based out of McCall, was made up of a nice group of young men who seemed to enjoy what they were doing. It was interesting to visit with them and watch them prepare their packs and animals for the trip. Only the outfitters ride horses, the rest of the team is made up of mules. They seemed to know all of their temperaments well and had a nice way of handling them. One of their pack string was a Hafflinger that was named Captain. He was quite a character. He rubbed his bridle off 3 times while I was standing there. I said he must be good on the trails but they replied "no, he really isn't." I had to laugh. Sounds like the kind of horse we all want. I also have to laugh at the picture of the guided hunt heading out, I swear it looks like a inner mongolian pony and rider. The guide (who I later found out was a saddle bronc rider and not necessarily a horseman) was wearing this large steel frame on his back for packing out meat that looked like it was a modern day rig to pack around a papoose which I pointed out to him. One thing I can say for sure was it scared the crap out of the horses and mules. When they had the train all ready to go he walked through a couple of horses and they all freaked out and pulled back and broke apart with mules scattering everywhere.

The girls had a fantastic time. I am willing to bet they were not only the only two little girls up there but certainly the first "butterflies" the mountain had seen in a long time. I had picked up a couple of butterfly wings at the store before we left and they were thrilled with them and wore them all over. Taking rides on the quad through the forest service roads was especially fun. Kate sat in the bucket holder on the front of the quad and hollered "I YIKE ICE CREAM!" (translation=I like ice cream) at the top of her lungs over and over to whomever might be listening. What triggered this no one knows. Hadley and Kate also had an opportunity to go fishing for the first time. There was a pretty little creek called Lick Creek that fasinated them. It was shallow enough and quiet enough that they could wade in it and throw rocks when they were fishing. The first day we went there Kate and Hadley both were sopping wet from the creek. It wasn't until the next day I stuck my own feet in there and discovered just how cold this water was. Truly, like ice! It is amazing how tough those two girls can be.

Although we brought enough food to eat at our trailer the entire trip we treated ourselves to breakfast in the lodge a couple of mornings. There is a couple from Michigan who run the lodge and she serves up a huge man breakfast which makes sense because we were the only women around. Her husband, Dan, didn't even know what month it was. They have been back there since May and are very removed from the "real" world. They have Internet access but no phones and no television. Electricity is generated by a hydroelectric generator that is situationed on a creek that runs next to the property. The creek is actually a spring which spouts out water pure enough to drink. Just across the dirt road from where we camped there was a remote mountain air strip that is pretty heavily used considering its location. We saw a number of planes coming and going. Most come to have a bite to eat in the lodge and then head out again. This is also the primary means of getting supplies for the area and also for the US Mail.

In the evening, I wandered out to the camp fire and shared a beautiful time with some of the people from the lodge. I met a few really nice, interesting men. John and Rich are from the LA area and they were there for a guided fishing trip. We had such a great talk, John is originally from Dublin and he and Rich have been going on annual fishing trips for the past 43 years. They met in their work place as engineers many moons ago. They told me about some of their adventures together and about their families. I returned the favor. Leon, the guide who was taking them up to Lick Lake the following morning, joined us. He was a very interesting guy. One thing all three guides shared was a quiet, kind demeanor and it was fun to learn more about him. Earlier in the day he had told me he was from Ohio and it popped into my head that perhaps he was Amish but I quickly dispelled that thought after he said "shit". Certainly he couldn't be Amish and swear!? Well guess what! He was in fact Amish so with that information I had about 2000 questions for him. The first and most important question was "Do you say shit in front of your parents!!??" The answer was YES! He was raised on a farm that raised hay, wheat and livestock. They use draft horses to work their fields. His education was completed in 8th grade. He was able to get his drivers license and drive at age 18. Pictured above from left is Leon, Rich with safety orange tied around his head so he wouldn't get shot in the woods and John from Dublin.

While scouting on Tuesday, Doug came across a large male moose dead in the road. It had been shot and he spent the remainder of the day tracking down fish and game guys and whoever else could help deal with this tragedy. Eventually he was able to get the Fish and Game Department in on it and they try to retrieve the bullet to help determine who might have shot the animal and then if it is too old to use for meat (which this one was by the time they got there) then they blow the remains up with dynamite to prevent bears from feeding on the body. Interesting even if it is a little gross.

When it became apparent there wasn't going to be any elk within a realistic distance to hunt then we decided to pack up and head home. The trip home was not quite as long and probably just as interesting. We trade the kids back and forth between our rigs. I had taken the Forester in case he wanted to stay longer then I could head back to the farm. When Doug had the girls in the truck it gave me a chance to listen to a book I downloaded on my ipod called The Divide by Nicholas Evans. I don't often read fiction so it was kind of a fun change. The book was unabridged so even after so many traveling hours I still haven't completed it.

We stopped in New Mountain Idaho to eat dinner at a nice bbq place and then the girls had to get some ice cream for the road. Watching Kate eat ice cream in the back of any vehicle is enough to make anyone's blood pressure rise. What a mess! But how can you deny a girl who loves ice cream so much??

The sun was going down so we decided to camp on the Salmon River at Skookumchuck Park. How can you pass a place called Skookumchuck!? They had a fantastic beach and the girls bid the day farewell by taking an invigorating swim in the river with Doug. It never ceases to amaze me how brave and bold those two girls can be. They certainly didn't get their boldness from me.

On our final morning we headed into Grangeville Idaho which is up on the Camas Prairie and stopped for breakfast at a place called the Hilltop Cafe. Now make no mistake. Idaho is a Mans state through and through and I think this cafe pretty much summed it up. I was the only woman other than our 65+ waitress who knew all the men by name. A table of 6 or so men sat and bs'd before they headed off for work. The conversation never strayed far from fuses and electrical current to what kind of elk John Boy shot during archery season. Yep, I was in Idaho.

We made time to stop in Cottonwood to say hi to some of Doug's uncles and his grandma and then headed into Nez Perce to stop by his Great Uncle Dick's. We hadn't seen him in 13 years and it was nice to say hi. His health is failing but he remains engaged in life and seems to enjoy some of the things he has available in the small town. While Doug and Dick visited, the girls and I crossed the street and had sprinting races across the football field where Doug's dad used to play.

With the visits behind us we made a bee line for home and happily arrived in the early evening and started getting back to the real world but not without some nice new memories of a beautiful wilderness where a river runs through it.