Towns and Scenery North of Grangeville

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Our travels today take us north of Grangeville to several little communities which our literature tells us are quaint and historic and along the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, the trail that Lewis and Clark took.  Our trip as on previous days is all along the river, this time we climb a bit out of the Grangeville valley area and then descend almost 2,000 feet into the deep canyon of Clearwater River’s South Fork where we find pine trees growing all the way to the river.  Absolutely beautiful.

It’s hard describing the beauty of the area with the rivers flowing along the road.    If you have not been to the western side of Idaho, you have missed some quaint and interesting little towns and some gorgeous scenery.

First pass through the town of Harpster and then turn off this highway to go to Clearwater once the first stop on the wagon road between two communities which supplied miners at the gold fields.    Today it is the home of the Elk City Wagon Road Museum which is only open once a year in July or by appointment any time.   Small towns often only have things open on certain days and are usually closed at the lunch hour we found.   We did find this old IOOF building in town but very little else except many farms along the road where a great deal of alfalfa is being grown or had recently been baled.  We  did also see these quilt blocks on the side of the house here.

Back on the main highway, we drive on to the town of Kooskia (founded in 1895, population 675) which sits in a river valley and is a gateway to some of the most isolated country in the United States.   Here the Clearwater River’s main forks flow together.   Kooskia is a Nez Perce phrase meaning “where the waters join.”  Claire had recommended we try the Kooskia Café for lunch, so we did.  Nice little place with barbed wire art work (Indian headdress, kokopeli, flower designs, etc.) hanging on the walls as well as some photos of the town in years past.  Cute.  We found some old buildings and this rather odd elk statute on the top of one of the buildings. 

How about this sign giving an Alley a street name

Mural depicting the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Old Theater

Cute Bank Building

Strange looking elk 

Moving on north we are still following the beautiful river as the roadway takes us past the towns of Syringa (the state flower) and Lowell (here the Lochsa and Selway Rivers join to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River).

Confluence of the Lochsa and Selway Rivers

We blinked on our way through Lowell so completely missed the town our first time through.  Both towns, if you can call them that, consisted of a lodge or two with cabins, gas station, a restaurant and some lovely homes here and there.  Notice the sign for Lowell and the number of residents.

Also saw this row of old trucks in Lowell.  Not sure why they were there.

We had to reverse back through Kooskia as the highway we were on in Lowell goes on to Missoula.  We traveled back to Kooskia then on to Kamiah (pronounced kam ee eye) where we learn that Lewis and Clark camped in the spring of 1806 on their homeward journey.

We stopped at the Bakery, an old drug store with a beautiful back counter of dark wood and an ornate mirror which was once the back counter for the lunch bar.  Some beautiful stained glass pieces were hanging from the ceiling in the back.  Would love to have had time to schedule afternoon tea in their tea room.

 

This pretty old Presbyterian Church caught our eye as we left Kamiah.

Just east of the town of Kamiah is a volcanic rock formation known as the Heart of the Monster which is the place of creation in Nez Perce mythology and tells the story of Coyote defeating the monster.     “As he dripped the blood and tossed the heart said, “Where this blood lands and with this heart will grow a people.  They’ll be strong.  They’ll be brave.  They’ll have good hearts, They will live good lives.  And these will be the Nez Perce.”  Interesting.   

One thing I have not mentioned is that all these rivers are used for white water rafting and any time of day you are apt to see rafts floating down the river with plenty of rapids awaiting the thrill seekers.   We have not seen much in the way of wildlife except for a wild turkey or two.  While we have noticed the fields and fields of yellow canola growing, we apparently have missed most of the deep purple wildflowers (camas) which grow so profusely in this area in early spring.  The camas bulb was a favorite and a major food source for the Nez Perce Indians.

Our evening dinner was spent at Seasons Restaurant with the family.  As Claire and Tom are avid readers like me, we exchanged author names and I walked out of their house with 10 more books to add to my stash in the RV basement.  “Just what we need,” commented Ron on the acquisition.  I usually donate read books at RV Parks along the way but can’t read seem to resist still purchasing some especially at antique and thrift shops.  Needless to say, I’m not making much progress in getting rid of hard copy books.