Fri, Sept 25: On the road to Kamiah, Idaho

It is another pretty morning. We get up and have a leisurely breakfast talking over what we want to do today.As we look at the map and read about the scenic drives, we realize that it would be better to drive on today on the roads we want to travel as there is no real loop to do with out a lot of back tracking.

So Dick goes to the office for a refund of the second nights fee. Back at the rig Carolyn gets breakfast cleaned up and things stored away while Dick gets us hooked up and read to go.
About 11AM we head down the Coeur d’Alene Lake Scenic Byway, Hwy 95.

The lake is 32 miles long and formed by glacier activity.It is a beautiful lake with many nice homes right on the water. There are also many for sale!
All most at the south end of the lake,we leave Hwy 95 and pick up Hwy 3 which is White Pine Scenic Byway. This takes us through the high valley of the Joe and Marie Rivers then into an dense, old fir/pine forest.

After a while we get back on Hwy 95 heading due south to Lewistown at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers.For a while we drive through golden steep rolling hillscovered in what is left of the wheat harvest.It is pretty countryside. Then at Lewistown we descend on a very steep road...with lots of trucker warnings at the top and four run away truck ramps on the way down!There is a great overlook just before we start down. We stop there, have lunch and enjoy the view. We can see the tail end of the Snake River Hell’s Canyon it is such a clear day.At Lewistown we pick up Hwy 12 which is the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. It follows the Lewis and Clark trail along the Clearwater River.We make a stop at the Nez Perce National Park Visitors Center and learn a little about the Nez Perce Indians. There is a very nice museum at the Visitor’s Center with lots of items that were used in everyday life. The beaded items are especially nice.

We drive on the edge of their reservation for the rest of the afternoon along the Clearwater River. The park service has some maps and other information on the area. The park is quiet big with several points of interest in northern Idaho and western Montana.

We drive on, following the scenic byway to Kemiak. It is a very nice drive. The river is beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

There are many people wade fishing in the river. We find a nice little campground on the river at Kamiah.We love to camp where we can set out and enjoy the waterand a pretty sunset.We grill some of the corn we bought in Washington and have a simple dinner of vegetables.