The West Archives - Page 6 of 9 - ETB Travel Photography

Day 262 – North Cascades Loop

Day 262 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Petey and I went on the neatest hike this morning. It was so unsual, interesting and scenic. To get to the trailhead near Stevens Pass, VANilla took us through valleys of fruit orchards, followed alongside the Wenatchee River, and climbed a 4,000 foot pass before turning onto a gravel road which took us four miles to a parking area at the old town site of Wellington.

The trail runs along the old Great Northern Railway passage still marked with mile post numbers representing the distance from St. Paul, Minnesota. We walked about 1.5 miles to mile marker 1712 where we found a cache to complete finding a cache in each of the lower 48 states. Along the way we walked through a concrete snowshed that stretched nearly 2,000 feet and was somewhat eerie.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 259 – In Flathead Indian Country -Part 2

Day 259 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Petey and I pulled into a campground at Seely Lake late last night and spent part of the morning chatting with the campground hosts who were from Huntsville, Texas. They were staying through the Labor Day holiday weekend and then touring around the northwest before heading back to the hot south for the winter.

After catching up with my fellow Texans, Petey and I began our next scenic drive through Flathead National Forest along Route 83. We headed north on the Seeley Swan Scenic Drive to Holland Lake. Holland Lake covers 400 acres and includes several trails, a 41-site campground, and a day use area. The recreational area provides visitors a plethora of activities from hiking to waterskiing.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 257 – Salmon – Bitterroot Country

Day 257 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Today ended up being a lot of driving and a lot of road construction. I tried visiting Bonanza and Custer, two ghost towns from the mining days, but the road to the towns was closed for two hours at a time. When the flagger heard me say, “Ok, I’ll skip it then”, he let out a sigh of relief! Instead, I snapped a quick photo of a dam that was erected in 1910 and blown up in 1934 as it was prohibiting salmon from swimming upstream to spawn.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 256 – Sawtooth Sampler

Day 256 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Ernest Hemingway’s Grave

On my way out of Ketchum and Sun Valley, I stopped at the local cemetery to pay respects to Ernest Hemingway. He penned portions of For Whom the Bell Tolls while he stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge. His grave stone is like a wishing well…covered in coins. Surrounding it are various empty bottles of wine and champagne.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 255 – Idaho Heartland and Sawtooth Sampler

Day 255 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

After morning coffee with Sandy, I headed south to meet my friend, Kathryn. An ex-colleague out of the Houston office turned doctor, that now lives in Boise. We went for lunch at a local brewery and walked along the Boise River to the Boise Zoo. The giraffes were hiding. I’m sad because I had my camera with me the whole time and forgot to take a picture!

After lunch I continued south to Shoshone Falls which were absolutely spectacular. I was on information overload. Each time I turned to look at a different portion, I noticed something new. The Snake River tumbles 210 feet over numerous rock outcroppings. I just loved it!

From the falls, I turned north up Highway 75 to end in Sun Valley for the night. I got a great chicken stir fry at the Sun Valley Brewery which almost reminded me of Chef Wang’s at home. An amber beer on tap and a little preseason football added to a relaxing evening. ETB

Map of My Road Trip Across the USA

Learn more about my road trip across the USA, or click the link below for the interactive map.

map of road trip along scenic byways across the USA — Interactive Map of Road Trip Across the USA

Day 254 – Idaho Heartland (Part 2)

Day 254 of Year Long Roadtrip Following Scenic Byways in the USA

Ant and the Yellow Jacket

From Dworshak State Park, we followed the Clearwater River through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and made a roadside stop at the Ant and the Yellow Jacket. According to an Indian Legend, the stone arch was once two insects. Ant and Yellow Jacket fought over who had the right to eat dried salmon in the area. The Coyote, the all-powerful animal spirit, ordered them to stop. They failed to heed his warning, thus he turned them into stone while their backs were arched and their jaws locked together during combat.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 253 – Idaho Heartland

Day 253 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

As I was leaving Missoula, I realized there were a few sights I probably should have explored, but I guess I was excited to get to Idaho which is the last of the 48 contiguous states in which I really haven’t spent any time aside from driving through a portion of it a month ago. I was hoping to fulfill my geocaching needs in this state, but AT&T doesn’t seem to exist here thus my apps are currently worthless.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 252 – In Flathead Indian Country

Day 252 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Relative to yesterday, we had a slow day, including a slow start. I was blessed with a marvelous migraine and had to take Petey to the vet for a puncture wound. Once we finally bid farewell to Melinda in Kalispell, we took Highway 93 south along the western shore of Flathead Lake. The lake is lovely, but not very conducive to old, injured dog activities.

Polson

As a result, we made our first stop at its southern tip in Polson, where I had lunch at Pop’s Grill, one of a few choices in the small town. After lunch, Petey and I took a stroll through town and down to a park on the edge of Flathead Lake before returning to VANilla.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 251 – Going-To-The-Sun Road

Day 251 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

St Mary’s Falls Trail

What a wonderful day in Glacier National Park! Our first stop on the Going to the Sun Road was at the St. Mary’s Falls Trailhead. I followed the St. Mary’s Falls trail through the forest along the aqua blue river to numerous waterfalls. In fact, there were so many falls on the 3.6 mile round trip, that I, along with others, were confused as to which were which.

I was expecting to only see St. Mary’s Falls and Virginia Falls, but there were two more in between. What a pleasant surprise! At St. Mary’s Falls, water cascaded over the rocks as the river bent around cliffs like a backwards “C”. The next two unnamed cascades were multi-tiered falls certainly worthy of a visit. In fact, I liked them better than the final destination, Virginia Falls. That said, Virginia Falls, whose main falls tumbles 50 feet is quite impressive.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 250 – Charlie Russell Country (Part 2)

Day 250 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Choteau

Well, I don’t know where the time went today. By the time I reached Glacier National Park, about 150 miles away from my starting point, it was nearly 4 pm, and I can’t say I have much to show for it.

My first stop was at Choteau, the home of novelist A.B. Guthrie, Jr. who is the author of The Big Sky. Choteau is known for its abundant wheat and barley harvests evidenced by the rolling fields of yellow and black (grain and fallow soil). The town’s courthouse, on the south end of town, required a $40,000 bond issue which
was very controversial, though it passed by about 50 votes. All I can think is…inflation!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!