Salmon, Idaho (62 degrees, chilly in the morning and late evening, blue skies)
"Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose"
Stephen Ambrose, Undaunted Courage
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| Sacajawea Center |
In 1805 just about this time of year Lewis & Clark Expedition entered the area where we stayed with our friends Barry and Jann. During our visit we followed some of their trail. It was fascinating. Click
here for a great map and detail about this area.
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| Barry and Jann at the River of No Retur |
At this time the expedition had been traveling for 15 months. As they entered the Lemhi Valley they found the Salmon River to be quite a challenge. It was here a major change was made in their expedition and they abandoned the river route after encountering the turbulent River of No Return. They climbed out of the valley and took a land route instead to the Pacific Ocean.
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| The turbulent River of No Return caused Lewis and Clark to change their plans |
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| Rafter coming down the river |
This was also the area where Sacajawea was reunited with her Shoshone family after being kidnapped by another tribe many years earlier. She was negotiating for horses and suddenly recognized her brother. What an emotional reunion this must have been for them.
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| Storm crossing the area where Lewis and Clark traveled |
We visited the Sacajawea Center in Cascade and spent a lovely morning hiking some of the trails and visiting the center
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| Barry and Jann |
See below the picture of everyone standing over one of the springs which feeds the might Missouri River. Meriweather Lewis once wrote "McNeal had exultantly stood with a foot on each side of this little rivulet and thanked the god that he lived to bestride the might and heretofore endless Missouri" - August 1895.
We exalted too!
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| Jann, John, and Barry standing over the spring |
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| Golden Eagle (taken by Barry) |
We stayed in two different campgrounds while visiting this area
Healds Haven RV Park and
Wagonhammer RV Park). Two of the highlights were kayaking trips down the Salmon River. It is so much easier to kayak when you have two vehicles. Each trip was challenging with lots of rapids, rocks to negotiate around, a couple of spills, and one drowned camera. Luckily it was John's inexpensive one.
Our sea kayaks made this a rather chilly trip (we were "christened" with cold water often) but it's probably the best kayaking we have done to date. We saw seven golden Eagles on one trip. What a treat!!
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| Jann, Barry, and me |
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| John scouting out the next rapid section |
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| Books Cliffs |
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| Lunch stop |
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| Can you see the monkey face? |
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| Left Vicki, Ray and Barry, Right John and Jann |
Both campgrounds were very nice and reasonable. Our front window at Wagonhammer looked out onto the river. We sat there in the evening and had some great dinners together. One night we met up with some friends of Barry and Jann. We had a delicious dinner, lots of laughs, and had fun sharing some of our favorite travels. It was a very special night.
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| Healds Have RV park down b the river. Can you see our rig? |
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| Williams Lake |
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| Big Horn Sheep playing on the ridge |
Once again we had another great time with our friends and are already planning our next rendezvous. Thank you very much Jann amd Barry for all the many happy memories. And to Vicki and Ray we hope our paths cross again.
So in honor of National Dog Day here is a funny rock we saw at our campground.
This was also the area where Sacajawea was reunited with her Shoshone family after being kidnapped by another tribe many years earlier. She was negotiating for horses and suddenly recognized her brother. What an emotional reunion this must have been for them. 
I love learning more about Lewis and Clark. We'll have to add the Sacajawea Center to our list of places to see next time. Too bad on the camera. You found some great places for pictures. Looks like fun too meeting up with your friends.
ReplyDeleteThis area of the Lewis and Clark Trail was very interesting. I wasn't too sad about the camera. I have wanted an excuse to buy a waterproof one for awhile. :)
DeleteWhat gorgeous photos. Thanks so much for the great history lesson. Can you image what those two must have talked about as they crossed this great country of ours. What a trip.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see just one golden eagle. WOW...seven.
The Golden Eagles were a treat. We were also so impressed with their bravery.
DeleteLooks like fun. We have done some of the L&C trail and will do a caravan next year for the parts we have missed.
ReplyDeleteWe hope you have a great time! This area was very interesting and well marked.
DeleteOH, I don't know if we would have the nerve to kayak those rocks and rapids in our kayaks. Looks wonderful. I had never heard that story about Sacajawea before. I always wanted to do a raft trip down the River of No Return. I did hike up that river from the southern end one time, but never been on it in a boat.
ReplyDeleteWe saw a few rafts going down the River of No Return. It sure looked like fun. I don't have the skill to do it alone. We loved the kayaking here and there were lots of take outs and great information at all stops.
DeleteI am just catching up and what a way to start. I am not kayaking! A great story about L&C and Sacajawea. Thanks! Aren't we lucky to be able to travel and learn.
ReplyDeleteOne of the awesome benefits about traveling is learning about the history of our nation. It's really special when you start to put pieces of it together from different regions.
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