JAM Tour 2021 - All Across America

After 3 cold nights on the Lochsa River, we have to leave our beloved hot springs. But wait, there are more in our future. :)  We drove down scenic Hwy 12 in Idaho through the Clearwater and Bitterroot National Forest  down the Nez Pearce historical trail. We made a couple stops along the way to take in the beauty and stretch out legs, including a side road in to Selway.  We are staying in Grangeville, ID tonight so Monica can do another zoom interview early Tuesday morning. Grangeville is a small town. It’s so small, we were the only patrons at dinner in their 2nd most popular restaurant. The most popular one was closed this particular Monday.  Laundry and hot showers were needed and appreciated.  Fast food on the road tastes better with HH. Fact. They do have a woolly mammoth on display here, so there’s that up side. 

Adios Helena! Our buttocks will remember you from yesterday’s hike. Driving to Missoula gawking at these giant haystacks. Stopped in Missoula for a walk along the Clark Fork river and ate bbq lunch at the Notorious P.I.G. People know how to cook around here! Missoula seems like a cool place.    On the way to the Polson/ Flathead Lake KOA we saw a sign “1,000 Buddhas”- next exit. My sweet man agreed to stop and let me check it out. He and Fern napped in the truck while I took a long circular walk around alleged “1,000 Buddhas” statues and monestary in the middle of nowhere Montana. I had my peaceful moment sitting near a pond overlooking fields to the Rockies with old statues and a wind chime then walked the long walk back to the truck. Namaste y’all!  Grabbed some wine and checked  into our KOA cabin with a killer private back deck hot tub and real bed in Polson, MT.  This might be the prettiest campsite yet, overlooking the massive and beautiful Flathead Lake. ...

Saturday morning we woke to temps in the low 40’s, but the sun began warming us quickly towards our high in the mid 70’s. We made coffee in camp and sat by the Lochsa River till nearly lunch.  We arrived at the trailhead at Noon and started the 1.5 mile hike to the first hot spring. Our hope was to walk further than the majority and find some seclusion. That didn’t happen exactly as planned, but we did find a beautiful hot spring pool that we had to ourselves for close to an hour. We alternated between the hot springs, the icy cold river, and our hammock for the rest of the day. On our walk out, we stopped at the hot springs waterfall pool and met Bob and Danielle. We stayed until it was getting dark on us. We were pretty worn out from the day, so we warmed up some leftovers in camp and crashed early.  Sunday was basically a repeat of Saturday. Up to a cold morning, coffee and oatmeal in camp, then the short drive to the hot springs trailhead. Sunday was a little more crowded,...

Monica started the day in the hot tub. How could she not?  Driving day from  Montana to Idaho. Saw a decorated haystack competition. Found a nice spot to camp at Powell campsite in Clearwater National Forest.  They turned off the water for the winter so no showers. Thankfully we’re heading to some hot springs tomorrow so maybe they will wash us clean.  This land was part of Lewis & Clark’s Northwest Passage. Stories about their trials abound and you can imagine the raw beauty they must have seen because it’s radiates still before our very eyes. This area has everything the beautiful Black Hills do minus the people and cars. 

Drove 3.5 hrs to Glacier National Park’s “Going to the Sun” mountain pass today. It’s a 50m stretch of nature’s most breathtaking peaks, basins and valleys. There are signs here and there for Points of Interest, but “senic view” here is just redundant.  We saw a grizzly mama and cub, a white mtn goat and black bear crossing the street. For hours we witnessed nature’s most glorious lands, but man it was covered up with people, even in off season. Jason is a genius at finding hidden spots away from the crowds, this time a beautiful meandering river. We pulled over and let Fern run around. We’ve been tossing the frisbee around while she chases it like a maniac between us. 

Drove from Bozeman to Helena today to stay at Airbnb for 2 nights. Full moon tonight so trying to survive accidentally throwing away hard to replace items left at Bozeman Inn and spotty weather preventing hikes.  We stopped at Lewis & Clark Caverns   to hike but it started raining. Thought about a cave tour but it was too cold and Fern couldnt come so we just kept driving to Helena.  In Helena, checked into a cute Airbnb and rode bikes with Fern to a nearby dog park. She needed some dog  time! Had really good pizza which might have been the highlight of a long cold, wet driving day.  And Monica met Dixie Dixon at the dive bar and laundromat. She was a sweetheart that had lived in all the cool places. 

Biked wirh Fern to a trailhead 1.5m from our Airbnb. Hiked straight up and back down 4 miles in Helena City Park to see peak views of panoramic mountains and tiny Helena, population 35,000 . Was a challenging incline we will pay for tomorrow  but we were too stubborn to give up.  Read some communication book, put Fern up, biked to beers at The Western Bar then to Italian dinner On Broadway. Jason’s ribeye was yum. 

Woke up to a black tailed fox sniffing around the campsite. Packed up quick to beat the rain and head north to Yellowstone’s upper area. Rain turned into fast falling snow, covering the ground with an inch in no time. The park is a different kind of beautiful blanketed under snow and we felt lucky to have gotten to see it both ways.  Saw Mammoth Hot Springs at the north entrance of the park. Bozeman rocks! Ate perfectly cooked steak, trout, bison potstickers, bison patty melt. Coming from nights of cheese- n- cracker dinners we were ready for a great meal, and we got one. The steak was cooked perfectly. Everything was delicious ans the waiter was friendly too. Monica turned him on to Hot Honey. Gave him a sample and a picture of the bottle.  Did 4 loads of laundry at our roadside motel, the Bozeman Inn. After 9 nights in a pop up tent and warmish camp showers, a hot shower and real mattress were much needed.