We left Mountain Home, Idaho and spent the last few days in Grangeville, ID. The plan was to spend a a night or two in transit, but that got expanded pretty quickly as we got in the area. First of all, the surrounding countryside was absolutely gorgeous - the town is on the edge of the Nez Perce National Forest and the Clearwater River. Second, the salmon were running. We kept seeing fishermen on the riverbanks, so we pulled into a local fishing shop to get the fishing scoop. The rivers have all been running high due to the late snow melt. One river normally flows 1,200 cubic feet per second (cfs), but was running 5,500 cfs... down from 8,000+ the week before. The Salmon River was running over 54,000 cfs. Needless to say, the salmon have been late getting up the river.
The eternal hope of fisherman.
But now that the salmon ARE here, Heinz wanted to try his luck. We found a park to stay in (Bear Den RV Resort in Grangeville) - new, nice, clean. Heinz went out that evening and got the appropriate fishing gear and a three-day license; his fly fishing gear was WAY too wimpy for these big dudes.
View from the trailer door at Bear Den Resort
We spent the next three days down on the banks of the Clearwater River - Heinz fishing, and I snapping photos and reading. The area was quiet, soothing, and oh, so green; just as mountainous as the Sawtooth Range, but a more gentle mountain range, the Bitterroot Mountains.
The Bitterroot Mountains from the Clearwater River
After three days of fishing, Heinz defined fishing perfectly - Fishing is like gambling... one more cast/throw and I'll hit the jackpot. And he did... caught a 23 inch and 31 inch Chinook Salmon.
Jackpot!
That night, we feasted on the freshest salmon we've ever had - yum!
Three hours from river to plate.
I spent one afternoon exploring Grangeville while Heinz was down by the river. The town was incorporated in 1889 after having been settled by gold prospectors in the 1860's. The town is small, but has a couple of interesting sites. There is a 100 year-old-continuously operating hardware store that still looks like it did in the 1920's, a saddlery that demonstrates saddle making on site, and close by is the Tolo Lake archaeological site where they have been excavating mammoth bones.
The drive up the western edge of Idaho and eastern edge of Washington was also very beautiful. Along the way the farms were all very neat with huge barns and silos everywhere. We spotted an incredibly beautiful yellow field of something. My sister recognized the photo as being a canola field.
Canola field in bloom
Here's the link to the photos we've added to the Idaho file in Photobucket if you're interested. Enjoy.
Here's our friends of the day.
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