Day 62 of 117 on our “Go West, Young Man” Two Lane Adventure – Monday 8/27/18

As we were staging to depart, the forest firefighters were departing their base camp ahead of us. Naturally we let all of them go first. Look at the town, on the truck I got a picture of … yes, that is Gila Hotshots. The Gila Hotshots stake claim to being the first hotshot crew in Region 3, originally established in 1968. They are based at the Negrito Fire Base, near Reserve, New Mexico.

We were traveling on US 2 west, through Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Whitefish was named one of the top 25 ski towns in the world, by National Geographic. Whitefish offers a quaint downtown with shops, food and drink, exciting nightlife, and the world-class Whitefish Mountain Resort. Both towns offered us amazing views of the mountain ranges.

Kalispell is nestled between two ski areas and not far from Glacier National Park. Kalispell boasts championship golf courses and a bustling historic downtown. The Whipps Block reflects the optimism of Kalispell’s leading citizens in the very year that the Great Northern Railway moved the railroad division point from Kalispell to Whitefish. William Carvoso organized the first bank in the area, Northwestern Bank. In 1904 he erected the Whipps Block to house his business, the Kalispell Liquor & Tobacco Company and others. Whipps became the first elected mayor of Kalispell in 1893. Called the “Czar,” he accomplished much toward the development of Kalispell during his four terms as mayor but often met with opposition. Whipps was also an active advocate of the creation of Glacier National Park.

The downtown also had unique 3-D statues on their buildings. 

One has a man hanging off of it and another has a bank robber being chased and bit by a dog.

We took the rotary around Flathead County Courthouse. It reminds me of the rotary around the courthouse in Monticello Florida. It is such a nostalgic site!

We traveled around the west side of Flathead Lake. On our trip to Glacier, we traveled up the east side. Flathead Lake is over 27 miles long, nearly 15 miles wide and 300 feet deep, plus there is nearly 185 miles of shoreline. There are multiple islands on the lake, the largest of which is Wild Horse Island. It is located along the west shore near the Big Arm. It is a 2,165-acre state park. It is only accessible by boat, but home to bighorn sheep, coyotes, deer and of course wild horses. At 2,165 acres, Wild Horse Island is the largest island in a freshwater lake west of Minnesota. Wild Horse Island has been a landmark since the Salish-Kootenai Indians were reported to have used it to pasture horses to keep them from being stolen by other tribes.

Photo Credit: Montana State Parks

On the western shore of Flathead Lake, visible only by boat, you may find some bright signs and characters called the Painted Rocks. Painted Rocks received its name from the green, yellow and orange lichens which cover the grey and black rock walls of the granite and rhyolite cliffs.

Traveling south from Kalispell on Highway 93, turn right onto Highway 28 at Elmo. Motorists have been known to hit bighorn sheep on 28, so keep an eye out. After about 30 miles, you’ll see a sign for Hot Springs. You can turn right to check out the town or continue heading south.

And the scenery changes again ... it is amazing the number of different sceneries we have seen on this trip!

I am an old soul at heart … I love the pictures people capture of old buildings and barns. Even the ones that are falling down and in total disrepair. I find them so fascinating and would love to learn their history and stories. I probably try to take hundreds of them, as we drive along … and every once in a while, they come out pretty nice! When the road meets up with Highway 200 at the small community of Plains. Turn left on 200 and head southeast along the Clark Fork River until you reach the intersection of Highway 135, where you turn right.

Montana 135, following the Clark Fork River. The brown and greens of the canyon walls and trees, mixed with the blues of the flowing water are perfect for the painter’s pallet.

Nothing beats a picture of a train over the river, with mountains and fog in the background!

Highway 135 slices through a steep canyon with picturesque views of the Clark Fork River. The fishing is good along this stretch of river, and it’s far less crowded than the waters near Missoula. Quinn’s Hot Springs is also tucked away here. Quinn’s offers soaking pools, a restaurant, bar, and lodging. This is called the Paradise to St Regis Scenic Byway, and I can understand why. The canyon dumps you out at St Regis.

At St Regis, we got onto Interstate-90 W. Not our normal choice for a route, but we are with the caravan, following the road log!

Look Out Pass is labeled as exit zero. You rarely see a mile marker or exit zero. Lookout Pass is the eastern border of northern Idaho's Silver Valley, and has the distinction of being "Exit 0" on Interstate 90 in Montana. Established 83 years ago in 1935, Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area is on the eastbound side of the highway, also straddling the border.

Snows in the Pacific Northwest in the winter of 1910 resulted in deadly avalanches in the Cascade and Bitterroot Mountains.  A dry summer followed, and many forest fires proved hard to contain in the region between Glacier National Park and the Cascades.  Then on August 20 and 21 strong winds arrived in the region and pushed the fires into firestorms that devastated millions of acres of forests and some towns laying in those forested areas,  the Big Blowup,  known collectively as the 1910 Fire. One of structures to survive the devastating 1910 fire was The Oasis. Shockingly, this was just one of the five brothels that operated without hindrance on Wallace's main street until 1973.

Photo Credit: TrailerGypsies

Wallace Idaho is home to the Oasis Bordello Museum. Here you can take a tour of this former bordello for a glimpse into the colorful side of Wallace’s mining past. The Oasis Bordello Museum building housed an active bordello until 1973 when the occupants hastily left town leaving personal items, furnishings, food in the cupboards, and even the groceries still sit in a grocery bag on the kitchen counter. A local business man bought the building in 1993 from the now out of business madam. It has remained as they left it and was opened as a museum. A bit off beat museum, but none the less interesting!

In Big Creek Idaho, you can visit the Sunshine Miners memorial. It is located right on the exit for historic Big Creek. A 13-foot-tall metal miner, with a glowing headlamp, memorializes those killed in the Sunshine Mine disaster of May 2, 1972. The statue stands behind 91 miniature tombstones, one for each miner who suffocated in a smoky fire at America's largest silver mine. Standing at the mouth of Big Creek Canyon, the doomed miner appears to defiantly hoists his rock drill skyward, as if trying to punch an air hole to the surface. He was sculpted by Ken Lonn, a former shift boss at the mine, and reportedly is positioned so that his headlamp casts its feeble beam through the open air toward the mine entrance, which is several miles away from the statue.

The clouds today have created unique shapes and designs in the overcast skies for us today.

Its beginning to look like fall in the Northwest … oh, my!

Photo Credit: Idaho State Parks

In Cataldo, as you approach the Mission of the Sacred Hear, you can feel why this majestic spot was chosen to celebrate and give thanks. Set gracefully on a knoll overlooking the Coeur d’Alene River, Idaho’s oldest standing building takes you back to the 1840’s, when local tribe members first heard the spiritual teachings of “Black Robes”, Jesuit Missionaries led by Father De Smet. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the missionaries built the mission side by side in the early 1850’s with few tools and no nails. The site is now protected as part of the Coeur d’Alene Old Mission State Park, where you can explore the Parish House and two cemeteries.

Veteran’s Memorial Centennial Bridge took us over Coeur d’Alene River and we got out first glimpse at Lake Coeur d’Alene. Again, the clouds are just dark and angry today!

We were greeted and directed by our fellow caravanners that volunteered for dawn patrol, as we arrived at Blackwell Island RV Park, our home for the next two nights.

We enjoyed a Yankee dinner at Cedars floating restaurant, just a few hundred yards from the campground.