Idaho - Gem State
We put ourselves out of our comfort zone when we went to Idaho. I had always wanted to go camping, but Andy didn’t share my enthusiasm. We compromised (we thought) by signing up for a 3-day river rafting trip on the Snake River which meant two nights sleeping in tents after days paddling on the water. There were guides in each of the large rafts telling us exactly what to do as we ran the Class II, III and IV rapids interspersed with plenty of quiet times on the river. All the food was prepared by the wonderful staff of Northwest Voyageurs. Each day we stopped for a delicious lunch on the river’s edge in the early afternoon. We made other stops along the way at places of historical and cultural interest, including ancient Indian pictograph sites and abandoned homesteads from pioneer days. It was so much fun!
We arrived at our campsite around 5 pm each day and were happy to see that everything, including our tents, was completely set up by the gear boat guide who traveled ahead of us. We could even smell dinner cooking! There was time to take a short hike to familiarize ourselves with the area before dinner was served. The staff cleaned up afterwards while we relaxed around the campfire and got to know the other rafters. That first night we both slept well and Andy had no complaints, except for the toilet seat sitting over a hole in the ground which he found pretty uncomfortable. (You should know that Andy is a city boy!)
I loved the mornings when I could get up and walk out to the river’s edge after picking up a cup of coffee that someone else had made. It was heavenly. The second day of rafting was thrilling. There were a couple of blow-up kayaks being towed behind our raft and our guide asked if anyone wanted to try riding in them solo. I jumped at the chance and then jumped into the kayak. A couple of the other volunteers got dumped, but I was lucky and managed to stay afloat the whole time, even as we went over some Class II and III rapids. I was quite proud of myself. When we pulled into our camp site, a couple was already there, and the guy was fishing for a sturgeon. It was an incredible battle, fun to watch, and the guy finally won. It turns out that this ancient fish had been caught and released several times over the years, but he was famous for putting up a monumental battle every time. He was also the ugliest fish any of us had ever seen!
That evening, we found that our tent had been set up on a slight angle. In the middle of the night, I woke up when I heard Andy tossing and turning in his sleeping bag. I asked, “Is anything wrong?” “Is anything wrong!” he replied. If you give me a piece of paper and a pencil, I’ll write down all the things that are wrong!” “Oh dear,” I said. “Camping isn’t in our future, is it?” A resounding “No!” answered my rhetorical question. Oh well.
The next day, as we approached the location where we would disembark, we stopped at an old homestead. A guide showed us around and told us about the people who had lived there. On the way back to our raft, a large rattlesnake was right in the middle of the path. According to our guides, they were frequently encountered in that area.
Our next Idaho adventure was hiking along the Lewis and Clark Trail, which is not one long trail, but several segments that remain across the state before crossing into Oregon. We chose a trail that went along a creek, near Kooskia where we stayed. In the parking lot was a large sign warning of rattlesnakes. Hmm. It was a beautiful day and we sat by the creek to eat a lunch we had brought. On the way back, I heard rattling and there in the middle of the trail was a rattlesnake. Andy said that I jumped a foot into the air while turning around and landed in his arms. Of course, I was screaming, too. I’ve always been afraid of snakes. We then watched the snake for a while as he lay across the trail, not moving. After about ten minutes, Andy decided to throw a rock at him, thinking that he would move out of our way. Instead, he coiled, rattled, and looked as if he was about to strike at us. We realized we needed to just be very still and wait until he left. When he finally did slither off the trail into the brush, we ran like hell for a while to make sure we were out of his way. Once back in the parking lot, we couldn’t stop laughing. A lesson learned: don’t throw rocks at a rattlesnake to try to make him move away.
Our final stop in Idaho was beautiful Coeur d’Alene. We stayed in a historic B&B called The Roosevelt Inn, which was built in 1905 as a schoolhouse. They arranged for us to take a cruise on the lake, which was lovely and very relaxing. We saw osprey and eagles and beautiful homes that were situated right on the lake. It was a perfect way to end our Idaho adventure trip.