First day of our NW Expedition. Sitting in our camp site on FS Road 107, right off Hwy 12. We took off at 6 am from Boise. Rig has run great pulling our Expedition Box we built last year with Greg. We opted to travel I 95 up to Grangeville.
This one is about folly. Following the small two lane roads as well as dirt to see towns that just might be on a map.
In Grangeville we hooked up with Ft Dix and Camp Bullis buddy Brent Conrad. Brent now work as the IT guru for the Forest Service and is based on one of the best assignments. Since they have a team of FS Smoke Jumpers, and Brent knows I have jumped out of a few planes, he hooked us up with one of the rookie jumpers to give us a tour.
Don’t let “rookie” fool you. Before getting a shot at become one of the elite of the Forest Service, all jumpers have to put in their time as Wild Land Fire Fighters. I not only enjoyed the info we learned, but the demeanor of our guide was awesome. I’ve only met one other smoke jumper and the ego was pretty huge. Everyone I met at the station in Grangeville was pretty humble.
After we toured and caught up with Brent, we headed towards Missoula with the idea to find camping along the way.
So after jocking the trailer down a really remote path (backwards) we settled on a tight little spot to camp. There is bear in the area as well as wolves. Abby will camp with both dogs in her tent to help alert if there is any danger tonight. We are trying to bear proof everything including trying to stay scent free.
Adventure IQ 