Day Two…. Clearwater National Forest to Glacier National Park

Day two of our trip and things are going well. Ok… I got a little cranky…Ok…really cranky. I find if I have too much windshield time I am done for the day once we hit a camp site. My inner introvert comes out and I need to recharge by myself. I wasn’t getting it. I was feeling like a hired guide at one point and leading a team of rookies in the outdoors. Of course this wasn’t the case and after everyone was off and in slumber-land, I had some time to journal, read, and get a few hours of undisturbed sleep….like three of them.

The morning started off really well. After navigating our way back on to the main road (HWY 12) we made a few stops to reconnect. The first was breakfast at a quiet overlook on the Lochsa River. The second was in a prepared, yet reclusive park-and-walk area, the Bernard Devoto scenic walk. Here we found an area passed up by many, and for us, it was a peaceful place we could laugh and joke as a family.

We hit rain about an hour before Lolo, so we delayed pulling off the top until the sun came out. We also dodge a few Deer on the pass, and almost had one for a hood ornament. We missed her by only a foot or two. Any delay and our trip would have had another kind of excitement.

A few hours after crossing into Montana, we made our way up towards Kalispell along HWY 93. We went on the east side of a huge lake I don’t recall the name of at the moment, and too tired to walk back to the Jeep to look at the map. There was steady traffic along the lake road, but to my surprise, no one tail-gated or became aggravated with the driver in front. Pretty different as you make your way from Boise to Hailey on HWY 20. People seem to live a bit easier here.

We made a lunch stop along the border of a Bison Range and a bird refuge. Montana has done an awesome job of keeping rest stops and picnic areas attractive and well kept. Melissa made a few bagel sandwiches, I fell asleep with mine on the cool picnic bench.

We have been a bit wishy-washy on visiting Glacier National Park. I didn’t want to have to push hard for anything on this trip. We rolled into the park around four, made camp, and Melissa started dinner. We could probably do an entire blog on just the meals she has created for this trip.

We were probably over-thinking the Glacier part of the trip. Abby is on crutches so she is pretty limited to what she can do on this trip. She is my hard-core hiker so for her to be sequestered to a chair is difficult for here. We are all glad we made the trip in…it is a nice break from the road.

Watching what we leave out tonight. We are in bear country and there have been bears in the campsites this week. It is illegal to shoot one, however- I will go to jail if need be to protect my family if one comes in and is being a pain.

In the morning we’ll do a quick tour of the park, then head for Bonner’s Ferry. I am dropping the girls off at a hotel and heading for Canada. Tonight, we are all sitting by the fire and working on journals. Probably should’t bring out the bongos and djembe….too many close neighbors….

Side note…I have a ton more pictures to post once I hit the hotel in Bonner’s Ferry that are on my ipod—-it doesn’t have a 3G connection….heck I am happy/sad there is a 3G here in Glacier….kind of takes away from the “disconnection” of life….

In Search of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

This weekend’s road trip was focused around the fascination we have recently developed for all things Lewis and Clark. Specifically my daughter Abeni’s interest in “Pomp”. The baby born of Sacajawea during the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fourth grade she did a report on him for social studies, but never gave much thought beyond him being a baby.

Recently she and I have been sitting down and looking over topo and recreational maps. The weekend before last I noticed a tiny marking on one of our maps, indicating it was the burial place of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.

I asked Abby if she knew who that was and she immediately related it to her report on “Pomp”.

“JBC” as we called him during the mission planning had become pretty vacant after his joining the Corp of Discovery through his birth while on the trail. Not much is discussed about him in history. Unless you really do some searching, you forget about a highly intelligent man who not only was the youngest member of a great expedition, but someone who spoke several languages, understood art, business, philosophy, was a mayor, and was an example of how overlanding is used as he traveled not only throughout the west but also in Europe.

To find his last resting spot we had to travel through Jordan Valley, Oregon.

Jordan Valley began its history in 1863 as a party of prospectors with about 60 horses and mules discovered a favorable camping spot, and so it was agreed to go no further. Before unpacking his gear, one man scooped up some loose gravel, examined it in his prospector’s pan and saw the magic that makes men into prospectors.

In moments every man was digging and panning, and in one hour, all had good exhibits. Within two weeks, claims had been marked and located, and the creek was named Jordan after one member of the traveling party, Michael Jordan. Unfortunately as like other miners, Jordan was scalped by the Indians on the banks of this same stream.

Like many parts of southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon, the area is made up of rough volcanic rocks in the desert and surrounded by picturesque snowcapped mountains that surround the various valleys.

We started out early from Boise (with females all debating the start time) and made our way first down the back roads that lead to the Jordan Craters. We were not able to go down the final section leading to the craters since we were in our Xterra—a high clearance – non 4×4 vehicle that has left us stranded to many times to count. We are heading back soon with the Jeep. There are too many back trails to discover that require a good 4×4.

We happened across one of the many (still active) corrals in the area. These are used for rounding up sheep and cattle to transport from the range area. Many of these old corrals date back to the mid 1800’s. For some reason I am just drawn to these spots in the BLM areas.

After we hiked around a bit and let the pups run around we proceeded on through Jordan Valley – and then out to search for JBC’s final resting spot. We kept asking ourselves how he would have gotten back to this part of the country.

We know that Clark offered to take “Pomp” with him at the end of the expedition in 1806, but the offer was not taken up until several years later, possibly due to the death of his mother, Sacajawea. Records do indicate that JBC had attended a private school paid for by Clark and that later in life he did travel to tour Europe.

In October 1846, Charbonneau, was hired as a scout, probably because of his experience with military movements and his fluency in several languages. JBC joined an 1,100 mile overlanding movement from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to San Diego, California. Their mission was to guide 20 huge Murphy supply wagons to California for the military during the Mexican-American War.

Later in history he pops up as a fur trapper, mayor, and prospector. Its not apparent what caused JBC to contract pneumonia and die. Though there was a stage line in the area at the time, it is possible he may have been on horseback and fallen during one of his river crossings into the water. We have been in the same area as his accident several times and know that not only is it freezing cold, but the Owyhee River in the spring has snowmelt that often turns into whitewater.

Charbonneau was taken to Inskip Station in Danner, Oregon. This small yet fortified outpost was built in 1865, and is about 30 miles from the river and west of Jordan Valley. It is now a ghost town. Here, JBC died on May 16, 1866.

We were truly blessed on this trip and not only were we surprised at what we found at his grave side- but also had the opportunity to see three Golden Eagles in two different areas.

We finished up the day with a visit into the town of Jordan Valley where we feasted on a “traditional” Basque meal of Tots and Fries…

Lewis and Clark (Roots of Overlanding Series)

This summer we are going to begin an annual routine to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail. Admittedly we are not going to follow any kind of order that really makes sense- except that we will dedicate as many days as we have off to doing the journey. My daughter is fascinated with Sacajawea and I am an early American History nerd, so this is an easy way to get her to read and study and give us something in common.

This year our Lewis and Clark trip begins

The Corp of Discovery is the first true overland expedition that took place in the US. The challenge undertaken in 1804was equivalent to sending a man to the moon in the 1960’s. It was a vast undertaking that required a monstrous amount of planning and  preparation. Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition and outlined the mission’s  goals. Their objectives were primarily to look for a trade route to the Pacific for economic needs. Included was both its scientific and commercial value, to study the area’s plants, animal life, and geography, and to discover how the region could be expanded economically. Not only was the trade route necessary, but also the ability to lay claim to lands west, set up trade with the Indians, and send a message to Russia, Brittan, France, and Spain the intentions to one day occupy and fortify the North American West.

There are volumes about the expedition so I don’t want to provide a history lesson here. Instead I would encourage yo to read Undaunted Courage by Steven Ambrose. My point is to merely outline how this adventure is similar and provides an early outline to the art of overlanding.

Like Lewis and Clark - finding "mojo" with the locals is a good thing. I love how kids flock to new adventurers. All these kids got candy bars, crayons, and coloring books.

Every time I read a journal entry, a synopsis of the trip, or see a movie – I am reminded just how intense this trip was and how it compares to the modern overlander. The Corp of Discovery traveled by several means, horse, watercraft, and foot. In the modern age we often times find ourselves traveling by aircraft (either to a jump point- or even midway through an adventure), loading our rigs on a barge or ferry, and even walking around some remote ghost town.

Like the expedition of 1804 had trade items such as beads, knives, face-paint, etc…who among us who has traveled in 3rd hasn’t taken chocolate, hats, t-shirts, pencils, patches, etc to trade or give as “gifts”. Overlanders tend to have their own currency they travel with.

like our Overlanding forefathers I have had to recruit not only team members for the expedition, but to hire guides and interpreters to get to where I was going or get help I needed. Lewis and Clark often found themselves negotiating these needed services.

When I read the account of the expedition for the first time several years ago I was blown away by the amount of provisions and equipment took along. Books, desk, barrels of food, grease, and whiskey, trade goods, scientific equipment, a blacksmith shop, pots and pans, etc. Then I look in the back of my rig with its shovels, jacks, air compressor…then the the front with radios, maps, gps gear. So glad my iPad is a more compact version of Lewis’ information system.

Years ago Melissa and I took a Wilderness First Aid course through NOLS. We were fortunate that the instructor in the course had a background in extended wilderness travel and had even served as an expedition medic in traveling to third world countries. Often times when in the backcountry or abroad- you are your team doctor for any kind of ailment or injury. Today’s equipment is much more advanced than what was carried by the Lewis and Clark team, but none-the-less, it is still highly valued and takes up a considerable amount of space in the rig.

Finally, not to drone too long on a subject of comparison I love- but navigation. Clark was an extraordinary map-maker and highly valued on his team for his use of celestial navigation aides. I have numerous maps, two-GPS devices, and years of experience in navigation in the wild. The tools may change, but the competencies to be a great navigator never do.

I love studying the similarities and each time I venture into my own Terra Incognita, I am reminded of these brave explorers and feel a special connection to living completely self-supported as they did.