September 25, 2021
A Salmon, A Writer, and the Moon
Ketchum, Idaho
Just when you thought you were rid of me, I show up again on the Cycleblaze new posts feed. Here is the story of how that came to be.
On the penultimate day of this tour I talked to The Feeshko on the phone and she hinted, "I might not be ready to head back to Minnesota quite yet."
"Um, what does that mean?" I asked.
"I think I want to visit with my family for a couple more weeks." Then she added, as if to ease the pain, "so if you want to keep biking a little longer, you can do that."
"This news would have been great had you mentioned it a week ago," I responded, "but I'll be back to Spokane tomorrow and I have nowhere else I want to go from here."
"Maybe when you get back, you could go in a different direction for a week or so," she suggested.
"I've already ridden in every other direction from Spokane. I don't need to do any of that again."
I was irritated . . . but then . . . the wheels in my huge brain started turning . . . and I said . . . "Well, I'll think about it" . . . trying not to sound too enthusiastic.
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There are many fine places to start a four-day bike trip within a day's drive from Spokane. Several locations in Washington, Oregon, Montana, and British Columbia come to mind. But this journal is about the holy land of Idaho, and there is only one other place in Idaho I've ever wanted to visit. That would be Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.
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Judging by the name alone, Craters of the Moon seems like it should have the most moon-like landscape in all of the United States. Since it's highly unlikely I'll ever have the opportunity to go cycling on the actual moon, I believe C.O.T.M.N.M.&P. will be the next best thing.
So that's where I've chosen to go for this bonus coverage. It's a long drive to get there, and I'm sorry that my excursion will leave The Feeshko without a car for a few days, but we all have to make sacrifices.
I'm excited to see if the southern part of the state is as holy as the northern part. If Craters of the Moon is truly America's moonscape, I have a feeling it will be even holier.
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Bringing things up-to-the-moment, I am sitting in a hotel room in Ketchum, Idaho after driving SSE of Spokane for eight hours. It seems like a long way to drive for three days of worship at the Church of the Great Outdoors, but it turned out to be well worth the effort. The mountain scenery was great the entire way and I went through four named mountain passes: Fourth of July, Lookout, Lost Trail and Trail Creek.
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It wound crazily up Montana's Bitterroot Valley to Lost River Pass, then down the Salmon River Valley on the Idaho side. I feel stupid for gushing about this route on a bicycle touring website when I didn't even ride my bike on it. I feel even stupider for posting a few pictures.
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I marveled at all the scenery despite the bug splatters. But the best part of my trip was easily the road that veers off of Highway 93 soon after Borah Peak. It looked like a great short-cut to Ketchum. On the map above, that's the one that goes west with a solid gray line. Then it becomes a dotted gray line when it reaches the Trail Creek Pass. That means it becomes a gravel road.
When I saw the big sign with choppy sentences that read something like "Beyond this point, Trail Creek Road is not maintained for passenger vehicles. One lane road. Use pull-outs to allow oncoming traffic to pass," I knew I was either in big trouble or in for a great ride.
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Why Ketchum?
Fans of Ernest Hemingway will know that Ketchum is where he lived the last few years of his life before committing suicide in 1961. In my college years I was a big fan of Hemingway. Sure, he was a bully, an alcoholic, a serial cheater on his four wives, and a guy who got a rush from hunting lions and elephants. (For context, those animals weren't endangered at the time, but, still.)
Yet, that guy could tell a story. He used words in ways I hadn't seen before. He was a huge influence on many writers of his time and for many years afterward. He even had an effect on ME. In those college days, I thought it would be the coolest thing to live as a starving author, writing in my notebook in the cafes of Paris while drinking coffee or cheap wine (depending on the time of day.)
And Hemingway appreciated the Great Outdoors. He hiked and he skiied and he camped. He also wrote the famous quote, "it is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them."
EXACTLY!
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If you get a chance to ride through Arco after Craters of the Moon, take it; it's got some interesting history, architecture, and white numbers painted on the basalt cliffs (LOTS of white numbers).
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Glad you're back, looking forward to more.
3 years ago
By the way, for what it's worth, I think I might know who you are.
3 years ago
Ixnay on my ealray amenay!
3 years ago