Boise to McCroskey State Park: Not yet a bike ride

September 2, 2019

"The beauty of bike touring is being able to stop as a picture unfolds" Patrick says. Rachel has seen so many beautiful spots and if on a bike, we would have stopped to take the picture. But we are driving today, headed towards Plummer and the start of our loop ride tomorrow.

We've packed the car and made arrangements with our neighbor to take care of the cats. Our plan is to camp tonight at a spot where an easy drive in the morning will get us to the trailhead in Plummer Idaho.

From Boise we take I-84 to La Grande Oregon, then OR-82 to Enterprise. Continuing north along beautiful and remote OR-3, we get some good views of Joseph Canyon and a big downhill-uphill to the Grande Ronde River. After crossing a corner of Washington state we get back into Idaho.

Through Lewiston and Moscow we drive into the Palouse region. The wheatfields are golden and just beautiful, in a car though it is difficult to find the just right spots to stop for photos. About 10 miles north of Potlach US-95 cuts through a corner of McCroskey State Park. We take the Skyline Drive turnoff and drive about 15 miles to the Mission Mountain Campground. The road is gravel and narrow through forest of timber, mostly Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir.

This park was given to the People of Idaho in 1955 by Virgil McCroskey to honor his mother. The park includes the Steptoe Butte in Washington that was given to the State of Washington in 1946. It took Virgil three attempts to convince the Idaho Legislature to accept the 4,400 acres as a gift. (http://wsm.wsu.edu/s/index.php?id=666)

Patrick scours the forest for firewood and we enjoy a quiet evening by the fire. We decided not to take our little teardrop trailer because we did not want to leave it parked unattended at the Plummer trailhead. So tonight we sleep in the back of our car, cozy on a thick featherbed with full size pillows and a comforter. Tomorrow we'll be cyclist again.

Joseph Canyon seen from OR-3. These rivers drain towards the Snake River in Hells Canyon.

Sad old cabin. It was relocated to this site when they widened US-95, but someone must have screwed-up the roof because it did not hold-up under recent snows. What a wasted effort.

A free Idaho State Park. There are several camping areas and there is supposed to be drinking water, but we could not find it.

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