Reporting In

Gene Mumau here, reporting from Glacier Campground just outside the west entrance to Glacier National Park in the northwest corner of Montana. It has been a fabulous trip. We are traveling with Mike and Joann and are having loads of fun seeing the wonders of God’s creation. Let me give you a brief rundown.

Joyce and I left home Thursday, September 2 – stopped in Salem for a brief meeting with the Superintendent and another man, then headed over the mountain to Redmond. We “camped” in Duane and Sonda’s back yard (they have 20 acres just east of town). Friday, Mike and Joann joined us and on Saturday we headed east to Baker City for two nights. Sunday we worshiped at the Baker City Christian Church, visited the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center, and rode the Sumpter Valley Railroad – all in one day! Weather was gorgeous.

This doesn’t look like much does it? About 150 years ago it was the road to Oregon. A portion of what is left of the Oregon Trail near the Interpretative Center is pictured here. It is hard to believe all those people – thousands and thousands of them – left established homes, put all they could in a wagon, and headed into the unknown. This part of the road of easy. Think about the mountains!

I think I better warn them I’m taking a picture. Joyce, Joann, & Mike are on the Sumpter Valley Railroad in an open car with benches along the sides. Many years ago the railway was used for hauling logs. Every chance I get I try to ride one of these local trains. I didn’t think we would have time for this one so it came as an added bonus.

Monday we moved north to Wallowa Lake State Park just outside Joseph, Oregon. We snooped around Joseph, toured the Valley Bronze Foundry, and Mike and I rode the Wallowa Lake Tram. It is a 15 minute ride in a 4-person gondola to the top of 8,150 foot Mt. Howard.

The only rain we have had started while we were on the mountain. We got to see most of the vistas before the weather moved in.

From there we headed north on highway 3. The road gradually goes upgrade for a few miles, then DROPS down to the Grande Ronde River, crosses it and CLIMBS out of the canyon. Notice the emphasis on “drops” and “climbs.” The ole F-250 handled it real well.

We were on our way to Lewiston, Idaho where we toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center. Then we turned east on highway 12 making a stop at the headquarters of the Nez Perce National Historical Park. They are 38 sites spread over Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It is the only National Park named for a group of people rather than a geographical place. We chose highway 12 because much of it parallels the Lewis and Clark Trail and also the Nez Perce flight from soldiers in 1877. An sad commentary on how the whites treated Indians is that in 1805 the Nez Perce saved the Lewis and Clark party from starvation and befriended them in their travels; 70 years later the whites were stealing their land, forcing them onto tiny reservations, and killing them when they tried to flee.

 

We camped at the Lewis-Clark Resort at Kamiah, Idaho on highway 12. We chose this place because they had a spa and nice dip in a hot tub sounded good. Okay, we did get to do that but I’ve come to the conclusion that the word “resort” is used by places that cater to RVers as another way of saying, “if you’re desperate you can resort to staying here,” or “you can resort to this if you really, really want to.” This place was okay; nice cafe with good food, grassy sites, full hookups. The hot tub was just that. A 4-person hot tub sitting in the corner of the pool area. But it was HOT.

The next night (I think we are to Friday now) we stopped at Lolo Hot Springs. This was a natural springs now commercialized into a hot pool. Mike and Joann went on to Missoula to meet with friends while Joyce and I stayed to enjoy more of the hot springs. We rejoined Mike and Joann Saturday, camping in the street in front of their friend’s (Steve and Barbara) house. Steve is a amateur metal smith with a really great shop. He likes to teach people how to work with iron so he took me on as a pupil. I have a lot to learn but in one evening – with a lot of his help – I made a leaf on a long stem. It was interesting to see (and use) the process of taking a round rod and making a flat leaf.

Sunday was worship at the Free Methodist Church and then on to Glacier – oh, with a stop at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for lunch. That is a big deal to us far westerners because we don’t have any of those places where we live!

Yesterday we did the Going To The Sun road through Glacier NP. A few clouds, most of which blew away, plenty of sun – great weather. Even a little dusting of snow on the high mountains from a storm about a week ago to give a little contrast. We will do some more of the park today, then head west.

When we leave the RVs behind and do tours like this, we ride together in one rig. This was Mike’s turn to drive. Logan Pass is as high as the road goes. We saw Bighorn sheep right at the visitor’s center. In fact they walked through the parking lot. A little lower we saw a mother mountain goat with two little ones.

The day before, on a short excursion into a different part of the park we saw a momma bear with two cubs foraging for berries beside the road.

And so it is – a day in the life of Gene and Joyce. Or is it a week? Or a month? I don’t know, time passes so quickly. I’ll sign off leaving you with these words of wisdom gleaned from traveling the Going To The Sun highway: “the higher you go, the narrower the road.”