Spring snow loop drive Stanley-Challis-Missoula-Lochsa-Grangeville-McCall, short ICT snowshoe hike

Mar 18 10am
Having breakfast at Lochsa inn to use the wifi.  No cell svc around. 

First day drove in and out of Featherville, got some nice sunset panos of purple snowcovered prairie with pink mt backdrop. Overnighted at reststop at rd jctn to Ketchum. Saturday up to Stanley with lots of stops, made sidetrip over Banner pass to G...? Overlook. Short snowshoe walk on ICT north from Camelhump. Overnighted at Park Creek TH. Tried snowshoeing there but got hypothermic so cut that short. Did another snowshoe wallk in warming sun from Stanley airport park. Heading north photographed a herd of elk from Stanley museum with sawtooths backdrop. Continued north to overnight at east fork CG.  Sunday continued over Chief Joseph pass to hwy 12 jct short of Missoula, then just past Lolo Hot Springs to overnight on snow-covered forest rd. Lots of snow all the way, least around Challis.

Hope to do more snowshoeing at the two ICT TH's off of hwy12, probably will overnight in that area. Tomorrow probably past McCall but might try road into Elk City if open. Should be back Tuesday late.

Mar 19 11pm
Just got back.

I did get a half day (abt 5hrs) of snowshoeing in at the first ICT
trail crossing, up Lochsa Peak the trail went, although I only made it
part way before 3:30 my turn back time, getting only a few
tree-screened views back down into the Lochsa River canyon.
Overnighted there at the trailhead. Today first made a short
side-drive up Selway Rd which got very potholed and slushy, then past
Kooskia drove the road to Elk City & back, most of the afternoon. This
is a town Mark had flown into a summer or so ago
in his home-made plane, as part of his cross-country flight, so I
thought I'd show him what it looked like in wintertime. Not much to
see, a broad valley surrounded by not very prominent hills. The drive
in & out along the South Fork Clearwater was the main attraction for
me, as was the steep drive out of that deep canyon up the Mt Idaho
Grade Road to Grangeville. Mt Idaho is a quaint community at the hilly
edge of, I guess, the Grangeville plateau, I guess still part of the
Clearwater Drainage, which I had been in since Lolo Pass where I
crossed over from the Clark Fork Drainage, that I had entered via
Chief Joseph Pass from the North Fork Salmon.  Left the Grangevill
Plateau via White Bird Hill, dropping back into the Salmon River
drainage but with signs for Hells Canyon - the Snake River. Very
confusing. Late afternoon I was just in driving mode and barely
noticed the sign in Riggins mentioning Little Salmon River. I should
have stopped for a photo at that confluence with the Salmon coming
from the east, turning north.  I blow on south making McCall still
with sunlight left for a photo of the lake.  At dusk I was in Cascade,
getting gas.

uploading 3 32GB CF cards of photos.