txt&emails to family Jul 16 2019 MtTimes listed below
9:05am
Tried sending txt but still sending... So not sure if i have cell service. Plan tobe in lbrary when opens at 10 unless im doing laundry or shopping.
10:57am
Turns out Grangeville is Pacific Time. Completed all my chores except picture prpcessing. Will likely head to Elk City area when done at the library later this afternoon. Could carry on an email conversation...
1:53pm
well, I'm done downloading my picts, and may head out earlier than
expected, although I'll wait another half hr at least in case you
respond.
Meanwhile, let me just update you on my whereabouts this past weekend.
I left Boise Friday afternoon heading for McCall area, not sure
whether I would retry the ICT access east of Cascade Lake or head
further up. Ended up passing through McCall at 5:30, just in time for
the Warren Wagon Road that skirts the west side of Payette Lake to
reopen for the weekend - it's closed weekdays for construction. Made
it past Upper Payette Lake overnighting on the access road to
Josephine Lake, just short of the Burgdorf Hot Spring area which the
ICT passes by.
Saturday morning I hiked a piece of ICT at Crystal Mountain (a big
quartz outcrop scarred on all sides by mining attempts, but with good
views of the area. Couldn't find the trail beyond there so continued
north on Burgdorf Rd then FR 318 to the next ICT access around
Marshall Mt, made a side trip up Marshall Mt in the morning, then in
the evening a section of ICT south back toward Crystal Mt, with good
views. In between I had tried continuing in the car along the ICT that
follows the road north, passing through a mining area according to my
road map before heading down to the Salmon River at the Wind River
Bridge and a boat ramp, but the road got very rough and some ATVers
advised I should turn around, which I did, doing the late afternoon
section of ICT instead, and overnighting nearby, to a thunderstorm
that was quite the light show.
Sunday I backtracked west to Burgdorf Rd then north down the extensive
switchbacks on good road to the Salmon River at French Creek, then
east along the river to the Wind River Bridge boat ramp, hiking south
up from the bridge the section of ICT that I had attempted to drive
down. No way I could have driven down that trail that would have been
a challenge for an ATV! Turned around after about a mile of steep
trail with limited views on a hot morning, and sampled the trail north
of the bridge, a series of switchbacks on hot grassy slope with great
views of the bridge and river, with kayakers and rafters passing by.
When the trail left sight of the river I turned around, driving the
rest of the road upriver to another boat launch, then heading west
down the river to Riggins, stopping for a swim at a river beach near
French Creek.
Got gas in Riggins then headed a bit north then east up Slate Creek rd
overnighting on a saddle just short of the jct with the there paved
Grangeville-Salmon Rd and another ICT access at Rocky Bluff CG.
Monday morning I hiked a few hrs south along the ICT from that
campground, along a mostly wooded ridge with some views west across
small logging clearings, turned around when the trail headed steady
downhill. Headed north briefly then east on FR 444 which went up a
long steep climb to the ICT access at Sawyer Ridge, but drove on up
into the Gospel Hump Wilderness, skirting a Mt top with spectacular
views south, then around the other side a spectacular overlook of an
alpine lake with steep cliff sides. I'm not sure what the official
geology is of that Mt and lake, probably an accreted island arc,
although my sense of these deep lakes with nearly vertical sides is
that they are the roots of ancient volcanoes. I've seen plenty of
other examples like this, that seem to be too deep to be glacially
carved cirques. Also, it seems the material on the outside slope of
the mt is Andesite or Tuff.
Anyway, it started drizzling and there was a mosquitoey meadow at the
overlook, and too early to overnight there, else I might have, so I
backtracked down to Sawyer Ridge and hiked that section of ICT, making
it to an tree-screened overlook south to the Gospel Hump peaks. Got
back to the car with still enough time to make it the rest of the way
down the paved road toward Grangeville, though I stopped to overnight
before leaving NF land. Made it into town about 9am Pacific Time, did
my grocery shopping and laundry, now here at the library, just
finished uploading picts and geolocating them to my track log. For
some reason I've had to time-shift by one hour to match my track logs
to my camera times, even though I've been in Mountain time this past
half year (mysteriously started happening I think after an update to
the BCNAV program on my phone I use.) Now, I have to update two
hours, my computer realizing it's Pacific time, though my phone still
is set to Mt Time. I guess one of these devices thinks the camera's on
Central Time. One of these days I'll have to t-shoot that.
Anyway, I think I'll head to Elk City area now, to a few ICT access
points South along hwy 14. The ICT (western Alternate) turns east-west
here, before heading north again. There may also be access via the
main route of the ICT much further east deep in the Frank
Church/Selway/Bitterroot wilderness from Elk City via the Magruder
Corridor Rd, although that may be too rough for my vehicle. I should
be in the Elk City area for another few days before heading back west
to then take hwy 12 up the Middle Fork Clearwater and a short way up
the Selway to another western alternate ICT access point, then further
up the Lochsa river to access points to the then merged main ICT. I
had done a little snowshoe walk along the ICT south from the Lochsa
earlier last winter in that Chalis-Missoula-Kooskia-Elk City road trip
I took.
Much of the ICT just north of the Lochsa is inaccessible, I may end
up jumping north to hwy 90 via probably Missoula to access sections
south of that road corridor.
I guess I'll head out now.
I think I'll fwd this msg to Becca as well since she asked me to email
her my travels. Hi Becca!
No comments:
Post a Comment