Day 13: 39 miles. Total 639 miles
Well I made it to Idaho. I didn't really want to leave Lone Fir Friesians. I hung out all morning, even groomed some horses. They invited me to stay another day but I saw no purpose in it. I had that life long ago but didn't succeed. Time to move on. Here is another shot looking back over Pine Valley to the Wallowas.
I got very emotional as I rode out of Halfway. Don't know why. Guess it was bottled up. I stopped at the intersetion of the highway and talked to Linda for a long time. I wanted to turn right and head for home but I didn't. I turned left and road off to Idaho.
It was mostly downhill along Pine Creek to the Snake. Pine Creek would qualify as a river in most places. Not quite as big as the Rogue but well bigger than Bear Creek. And roaring. Lots of water.
I had originally thought about going off route and crossing the mountains to the Wallowa Valley. This road also goes by the Hell's Canyon Overlook. I kept debating if I should do this but when I got there the decision had already been made.
Spring floods had washed out the road over the Wallowa Mountains to Joseph.
The Snake was somewhat disapointing. It's not really a river here but a series of reservoirs behind a bunch of dams. My first view was of a big hydro plant and power lines run by Idaho Power. Then I had about 12 miles along the lake/river heading south
When I finally got to the crossing it was right below another huge dam. There was a nice campground just down from here but it was full. Big weekend. I had to climb another steep hill I hadn't planned on and fight to wind for 3 miles to get to this campground. I don't know why I bothered. There were people camped out at numerous places along the lake. Pretty much anywhere you could get a pickup. Not much shelter though. The campground is huge, and as expected, totally full of every type of RV you could imagine. The tent only camping was way in the back. I got one of two remaining tent sites. No privacy but a nice enough spot. This is by far the biggest campground I've ever seen. I'm sure there are well over a thousand people here.
Soon after setting up my tent I went to find a shower. Had to walk about a half mile. The shower was great but when I got out the wind was really blowing. I got back to find some stuff blown off the table and my rainfly flapping wildly. Some stakes had pulled out and nothing I could do would make then stay. After getting the rainfly under controll I threw the rest of my stuff in the tent and got in myself. It wasn't cold, just a fierce wind. It died down long enough for me to get out and make some dinner, but now it's blowing again.