Exploring

South to Spring | Mojave National Preserve Part 1: Caruthers Canyon

As we left Death Valley and headed south we drove through the town of Shoshone. It’s always fun to see the price of regular unleaded there, the day we passed through it was $5.99. Only close to double what we had paid through Idaho and Nevada to get here.

As we continued south toward Baker there was a near steady stream of enormous three story RV’s with names like Adrenaline, Voltage, Sandstorm, Rag’n, Man Cave, Attitude and Stealth. Ok Stealth, you aren’t sneaking up on anybody with your three axles and 50′ length. Someone actually gets paid to think up names for these things! The weekend was winding down and the dunes were emptying of what appeared to be thousands of OHV enthusiasts. I’m glad they have someplace to go and congregate, so we know where to avoid. Welcome back to “civilization.”

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A Trip Through the Magruder Corridor

In 1863 Lloyd Magruder was murdered while he traveled through the Bitterroot Mountains on the southern Nez Perce Trail. The travel route that now bears his name was used for centuries by the Nez Perce to travel between buffalo hunting grounds to the east and salmon fishing rivers to the west. In the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps built the road through this rugged country. In 1980, when the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness was designated by Congress the “corridor” was formed, as this is the only road that divides what would otherwise be 3.5 million acres of contiguous wilderness between the Frank Church River of No Return wilderness and the Selway Bitterroot wilderness.

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Lolo Motorway 2023

The Lolo Motorway (also known as Forest Road 500) was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s and crosses the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho roughly following the path Lewis and Clark used in 1805 and 1806 during the Corps of Discovery, as well as the Nee-Me-Poo trail used by the Nez Perce for hundreds of years. We took four days to follow those historic trails across the mountains of Idaho high above the Clearwater River.

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