August 30- Over the Lolo Trail (or, Richard Rides a Horse). September 7: Because of the fires in the Lolo Pass area, I couldn’t ride the trail from Lolo Hot Springs across the pass into Idaho. Instead, I hiked as far as Wendover Campground on Rt. 12 in Idaho, then hitched back to Hot Springs for another night at the motel. On Thursday, August 31, I met Harlan and Barbara Opdahl of Triple O Outfitters, and Harlan and I set out on horseback along the Lewis and Clark/Nez Perce Trail through the Bitterroot Mountains in the Clearwater National Forest. Having never been on a horse before, I was both excited and apprehensive about this part of the journey. When I told Harlan I’d never ridden a horse, his less than reassuring response was, “That’s all right, we have horses that have never had riders.” We had four horses in our group, two for riders and two for packing our gear. Their names were Surprise, Stormy, Lightning, and Corky. Guess which horse was mine. Corky and I hit it off instantly, and I couldn’t have had a better guide and companion than Harlan. Harlan and his mount. The weather, however, turned sour. After our first day on the trail, a cold front settled in, and for the next five days we had cold, fog, rain, sleet, and snow. To my surprise, the trail follows ridges rather than valleys, and our elevation ranged between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. The terrain is rugged and steep, and I can imagine how discouraging it must have been for Lewis and Clark to have seen a seemingly endless string of ridges between them and the Pacific Ocean. We completed the blazed part of the trail in five days, and spent the sixth day exploring the path Lewis and Clark probably took from Lolo Campground to Weippe. I’m surprised greater effort hasn’t been taken to blaze the actual routes Lewis and Clark took on the overland part of their expedition. While some of their route traverses private property, much of it runs through national forests. Perhaps the growing interest in the expedition as we near the bicentennial celebration will create some impetus to blaze a more complete Lewis and Clark trail across the Lemhi and Lost Trail Passes, and through the Bitterroot Mountains to Weippe or Orofino. Richard's firey steed. From Weippe, I hiked down to Orofino, where I had stored my kayak at Canoe Camp on the Clearwater River. Canoe Camp is just below the convergence of the North Fork of the river with the Middle Fork, and there was plenty of water - and plenty of current - to carry me down to the Snake River at Clarkston, Washington. It was an exhilarating ride until I reached Lewiston, Idaho, where the current slows as it passes by paper mills which emit an overpowering sulfurous stench. I’ve now reached the last section of my journey - about 500 miles through Washington on the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific Ocean. Click here for days 154 - 158 of Richard's journal