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Sounds exciting!

August 1st, 2010



I doubt it could top the adventure I had on Mount Laundry Room though.

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My route to Idaho

August 1st, 2010



Should be a fun trip!

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Splendid Isolation

August 1st, 2010


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Almost there!

August 1st, 2010



It took over five and a half hours to push my cart 6.6 miles up this steep, rocky road.

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Crossing into Idaho at Cooper Pass, I'm about 200 feet higher than I was when I crossed the Continental Divide, which I thought was going to be the highest elevation of the trip.

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Idaho!

August 1st, 2010



(The skinny part.)

Also, Pacific Time!

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A bumpy ride

August 1st, 2010


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P.S.

August 1st, 2010



The bridges weren't even closed! Never trust a sign.

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Burke, ID

August 1st, 2010



A (mostly) ghost town

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Ghost Town Auto

August 1st, 2010


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Some old mining buildings

August 1st, 2010


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And another

August 1st, 2010


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A busy hotel

August 1st, 2010



Check out this great photo of old Burke.

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An interesting name

August 2nd, 2010



Given that the 50 feet preceding this sign smelled strongly of cat yellow.




I'm not falling for that again.

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Big Scott

August 2nd, 2010



He walks this stretch of road each day and picks up garbage, just out of the kindness of his heart.



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(I think that wavy line represents a mountain ridgeline.)

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Wallace, ID

August 2nd, 2010




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I beg to differ!

August 2nd, 2010



Wallace has designated a manhole in this intersection as the center of the universe, but my hometown of Ashland, VA has its own claim to the contrary. We need some kind of town-versus-town tug-of-war match to settle this dispute.

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Bordello Museum

August 2nd, 2010



Any modern-day prospectors using Google Maps to search for "bordellos" would be pretty bummed out when they ended up here.

In other prostitute-related news, I noticed a local inn on my map named "Molly B'Damm". I thought this might be an awesome pun on molybdenum (which I thought might be mined in the area), but it turns out it's actually a reference to Maggie Hall, a true hooker with a heart of gold. (I'm not sure what the origin of her nickname is; perhaps it's molybdenum-related after all.)

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Underneath I-90

August 2nd, 2010



A notable stretch of freeway

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Return of the Finger

August 2nd, 2010



I'm getting sloppy!

Barbara (left) maintains a beautiful garden right beside the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, and hands out free seed packets to passersby. I got Sweet William and foxglove, which I'll plant somewhere on down the road. Barbara also writes the names of her visitors on colored plastic balls (like those you see in the background) that she displays in the garden. Frankie (center) and McKenna were just passing by and stopped to chat.

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A railroad remnant

August 2nd, 2010



Can you spot it?

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Handcars!

August 2nd, 2010



Only one of the three is still operational.

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He has a massive complex of sales locations on the east side of town, and parking lots full of trucks on the west.

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I hardly knew her!

August 2nd, 2010



Scenic Smelterville

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A Smelterville fire hydrant

August 2nd, 2010


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Power grid

August 2nd, 2010


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The start of a hazy day

August 3rd, 2010


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There go my dinner plans

August 3rd, 2010


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A swampy section

August 3rd, 2010


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Treflection

August 3rd, 2010


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Muddy meese

August 3rd, 2010



I saw them (the moose) chowing down out in the swamp, too far away for a picture.

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Morning has broken

August 4th, 2010


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A non-trail bridge

August 4th, 2010


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Mantis

August 4th, 2010


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Down in the cut

August 4th, 2010


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Boat garages

August 4th, 2010



You can see the bridge from the previous picture in the background.



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My campsite companion

August 4th, 2010



This friendly fellow hung out with me while I was setting up camp on a farm tonight. This was the closest I could get to a still photo.