The Sacajawea Historic Byway

Yesterday morning, I decided that Emma and I were going to drive the Sacajawea Historic Byway along Idaho state route 28.  Of course Rte. 28 wasn’t exactly close to us, so we also drove portions of the Fort Henry Historic Byway and the Lost Gold Trails Loop for 70 miles in order to reach Rte. 28.

These were bigger than life-size silhouettes erected on a rise depicting the Nez Perce warriors.

It was a dirt/gravel road at this point, and was it ever dusty!  I had to stop at one point to allow an airplane to use the road as a runway for taking off.  First time I’ve ever had to do that.  Most of the land in this area is owned by one huge ranch, so maybe that’s how they check on all the cattle that are scattered for miles.
I eventually made it to the town of Dubois, and headed down Idaho 22 for a thirty mile stretch before intersecting with Idaho 28.
22 took me through another valley, and the irrigation sprinklers were on full tilt all along the way.  I guess you could say that folks in this valley ‘make hay while the sun shines.’  :)
I wasn’t able to stop at all the places shown on the map or else Emma and I wouldn’t get home until midnight!  I just don’t like to do much night driving anymore.  My first stop was at the BLM campground at Birch Creek (for a pit stop).   All of the sites are along the creek following a bumpy dirt road.  This campground is for those that don’t mind having no hookups.  However, there is no fee to camp there.
I must say that it was hard to keep my eyes on the road with such great scenery surrounding me.  :)
We took yet another dusty gravel road for the six miles it took to get to the charcoal kilns.  I was hoping there might be a spot to have lunch and exercise Emma a bit. 
The remaining kilns are about twenty feet high.  I suppose they were built so far up in the mountains to be near the supply of logs.

As it turned out, there were two picnic tables at the kilns.  This is the view I had as I ate my sandwich.  Once again, Emma and I had this marvelous location all to ourselves.  :)

After a refreshing break, Emma and I headed out.  We still had about 70 miles to go to get to Salmon, ID.
Our destination in Salmon was the Sacajawea Interpretive Center.  This is the visitor’s center and museum with the statue of Sacajawea on the left side of the picture.  The entrance fee was $5.00.
They have placed the statue so that Sacajawea’s beloved Bitteroot  Mountains are behind her.  I’m sure you all know how she helped out Lewis and Clark, so I won’t go into that.

The grounds of the Interpretive Center are quite expansive, and include other sculptures as well as trails.  The afternoon was waning, and I still had four hours to drive to get back to camp, so I had to skip the trails for this trip.

WE WALK UPON MOTHER EARTH FROM THE TIME WE ARE BORN TO THE TIME WE DIE. THOUGH MANY MAY JOIN US ON OUR JOURNEY, NO ONE WALKS THE SAME PATH.    SUN WOMAN
How true are these words!  A good thing to remember…No one walks the same path, nor should they.
The outdoor portion of the Sacajawea Interpretive Center is pet friendly.  Emma really enjoyed the nicely groomed lawns.  Suffice it to say that everything came out all right.  :)  After a 200+ mile drive home, we finished our sojourn for the day.  It was another excellent adventure!

I would like to welcome Kerry as my 50th blog follower.  Thanks for signing on!  As other bloggers have said, “I never thought there would be fifty people following my blog.”  What a pleasant surprise to find that though no one walks my path but me, others have decided to join me on my journey.

I think I hear those hummingbirds calling my name….

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

P.S.  I tried to post this on Thursday afternoon, but the park wifi was down all night.  Bummer.  :(