I got pulled over for the first time on any road trip I've ever taken. I was going 69 in a 65 (the police man told me so). No worries - after I was asked where I came from, where I was going, if I had any knifes, guns, narcotics, drugs, cocaine, heroin, small amounts of marijuana, large amounts of cash (I wish), opened alcohol containers, pets, diabetes, blisters on my feet, or #2 pencils I was let go with just a warning. I continued to drive toward Craters of the Moon National Park going the appropriate speed of 64 mph. Craters of the Moon was cool - but that was all. The sun was setting and I didn't have anybody to fight, curse, and contend with on the short seven mile loop road which cuts through the young lava flows of the park. I've realized that if I don't find myself a campsite prior to seven o'clock I turn lazy and stop looking for a place to camp and start looking for a motel. I've gotten lazy about my money the last couple weeks. I've been eating out too much. Staying in motels too many times. I don't mind it so much, but I'm going against the principles I've started out with on this trip. To go as cheap as humanely possible - without going insane or turning into a permanent bum. I need to work on that. The one correct thing I did in the last week was spend a night with my friend and her family in Caldwell, Idaho. Their place was gorgeous with beautiful views of the mountains to the south east. I was treated to a wonderful dinner and extremely enjoyable company. When I do eventually settle down I hope to emulate some of their practices of growing my own vegetables, canning and preserving them, and owning and caring for farm animals. The only key requirement that I'll have trouble with in that equation is the settling down. Where will this settling down take place? When will it happen? How will it happen? I don't know!
I left Idaho with a heavy heart and entered into Oregon through Hell's Canyon. I hoped to do a two or three night hike into the canyon, but as I said before I only did one correct thing this past week. I needed to go to the tiny town of Imnaha and after a four hour drive I discovered the south entrance road to the town was closed. A gate stretched across the road. Often times this means a simple short detour, but not when you're dealing with the largest river gorge in the United States. This road closure required me to detour three more hours around to the north. I finally made it to Imnaha and was heading down the access road to the trailhead around six at night (PST) when I had left that morning around nine (MST). I bumped and swerved around giant ruts and rocks and screeched to a halt on the tiny dirt road fit enough for only one car. The road ahead of me was no more. It was strewn with rocks and impassable. Awesome! I looked to my left and saw a friendly sign - "NO TRESPASSING. SURVIVORS WILL BE PROSECUTED". Now I'm just speculating, but I'm pretty sure this guy dynamited the road to keep visitors away. JUST A HUNCH! I took my car in reverse - I'd been defeated. Again - it was getting to be after seven. Lazy Matt emerged and I sulked with head down to find a motel. I love these small towns though. I stayed in Enterprise, Oregon for the night. The Wallowa Mountains are located to the south and the high peaks loom snow capped off in the distance. So Hell's Canyon was out - but these mountains....can I get up there?! The next day I set off to find out with no map (STUPID). I had a chance to look at a map and figured I couldn't mess up the nine mile one way hike to a mountain lake (Key word "figured"). After hiking for an hour though - each step knowing I was going in the wrong direction of my intended destination I again gave up defeated. I kept hoping the trail would turn the way it was supposed to go but it didn't and I turned back knowing I was in fact going the wrong way. I turned around and slumped back to my car - it was now too late in the afternoon to make the nine mile up hill hike to the camp I hoped to make. No motel this time though - I stayed at Wallowa's lake side campground. I'm in a Best Western outside Enterprise now - helping myself greedily to food and coffee and plan to retry my hike today. Hopefully my errors have passed and I'll be able to enjoy and tramp over the white capped mountains I saw from my car. Time will tell!
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