Yesterday on the next leg of our tour we retraced our route back through the mountains and around Flathead Lake and down to Missoula. En route we stop at a fantastic little store that sells about 40 different styles of liquorice (we had already partaken on our upward journey to Glacier) which acted as an appetiser for lunch. We returned to Cracker Barrel in Missoula – which again we had stopped at on the outward bound journey. It was back in Florida when we first discovered Cracker Barrel, with their offering of simple southern food and great breakfasts. Whilst we love to try out new places – sometimes on a long journey familiarity and consistency is just what is needed.
From Missoula we head east on Highway 12. Here we pick up the trail again of those intrepid explorers who opened up the route West, Lewis and Clark. The last time we had run into these characters was back in North Dakota when we visited Fort Mandan near Washburn. The trail we are now following is their difficult crossing through the Bitterroot Mountains. From Missoula we climb through some wonderful scenery up to the summit at Lolo Pass where we transition from 
Montana to Idaho, and down into the valley below. Here we meet up with the fast flowing Lochsa River as it crashes through the valley across seemingly endless rapids. The next 50 miles or so down this valley to Kooskia is some of the most wonderful scenery we have experienced in the whole of our trip, an alpine wonderland with mile after mile of pristine forested mountains. We stop a couple of times to watch some brave kayaks and white water rafters fight their way over some extremely turbulent rapids – secretly we’d love to have a go at doing this!!! Someway down the pass the Lochsa joins the Clearwater River, becoming significantly wider and less torrid. Eventually we reach Kooskia, where we begin to climb again up to the Weippe Prairie. Here the landscape changes to gently rolling farm land, it reminds us somewhat of the Yorkshire Dales or Sussex downs back in England.
Finally we reach our destination, Dog Park Park, in the tiny town of Cottonwood, Idaho. We meet the owners, Dennis and Frances, who are the most charming hosts and their lovely golden retriever Walter who Emily falls immediately in love with. This is the most unusual B&B, as it only has one accommodation, a two storey high Beagle. It has two rooms, one in the body and a second is a loft room which you climb up a ladder to in the Beagle’s head. Of course Jack and Emily loved it. We spent ages chatting to Dennis and Frances before going across the Beagle, and settling into our comfortable quarters for the next 3 nights.
Today we left our Beagle and went out to explore the area a bit. After a relaxing start to the day it is around lunchtime before we head out so we decided to stay local. Also the weather is once again inclement. Just down the road from Cottonwood is the Wolf Education Research Center (WERC) in the small town of Winchester. The Visitor Center is small with a few exhibits on the wolf packs they have on site. Idaho as a state is not pro-wolf but this land on which the Research Center sits is on the Nez Pierce Indian Reservation – who have a cultural linkage to the wolf and therefore wish to promote the development of wolf packs in the wild. According to the staff at the WERC there are several hundred wild grey wolves in Idaho – despite the hostility of the Governor and other politicians. The original pack of wolves were raised by a couple called Jim and Jamie Dutcher who lived with them in a the wild setting of the Sawtooth Mountains for six years, making a number of documentaries about living with wolves. After the end of the project the wolves were passed into the care of the WERC, but unfortunately many have passed away and only two remain. The last two remaining wolves live in 20 acre enclosure on the WERC site. More recently the WERC were given 7 wolves from another pack, from a private individual who had developed a pack but no longer wished to continue looking after them. This pack is kept in a separate enclosure. So after perusing the Visitor Center we headed out to the viewing areas of both the Sawtooth and the newer pack but unfortunately the wolves were playing hard to get and we disappointingly we did not see a wolf. We did though get to talk to one of the staff on the education side of the WERC and he gave us loads of new information about the nature of the grey wolf.
The weather still was still playing up so we headed back to Dog Bark Park. During our stay here we spent a lot of time talking to Dennis and Francis. Running the B&B is only a small part of what they do and indeed is an effective marketing tool for their main business which is making and selling carvings of dogs. They make a huge range of dog carvings, which are hewn mainly from Ponderosa Pine but carved with a mixture of band saw and chain 
saws. We decided we wanted a golden retriever and Dennis kindly allowed us into his workshop to see it being born. After a few short minutes the deed was done and we had the newest addition to the Hoblets family, whom we named Walter after their golden retriever. He now sits on the dash of our motor home whenever we park up.It made us all miss "our" Golden ,Ocean, who is now having puppies again and being cared for by our friends in Ardsley!Her previous litter of ten pups are all leading blind people or are engaged in the breeding programme for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
Montana to Idaho, and down into the valley below. Here we meet up with the fast flowing Lochsa River as it crashes through the valley across seemingly endless rapids. The next 50 miles or so down this valley to Kooskia is some of the most wonderful scenery we have experienced in the whole of our trip, an alpine wonderland with mile after mile of pristine forested mountains. We stop a couple of times to watch some brave kayaks and white water rafters fight their way over some extremely turbulent rapids – secretly we’d love to have a go at doing this!!! Someway down the pass the Lochsa joins the Clearwater River, becoming significantly wider and less torrid. Eventually we reach Kooskia, where we begin to climb again up to the Weippe Prairie. Here the landscape changes to gently rolling farm land, it reminds us somewhat of the Yorkshire Dales or Sussex downs back in England.
Finally we reach our destination, Dog Park Park, in the tiny town of Cottonwood, Idaho. We meet the owners, Dennis and Frances, who are the most charming hosts and their lovely golden retriever Walter who Emily falls immediately in love with. This is the most unusual B&B, as it only has one accommodation, a two storey high Beagle. It has two rooms, one in the body and a second is a loft room which you climb up a ladder to in the Beagle’s head. Of course Jack and Emily loved it. We spent ages chatting to Dennis and Frances before going across the Beagle, and settling into our comfortable quarters for the next 3 nights.Today we left our Beagle and went out to explore the area a bit. After a relaxing start to the day it is around lunchtime before we head out so we decided to stay local. Also the weather is once again inclement. Just down the road from Cottonwood is the Wolf Education Research Center (WERC) in the small town of Winchester. The Visitor Center is small with a few exhibits on the wolf packs they have on site. Idaho as a state is not pro-wolf but this land on which the Research Center sits is on the Nez Pierce Indian Reservation – who have a cultural linkage to the wolf and therefore wish to promote the development of wolf packs in the wild. According to the staff at the WERC there are several hundred wild grey wolves in Idaho – despite the hostility of the Governor and other politicians. The original pack of wolves were raised by a couple called Jim and Jamie Dutcher who lived with them in a the wild setting of the Sawtooth Mountains for six years, making a number of documentaries about living with wolves. After the end of the project the wolves were passed into the care of the WERC, but unfortunately many have passed away and only two remain. The last two remaining wolves live in 20 acre enclosure on the WERC site. More recently the WERC were given 7 wolves from another pack, from a private individual who had developed a pack but no longer wished to continue looking after them. This pack is kept in a separate enclosure. So after perusing the Visitor Center we headed out to the viewing areas of both the Sawtooth and the newer pack but unfortunately the wolves were playing hard to get and we disappointingly we did not see a wolf. We did though get to talk to one of the staff on the education side of the WERC and he gave us loads of new information about the nature of the grey wolf.
The weather still was still playing up so we headed back to Dog Bark Park. During our stay here we spent a lot of time talking to Dennis and Francis. Running the B&B is only a small part of what they do and indeed is an effective marketing tool for their main business which is making and selling carvings of dogs. They make a huge range of dog carvings, which are hewn mainly from Ponderosa Pine but carved with a mixture of band saw and chain 
saws. We decided we wanted a golden retriever and Dennis kindly allowed us into his workshop to see it being born. After a few short minutes the deed was done and we had the newest addition to the Hoblets family, whom we named Walter after their golden retriever. He now sits on the dash of our motor home whenever we park up.It made us all miss "our" Golden ,Ocean, who is now having puppies again and being cared for by our friends in Ardsley!Her previous litter of ten pups are all leading blind people or are engaged in the breeding programme for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
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