The first 24 days at Dworshak Dam in Idaho

WOW, the drive from Lolo through the pass was incredible, all the way to Orofino and up to the dam. Since arriving here, we see deer daily; lots of them, and in this last week, the fawns have begun to appear! We have California Quail feeding at a ground feeder spot just behind our rig along with mourning doves, Grosbeaks, Towhees, Robins, Western Tanager,and many other birds. I was thrilled to see the quail as I haven't seen them since I was a child on vacation in Arizona. We've also seen many osprey and golden eagles and of course black and turkey vultures. We have several bunnies sharing our little volunteer village and wild turkey come daily to the feed spot out back. John thought he saw a bear scurying up the hill the other morning. We also saw 8 elk and a snow shoe rabbit on a drive from Elk River  back to Orofino on Hwy 8 & Dent Bridge Road.

The scenery is incredible. The last two days have been in the high 70's and the nights comfortable with a light jacket. The locals say the rest of the month past was more like March. Rain, drizzle, and more rain. Of the 24 days we've been here, it's been sunny 3 days, and one of those clouded up in the afternoon and we got a storm. For the most part though, there is very little wind, and the rain is not intollerable. Mostly just drizzle. I have to admit though, we're happy to see the sun! I was actually able to use my solar oven today and bake potato bread and hard cooked eggs.

Our volunteer position with the Corp of Engineers is fun. A bit exhausting (mainly because I don't know how to stop working), and exhilerating! We have 10 areas in our maintenance route and take care of cleaning bathrooms at 4 locations, 2 of them flush, 2 of them pit. I prefer the pits, they're easy! We also pick up trash all over the grounds and up and down 2 roads (have orange vests for that) It's ridiculous what people throw out their windows! We weed eat and mow at the campgrounds and day use areas (that's the exhausting part) and pull weeds in the flower beds up by the visitor center. (A custodian takes care of maintenance in the visitor center, so all we do is empty garbage cans outside and keep things nice and clean. We have two favorite areas. Merry's Bay is 3 miles from town and down a very narrow 14% grade road down to the reservoir. It is a day use area with picnic tables, fire rings and a pit toilet. Walking the area between high water and present level is neat. I've seen HUGE wolf tracks there, and we believe cougar tracks this past week.

The deer are starting to drop their fawns also. This little sweetheart was laying right along the side of the road on the way down to Merry's Bay.

Canyon Creek Campground is our other favorite. It's 11 miles out and over the mountain. The scenery and wildlife are always enough to take our breath away. The reservoir is huge; 54 miles long, and the water is crystal clear. The dam is 3/4 mile across and over 700 feet tall. Within the reservoir are trout, cocomi (sp), bass and crappe. The fishing license here is $98 for out of staters, plus a trout stamp if you want to try for Schnook Salmon on the north fork of the Clearwater just below the dam. As much as I want to go fishing, I'm too cheap to spend that much on a license, so John goes fishing, and I go watching. So far, he's not caught anything big enough to keep, but it's fun sitting out there with him, camera in hand.



driftwood at Merry's Bay

John in his maintenance duds by the remains of a HUGE tree, washed up on shore.

The sign at the turn to Merry's Bay and Canyon Creek Campground

Our Volunteer village is very nice. We have full hookups and we're behind a locked gate, so no one bothers us after hours, and the other folks we're working with are great people, as are our supervisor and the others working here at Dworshak Dam. We couldn't be happier with everyone. They treat us very well.

I'm so interested in the wildlife and botany I haven't taken any pictures of the dam or our village; I'll have to remedy that in a future post.

Orofino, 7 miles from Dworshak, is a quaint little town that is still a town without tons of empty storefronts. Their bakery is incredible, and they have several nice restaurants, a great shoe store, a natural foods store ( I was Thrilled to find this!), a library, post office (we've got a PO box in Ahsahka which is 3 miles from Orofino.) and no fast food places. The people are friendly and helpful. There are 3 grocery stores and several hardware stores and a few thrift stores, a garden center and more. Part of the city is on our side of the Clearwater river, and part is on the opposite side and runs along the river for several miles.

Here, we are amidst the clouds, and there are fir trees surrounding us in all directions. 40 miles west of here on hwy 12 is Lewiston and just across the bridge in Washington is Clarkston - that's where Walmart is. Down there, the mountains are "naked" - no trees! It's very different from here, and it gets warmer down there also. However, our T-mobile phones work there! Only verizon works here.



Our friends, the clouds, hanging over Ahsahka and Orofino

The mountain creeks are beautiful!

Something we never expected was the smell of the air. It's undescribable, and wonderful. There are wildflowers blooming everywhere and the forest is lush, (except where potlatch corporation has clear cut - those areas are bare bones and awful), responsible logging has been done by others, and those areas are lush and alive, but potlatch doesn't log responsibly - and that's very sad.

Most of the people around here are very very good stewards of the land. When local people come here, there is little to no trash to pick up. Tourists on the other hand..... well, you get the picture!

Canyon Creek Boat Launch

Come to Idaho and be Amazed!