Day One - Social Distancing the Wood's Prairie Way

Our adventure this summer began with a journey toward the rising sun. Leaving Olympia at 5AM with the planet Venus shining brightly in the east. The sky was still dark above but faded to light blue bordered with just a hint of pale yellow on the horizon. We headed up I-5 and then cut across Hwy 18
to join I-90 eastbound. As we headed up Snoqualmie Pass, the sun began to rise over the mountains. It felt good to be venturing out further than the grocery store, after months of self isolation due to the Coronavirus.

We are always intrigued with the way the environment can quickly change when going around a bend or over a hill. Our driving goal today was to cross Washington, the  Idaho panhandle, and drop in to Montana. That meant we started our journey driving through the thick evergreen forests of Western Washington. Just over Snoqualmie Pass we went from those coastal forests abruptly to dry pine forests with sparse undergrowth.  Approaching the Columbia River the terrain changed again to a dry, rocky basalt plateau dotted with pale green-gray sagebrush. Miles flew by with the broad dry expanse that then changed into rolling fields of golden wheat. Nearing Spokane we again saw sparse pine trees
which quickly thickened into forests surrounding Idaho's Lake Couer d' Alene and covering the rising hills of the Rocky Mountain foothills. We continued driving through those pine covered hills over 4th of July Pass and Lookout Pass before dropping into Montana.

Crossing the Clark Fork River several times we reached our camp for the night, Slowway Campground. We have camped here on previous trips and looked forward to our first stop. The large sites are spread along the Clark Fork River, which was delightfully refreshing, and provided us the perfect
Our Campsite on the Clark Fork River
spot to "socially distance" for the afternoon and evening.

 Tomorrow we head to Phillipsburg, where social distancing will be more of a challenge. To mask or not to mask, that is the question...
Floating in the Clark Fork River by camp

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