From Grangeville we headed northeast to meet Lisa. We made plans to meet her at the bridge that leads to Jerry Johnson Hot Springs at 11:00am. ...And we almost knew where we were going too. We had a map and we were looking for "Jerry Johnson" and a bridge.
We first found Jerry Johnson camp site and decided that wasn't where we should be. Then, we found a bridge and passed it not seeing Lisa's car and thinking we should be driving across a bridge instead of walking across one. We soon decided that had to be what we were looking for and returned to see Lisa crossing the highway to get to our designated meeting spot. "Perfect
timing".
The three of us hiked the 2 miles to the springs after coating ourselves in sunblock. "Better safe than sorry." The pools at Jerry Johnson are on a beach of the the Lochsa River. River water mixes with the hot springs water in some pools. It's nice to have a wide range of pools and temperatures to choose from.
Before leaving we walked up to a higher, more private pool and encountered a male white-tail deer in a clearing below. Ax decided to attempt a closer look. He managed to get close enough for me to be anxious about it. I couldn't help picturing video from When Animals Attack and hearing Bob and Tom's, "I need a bambalance". Ax would probably expect me to keep a clear head and save him and I, on the other hand, would rather prevent that situation entirely. (I think Ax's ego would take a beating if he was attacked by a deer.)
Within about 30 minutes or so, the deer urinated twice in different places.
I interpreted it as aggressive behavior; "the boyfriend" did not. In the end, Ax was satisfied with his distance (or lack of it) to the buck and headed back up the mountainside to where Lisa and I were watching. Just then 2 guys tramped through the clearing with their dog, startling the deer. Again, "perfect timing".
After hiking back to the cars we headed to the camp site. Ax and I had already dumped the tent/trailer there before meeting Lisa. The Wilderness Gateway campsite was huge! Our chosen site was between 2 latrines, close to the pavilion, playground and the "kooshie" restrooms with flush toilets. It was also close to the water faucet. (Quite a bargain for $10.) We were really roughing it.
Gophers flourished at this camping area. We didn't see more than 3 at any given
moment, but it was obvious they were everywhere. They managed to get a couple strawberries for themselves and cleaned the crumbs from our plates when we went for a dip in the river.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Lisa and I listening to Ax read aloud from The Princess Bride. Lisa went to the Nature Photography presentation at the pavilion at 8:00pm. We stowed the rest of our supplies for the night. Ax started a fire and I tried to prevent an impaction headache by taking a few doses of Sudafed. Thankfully it worked. None of us stayed up very late.
We first found Jerry Johnson camp site and decided that wasn't where we should be. Then, we found a bridge and passed it not seeing Lisa's car and thinking we should be driving across a bridge instead of walking across one. We soon decided that had to be what we were looking for and returned to see Lisa crossing the highway to get to our designated meeting spot. "Perfect
timing".The three of us hiked the 2 miles to the springs after coating ourselves in sunblock. "Better safe than sorry." The pools at Jerry Johnson are on a beach of the the Lochsa River. River water mixes with the hot springs water in some pools. It's nice to have a wide range of pools and temperatures to choose from.
Before leaving we walked up to a higher, more private pool and encountered a male white-tail deer in a clearing below. Ax decided to attempt a closer look. He managed to get close enough for me to be anxious about it. I couldn't help picturing video from When Animals Attack and hearing Bob and Tom's, "I need a bambalance". Ax would probably expect me to keep a clear head and save him and I, on the other hand, would rather prevent that situation entirely. (I think Ax's ego would take a beating if he was attacked by a deer.)
Within about 30 minutes or so, the deer urinated twice in different places.
I interpreted it as aggressive behavior; "the boyfriend" did not. In the end, Ax was satisfied with his distance (or lack of it) to the buck and headed back up the mountainside to where Lisa and I were watching. Just then 2 guys tramped through the clearing with their dog, startling the deer. Again, "perfect timing".After hiking back to the cars we headed to the camp site. Ax and I had already dumped the tent/trailer there before meeting Lisa. The Wilderness Gateway campsite was huge! Our chosen site was between 2 latrines, close to the pavilion, playground and the "kooshie" restrooms with flush toilets. It was also close to the water faucet. (Quite a bargain for $10.) We were really roughing it.
Gophers flourished at this camping area. We didn't see more than 3 at any givenmoment, but it was obvious they were everywhere. They managed to get a couple strawberries for themselves and cleaned the crumbs from our plates when we went for a dip in the river.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with Lisa and I listening to Ax read aloud from The Princess Bride. Lisa went to the Nature Photography presentation at the pavilion at 8:00pm. We stowed the rest of our supplies for the night. Ax started a fire and I tried to prevent an impaction headache by taking a few doses of Sudafed. Thankfully it worked. None of us stayed up very late.
