Rocks and Stocks

All day we had to be aware of falling "rocks" and free range "stocks" (ie., cattle).
We set out from Boise and headed north towards hwy 55.  The GPS got us to the highway via a winding road through the foothills.  Route 55 follows the Payette River which could have been the setting for the movie "A River Runs Through It" and although the scenery was magnificent, Bev was highly disappointed that she couldn't find Brad Pitt.
After climbing for several hours on a windy road which hugged the river bank, we arrived a high plateau ringed with snow-capped mountains. We stopped here at Cascade for lunch; then proceeded to follow the Salmon River down on an equally curvey road that hugged the Salmon River.  As we climbed, the vegetation changed from grasslands to tall pines.  On the way down it was the reverse.  At the lower elevation the grasses were the most beautiful rich shade of gree n.  Even though we climbed to over 7000 feet elevation, we always felt we were in a deep valley as the rivers had carved deep gorges into the mountains

. Bev announced that it was the most scenic road of this year's trip and indeed one of the very best in the States. The sun shone all day (that was a bonus indeed!)  We ended the day in Grangeville.  Tomorrow we will head off to Lewiston\Clarkson aptly named after Lewis and Clark.