Day 70...Monday, September 22, 2008...Another Day (and Night) in "Hell"

I've made it through the night. No cult members have attempted to breach the doorway to my room while I slept...at least not as far as I can tell.
A quick breakfast at the Salmon River Lodge, and I'm ready for more fishing. I head for a different spot than the two I fished yesterday, and this one looks promising. I'm looking for "pools" among the rapids and rocks behind which trout like to rest from the current. I'm using my "killer" Mepps spinner...the one that I caught a trout on while fishing the Kenai River in Alaska. It had a treble hook, but I've clipped off two of them and crimped the barb on the remaining one...I want to give the trout a fighting chance and avoid doing too much damage so that I can "catch and release". About the fourth or fifth cast, I feel a little "strike"...there are trout there. Next cast, I've got one on the line! It's a "baby" rainbow trout about five inches long, and I don't know who's more shocked...him or me. I'm able to slip the hook out easily...and that little trout gets to swim another day.
Another three hours or so more of fishing at two more spots are unsuccessful but, again, the scenery is beautiful and the fishing is relaxing. I'm hungry, so time for lunch. I pull into the "River Rock Cafe" in Riggins...nice place, decent menu. I order a "handmade" calzone...pizza dough, mozzerella cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, onions...it's good, very good.
Then, back to fishing. The next couple of hours, I don't get so much as a nibble...so...around 4:00PM or so, I decide to call it a day...back to the lodge. The view from my balcony is magnificent...I am at the exact point where the three rivers converge...and all of those mountains. Because of the time difference (Mountain Zone), Monday Night Football is coming on at 7:00PM. I decide that I'll catch the second half and head back to the River Rock for dinner.
Another steak for dinner...decent...a little more Idaho Cabernet...decent...and a blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert...excellent.
Back at the hotel, I'm watching the end of the Jets/San Diego game...Bret Favre is NOT having his best game tonight. Then, time for bed...I'm not taking any chances, so I'm locking and bolting my door again tonight. You can't be too careful.
Tomorrow, I'll be heading out of Idaho into Montana...I want to get to Yellowstone, or close to it, before dark. I'm excited about Montana...like North Dakota, Alaska, Oregon and Idaho before it, Montana is a state that I have never visited. And, after Montana, I've only got Wyoming and South Dakota to go...then I will have visited every state.
I'm a little tired of mountain driving, and the Rockies are between me and Yellowstone. I need to find a way through the mountains instead of over them...something closer to ground level...a "passage" if you will...somewhere out here in the Northwest.