[cdt-l] Chief Joseph Pass

[cdt-l@mailman.backcountry.net (Ellinwood, Bob)]

Salmon vs. Wisdom...

This summer, on our van-supported hike, we visited both Salmon and Wisdom.
I believe there still is a P.O. at Wisdom, unless it's been dropped since I
visited it in early July. Nice Postmaster there, with various CDT packages
stacked in a corner. It's a very small town with just enough amenities to
get you through... and an initial impression of being a neat little place.
The traffic to Wisdom did not seem all that bad to me (at that time).
However, there is more traffic going to Salmon, especially if you walk down
to the road junction at the lower pass, Lost Trail Pass. Although the
distance to Salmon is longer, once you have a ride, i.e., once someone
actually stops, that's not a factor. It sure is true that Salmon has many
more times the types of things a hiker might need: many restaurants and
motels, a huge grocery store where we stocked up, and a hospital. I guess
I'd carry a sign, "Salmon," on some paper, wear my pack, brush my hair,
smile, and know I'm gonna be in town soon. Even now I chuckle over the AT
hiker I met in 1983 in Monson who always got a ride because he carried a
sign that read: "I love my mother!"