Every year, my favorite humanities scholar, Clay Jenkinson leads a trip into the bitterroot mountains (idaho) in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Every year we follow a route they took straight up a mountain (wendover ridge). It is a grueling 8 miles worth of near constant uphill. We hike out 2 days later, 11 miles straight down to the Lochsa river, where we bask, clothes and all, in the cool waters of the Lochsa river. This segment was approximately 6 days of Lewis and Clark's 3 year trip across the continent and back. It is a perfect reminder of both the size of America, as well as the splendor of her mountains (and rivers).