Starting in Lewiston, Highway 12 traverses the state from west to east, through Indian reservations, along the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers, and into some of the state's wildest country, until finally arriving at the Lolo Pass, where Lewis and Clark crossed over from Montana and became the first white men to step foot in Idaho.
Big Ed Pulaski was probably as famous as it's possible for a firefighter to be. He invented the Pulaski: the hatchet/pick-axe tool which has become the fireman's most important weapon. And as a young man, Big Ed's accomplishments were even more notable; unless you're unimpressed by something like saving 40 men during the biggest wildfire in North American history.
The month that we arrived in Idaho was a month of fire: August 2012 saw the state's worst wildfires in more than a decade. Thankfully, we were never directly affected by the flames, but their smoke was a constant companion, obscuring the normally clear blue skies of the Northwest behind a heavy screen of haze.
