I pedaled Chief Joseph Pass going towards Wisdom in 2011. Don't remember gravel on the shoulder, but it probably varies from year to year depending on the snow and material added for traction. For a high speed descent I usually take the lane because the pavement is smoother, wider, and cleaner. As you said, that highway has very little traffic.
I suppose you are referring to the sad history of the Nez Perce tribe being attacked by US Cavalry at Big Hole battlefield. I plan to stop there to read the exhibits and ponder the history. On previous tours I have passed a few other places that were on the Nez Perce trail of tears.

Looks like another very interesting Wayne Estes tour. I look forward to your journal!
I remember my ride from Jackson to Chief Joseph Pass in 2023. The descent going north was pretty gnarly with rocks and sand on the shoulder. Hope the southward descent is better. (Not much traffic though.) I also enjoyed the town of Wisdom but there’s some sad history in those parts.

I have looked several times over the years for a VDO M4.1 on
EBAY. Never found anything close, not even the more common wireless version which might work on my wired mount. The main problem is that over the years, the German company VDO has almost never had a U.S. distributor. I bought mine from MEC in Canada. Wish I bought two of them. A couple years ago I paid $28 for another mounting kit from a bike shop in The Netherlands, to use on the Ti Aero. I don't plan to research the handlebar GPS units until the VDO cyclocomputer dies or gets lost.

I have looked several times over the years for a VDO M4.1 on
EBAY. Never found anything close, not even the more common wireless version which might work on my wired mount. The main problem is that over the years, the German company VDO has almost never had a U.S. distributor. I bought mine from MEC in Canada. Wish I bought two of them. A couple years ago I paid $28 for another mounting kit from a bike shop in The Netherlands, to use on the Ti Aero. I don't plan to research the handlebar GPS units until the VDO cyclocomputer dies or gets lost.

This photo is on the Table of Contents page of my Hot Springing Idaho and Oregon 2008 tour journal. It has not been on a magazine cover to my knowledge.
One of my photos of Umpqua hot spring is on the cover of a Falcon Guide called Touring Hot Springs Washington and Oregon. The book also has several of my photos inside. The author is Jeff Birkby, a hot spring consultant in Missoula. I hope to meet him in person for the first time at the start of the tour.

Your bike tours have taken you to the lower part of the Salmon river, below the River of No Return. I have never seen that part.

Yes, still camping and actually enjoying it.

Ebay is good for stuff like that. Right now they have a couple of M3 computers. Possibly an M4 would come up?

Jacinto just bought a Coros brand GPS. The selling point was the over 100 hour battery life. It is also solar, claiming to charge one hour for every two hours ridden. So far he has taken four long rides, and the battery is at 94%. He raved so about the unit that I expressed interest, and he bought me one for Mother's Day. I've had two rides. Sadly, with my recumbent handlebars, my Coros sits vertically, and I think gets almost no solar charge. After two rides, the battery is at 91%. I was initially not so happy with the information layout. Careful reading this evening allowed me to reconfigure the main page to my favorite nine items. Perhaps you and I would choose the same things? Current elevation, elevation gained, and elevation lost were three of my nine choices.

An interesting Coros feature is that there is a tiny screw that can be screwed in to lock the computer to the mount. That is a plus for Jacinto, as electronics and lights have a habit of jumping off of his bike. That's what happened to his last GPS.

Is this the photo that was on the magazine cover?

Were you still camping on that trip? Four panniers.

That's an interesting factoid about the Salmon being undammed.

I did bike the TransAmerica part back in 2013. It was my last camping tour and I was struggling with exhaustion. Lost Trail Pass, Chief Joseph Pass, Wisdom, and Jackson.
Hopefully I will be less exhausted this time. I am taking an entire day to revisit Jackson Hot Springs because their hot pool was drained for weekly cleaning during my 2013 visit.

This will be another one of your tours that I follow with great interest. I really enjoyed my riding time in MT/ID and envy you being close enough to do these mid-length trips. I've ridden the Wisdom to Jackson bit, and the Wisdom to Chief Joseph Pass/Lost Trail Pass bit, but that was 10 years ago so I'll look forward to rekindling some memories from this journal. BTW, the mosquitoes just outside of Wisdom can be horrendous - but since you aren't camping you won't have any issues. What I recall from the Wisdom to Jackson section were the coyotes in the early morning - you may not hear them at all if you leave at a civilized time of the morning, but should you leave in the pre-dawn hours it can be an amazing experience; https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/buddy/day-57-wisdom-to-sheridan-mt-new-high-for-me-2-mountain-passes-and-a-century/

A great intro for your next adventure!

Nora Jane and her band don't dress like cycling enthusiasts. The Americana music dress code seems to require a traditional dress for women, plaid shirt and nostalgic facial hair for men.