Weaving through Idaho (8/1/24)

 

Idaho has a lot of scenic drives and back byways, and by the time we manage to get across the state, we will have driven on most of them. Not really, but we are definitely taking the road less traveled.

Our backroad travel took us to the small town of Challis, where we took a day trip along a historic road that was used to run supplies from towns to mining camps. Now it’s called Challis National Forest.  We veered onto small side roads to explore, whenever we felt like it.

There are several mining towns along this route- most have been allowed to fall to ruin, but Custer City has been partially restored and is an interpretive area. In the 1800s this was a thriving area, but the decline in the quality of the ore caused the mine to closed permanently in 1904.

Each building describes who lived there or what it was used for. It always boggles my mind when we are in these very remote places and we see a sign that says “General Store”.

Paul always gets excited and says “ Oh boy, ice cream!”.  And sure enough they usually do sell ice cream. This place was no exception. Homemade ice cream, made fresh that morning. Price? Whatever you want to donate.

A new complication has been added to our summer travels. In addition to dodging the heat, we now have to dodge all the wildfires.

At least 2-3 times a day I check numerous websites for updated fire information.

Google maps now has two overlays that are actually helpful. One shows the smoke and air quality, and the other shows the location of the wildfires. In addition to Google, I check the federal website for fire and smoke activity, and individual states’  departments of transportation websites, checking for road closures.

In this particular area we had to give up on visiting the Stanley ID area due to an active wildfire.

Instead, we found a place in Council ID, further north and west. The road we took to get there follows the Payette River, and leads to Payette Lake. We stopped several times along this scenic road to check out the river.

My new favorite overlay for my GPS app (GaiaGPS) is the NatGeo Trails Illustrated map- it showed us the names of all the rapids on the river, and as we drove by we could look for them, and sometimes stop to get a better look.

This river has many Class VI rapids- pretty much too dangerous for rafting. One of our guides this summer said that rapids are not classified by how “big” they are, but by how hurt you would get if you fell out of the raft.

Our first day in town was busy- after hiking 3 miles along a creek, we drove into the small town of McCall for lunch. Being on a lake, this is definitely a resort/vacation town. We had lunch at the brewery overlooking the water before driving around the lake.

There are quite a few beachy areas to swim- most of which were extremely crowded due to the heat. We did blow up our tubes and float around for an hour or so though. No pictures because I left my waterproof camera in the camper. It was nice to cool off.

The following day, our last day in Council, we headed up the hill to Council Peak to hike. Even at elevation, it was still hot. It is an 8 mile hike but we just did two miles up, then two miles back. Although we only saw a couple of deer and a grouse, we had fun trying to identify all the hoof prints on the trail.

After leaving Council, we headed briefly into Oregon, via Hell’s Canyon Scenic Byway.

We have driven this road before, on our way to Alaska in 2014. It is the deepest river gorge in North America.

We also stopped at an interpretive center for the Oregon Trail, and soon realized we had also been Here before. That’s ok, we always learn something new.

 

Our destination is La Grande Oregon, where Northwoods Manufacturing builds Arctic Fox campers and trailers.  Our camper is a 2018 Arctic Fox. We took a tour of the facility, which lasted a little over an hour, and left Paul reasonably impressed with the build quality of their RVs.

When we arrived at the RV park in La Grande, we were surprised to learn that the highway had been closed the day before, due to a nearby wildfire. 

It was obviously open when we came through, although evidence of the wildfires was everywhere.

While driving through town we noticed more than a hundred 18 wheelers parked along the side roads and off ramps. 

Turns out the highway was closed again. In fact, they closed more of the highway in this area because the small towns were “full”  and couldn’t handle any more big rigs parking in their towns. 

Idaho/Wyoming/Idaho/Wyoming (7/22/24)

 

I definitely feel like we are zigzagging quite a bit in our travels this summer. It’s mostly because we are in search of cooler temperatures- it is a very elusive thing to find right now, but then again, nothing competes with how hot it is back a the house!

Looking at the map while at Dinosaur National Monument, another national monument caught Paul’s eye- Fossil Butte National Monument- and it was only a few hours away.

On the way there we drove through a national forest campground, just to check it out, and liked it so much we decided to spend a night there. It was the first night cool enough to have a campfire!

While there we drove down to the visitor center at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. We walked along the ridge, looking at the reservoir, but elected not to do any hiking.

The following day we arrived at Fossil Butte, mid afternoon. We have a dispersed site, so, no hookup, and therefore no reason to swelter, so we headed for the visitor center.   We also managed to find time to drive the scenic drive, which gave a decent view of the entire area, most of which had been Fossil Lake 52 million years ago.  

This area has some of the best preserved fossils in the world.

The one thing that Paul really wanted to do was do his own digging for fossils. You can’t do it in the national monument, but there are several quarries nearby that let you dig, if you pay them money. Paul bought a 2 hour window, and I elected to watch.

Traveling in the truck camper for months, he didn’t want anything too big.  There is more to finding fossils than we thought, but the workers were more than willing to show him how to do it. You use a chisel to slice the rock, a little at a time, hopefully exposing a fossil.

Of course, most of the time there isn’t much there, but Paul actually did good- finding one piece with 3 fish on it (he even got both halves) and a snail that was so detailed, the guide asked for a picture of it. So it only took  an hour or so in the sweltering heat to find all he wanted.

They also explained how to preserve them so they won’t fade. The nonprofessional way of doing it is to fill a tray or bucket, whatever the piece fits into, with a 10:1 solution of water to Elmer’s Glue. The kicker is it has to be original Elmer’s, not the newer “school” version. Turns out its a little harder to find.

We are still continuing our trek north, although we were planning on being a little further west by now-but the cooler temperatures at Henry’s Lake near Yellowstone National Park were calling our name. Paul grew up coming to this area so he never minds visiting. We stopped for a few days in Irwin ID on the Snake River to check it out, on our way.

This area of the Snake River is really beautiful, with powerful water…

… a reservoir for boating activities, and gorgeous scenery.

We drove around taking it all in. What it didn’t have, that we could see, was any Bald Eagles. Lots of Osprey nests but no Bald Eagles. In fact, we haven’t seen a single one this summer. Bummer.

 

Arriving at Henry’s Lake, we immediately extended our stay from two to 4 days.

The weather was just a little cooler than anywhere else. At one point we watched a storm come across the lake- always fun, as long as we remembered to pull the awning in.

I guess cool is a relative term because our first day we elected to drive up the nearby mountain to check out Black Butte- the highest peak in the Gravelly Range.

We packed a lunch, so we could take our time. The gravel road up the hillside was a pleasant surprise, lined at times with bright wildflowers, and other times with ponds and meadows. 

At the top, of course, was Black Butte.

We continued our drive to make a loop through West Yellowstone. Our first stop was at Quake Lake. Quake Lake is actually part of the Madison River.

In August of 1959 a massive earthquake shook the region. Within seconds, one side of the mountain essentially collapsed down into the valley below and continued up the other side. You can still see the scar left behind from the falling hillside.

There were almost 300 people camping in the valley along the Madison River. Falling rock created hurricane force winds as it displaced the air below, and sent the waters of the Madison River flying in every direction. The debris settled in the valley, cutting off the river, creating Quake Lake.

The visitor center displays placards with the stories of the families and individuals who were there that night. Although most of the campers made it out alive, 28 people did not survive.

Our one hiking day we opted for a 4 mile hike to Coffee Pot Rapids. The first part of the trail was along a quiet river-Henry’s Fork.

The trail was great and when we reached the rapids, the river was no longer peaceful and calm.  It was fun though.

Continuing our drive we stopped at Big Springs. Big Springs is one of the headwaters of the Snake River. 120 million gallons of pure water gush out of the ground here every day. Enough to supply the water needs of a million people. The whole area was beautiful and there was a paved trail, which we walked for a bit.

Our final stop of the day was the grocery store, to pick up a few things before leaving the next morning. 

Last of Utah, for now (07/10/24)

 Leaving the heat of Salt Lake City, we headed to nearby Uinta National Forest. We had a spot in mind where we thought we could park- the only issue is we took the wrong road to get there. Partway down the “Left Fork Hobble Creek Rd” we dropped the camper and continued in the Bronco, to check it out. It wasn’t long before we knew we could never make it. So, it was off to the Right Fork Hobble Creek Rd, which got us to the spot we wanted.

It wasn’t as cool here as we were hoping, but we did hike one trail in the national forest- Monks Hollow- a 4.5 mile loop with 900 ft of gain. Unfortunately I started really feeling the heat too much, which didn’t make for a fun trip during the last mile or so.

Resting up the following day we drove over to Strawberry Reservoir.  It is a beautiful lake, but we could have left our swim suits at home. The water temperature was on the frigid side. Oh Well, the Bronco has air conditioning and it was a fun drive.

Both Paul and I commented that his whole area is very green and healthy looking.

Scrambling for a place to be on July 4th can be stressful, but we had already made arrangements to visit our friends Dave and Nancy, in Helper Utah. It was less than two hours from our location, so the drive was easy.

Dave and Nancy used to be RV friends but they are off the road now, and bought a house in the small town of Helper.

Naturally, there are many projects that need to be done, and Paul was ready to jump in with both feet. Unfortunately on one of those jumps he impaled himself on a rusty tomato cage, which, after some calculations(when was his last tetanus shot???) resulted in an Urgent Care visit to get a shot.

On the plus side, we really enjoyed reading the “ pain chart” in the exam room. The nurse said he put it in there because people always said their pain was a “10”   and he would say…well you are conscious. sooooo… then they would say a “9” and he would say, so, like being mauled by a grizzly bear?  Eventually he would get them down to a reasonable description of their pain level.

We had an awesome July 4 with Dave and Nancy, and some of their friends, and took off the following day for our next destination.

Everyone we have talked to who has been to Dinosaur National Monument, on the border of Utah and Colorado, says it is a “must do” so we headed there to do it. We were originally planning on finding dispersed camping, but in keeping with this summer’s seesaw theme, we ended up booking a KOA that had a cancelation. Temperatures were in the mid 90s during the day. The day we arrived, at 3:30, we decided there was no point in sweltering while listening to the air conditioner, so we headed to the visitor center.

We spent an hour or so gazing at dinosaur bones. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure they are important, but they don’t hold much interest for me.

We decided we were better off being on the water, so we booked a one day rafting trip down the Green River for the following day. We were a group of 4 boats, and we shared our boat with a family of 4.

Charlotte and her brother Adrian were the lead paddlers who were responsible for following what our Trip Leader, Sanders, told them to do. The kids did a good job. All we had to do is paddle when they did. Charlotte (age roughly 12) was sitting in front of me, and we chatted quite a bit.

My biggest stress was that she said she had a premonition that she would fall in- so I was holding on to the boat for dear life the whole time, just in case she did. She didn’t.

Our final day in the area was spent hiking and exploring by Bronco. Reading some of the signs at the turnouts on the road can be interesting and entertaining. This area of Utah was explored by Spanish explorers who “discovered” this area for Europe. 

The expedition was called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition, and many things are named after them…Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Escalante State Park, the town of Escalante, etc.

But that wasn’t his name! His name was Fray Velez, and he was FROM Escalante. Too funny- I never knew that.

What we discovered that day is Mormon Crickets. If you don’t know what they are, they are actually not crickets, but a type of Katydid. I don’t care what their name is, they were pretty gross. They covered the roadway- thousands of them.

Turns out they are cannibals, so when a “friend” gets run over by a car, they all chow down, but guess what happens when the next car comes along? 

I was just happy they don’t fly!

Our hike took us out on a ridgeline, Harper’s Corner, that got narrower as we went along. The end section had fences to make sure no one fell off. Here we could see both the Green River, and the Yampa river.

The views were pretty spectacular.

Hike done we headed down the dirt road that we had seen from the ridgeline. It led to an area at the confluence of the two rivers. Here we could see the confluence of the Green and Yampa River.