Living Our Dream

Southern Idaho Part II: City of Rocks

A little over an hour to the south of where we were staying at Lake Walcott State Park is City of Rocks National Preserve. City of Rocks is located near the little town of Almo, ID, down close to the border of Utah.

A national preserve is an area with characteristics similar to a national park, but where certain activities not permitted in national parks (such as hunting, trapping, or oil and gas exploration and drilling) are allowed. City of Rocks National Preserve is administered by the National Park Service, but it is managed by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation under a cooperative agreement.

Granite rocks and spires, some of them over 600 feet high, surround a broad valley at City of Rocks. The photo below is from an overlook near the entrance to the preserve and shows some of the rugged peaks

City of Rocks became a landmark for settlers traveling the California Trail, which runs through the valley. The valley also made an excellent place for wagon trains to spend the night. The entrance to the valley is behind the rocks in the photo below. You can just see the beginning of the valley to the right of the rocks.

The California Trail was used from the early 1840s until the late 1860s. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, use of the overland routes like the California Trail diminished greatly.

During the early years of the California Trail, the Native Americans tolerated and even helped the settlers. After the start of the gold rush in 1849, however, the traffic on the trail increased, and so did the conflict between the emigrants and Indians. The Indians resented the destruction of food sources by the emigrants and their livestock.

As we drove into the valley, we came to the ruins of a house. Settlers began to homestead the City of Rocks area in the late 1800s. This location at the edge of the Great Basin Desert was a harsh environment to begin with; but when droughts hit in the 1920s and 1930s, the wells ran dry and the homesteads were abandoned. The shell of this house, with the date 1905 on the lintel over the door, is all that remains of the original Circle Creek Ranch built by William F. Tracey.

These delicate spires were a little farther along in the valley right next to the trail...

...and right across from Camp Rock where emigrants wrote their names in axle grease.

Registry Rock is a little farther along the valley and contains even more settlers' names. If you look closely, you can see a date of 1843 just to the right of center.

The present-day roads that run through the preserve are unpaved. Fortunately it rained the day before, which kept down the dust; and the roads had dried just enough to not be muddy. In the valley, the preserve road splits into two branches - one that winds up through the peaks and exits the preserve near the northern edge, and one that continues through the valley roughly following the California Trail and exiting the preserve at the southern end.

We first drove the northern fork of the road up into the hills and peaks. Climbing is a popular activity at City of Rocks and there were three climbers on Elephant Rock. If you look very closely, you may be able to see two of them near the top of the rock over on the right side. The third can't be seen because he is in the deep shadow all the way on the right.

In case you can't quite see the climbers in the photo above, here is a telephoto shot of the two that were in the sun.

When we got to the park boundary on the northern branch of the road, we turned around and stopped for lunch with a beautiful view of the rocks above and the valley below. We can't remember the last time we were somewhere that was utterly devoid of sound except for the wind. The solitude and quiet were unbelievable.

From our high vantage point, we could see the valley below where the wagon trains camped.

As we headed back down from the peaks, we stopped for a short walk to Window Arch.

Paul climbed up around the back of the arch for this photo.

We spent a little time roaming around the area where the arch was located enjoying the quiet and the views of the rocks.

The preserve has 67 primitive campsites (tents only), very few of which were being used. The photo below is a campsite within a few hundred feet of the arch.

The Idaho Department of Parks, which manages City of Rocks, also has a state park called Castle Rocks State Park adjacent to City of Rocks. Although we didn't have time to visit Castle Rocks (we concentrated on the history of the California Trail in City of Rocks instead), we did drive through the state park's RV campground on our way into the preserve. The state park RV campground is actually right inside the entrance to the national preserve. The campground appeared to be an excellent facility with widely-spaced sites in a desert setting with sagebrush between the sites. Campground roads and pads are paved. The sites have water and electricity and have a great view of the granite spires from one side of the campground and a beautiful view of ranch land outside the preserve from the other. There were only two or three RVs in the campground.

As we returned to the valley from the upper road, we turned right on the road that more or less follows the California Trail as it exits the preserve at the southern end. Wagons would fan out as they crossed this part of the valley to try to avoid the dust of those ahead of them. They would regroup at the far end at Pinnacle Pass, which is the narrower gap between the two peaks to the left of the photo below.

Pinnacle Pass was very difficult to traverse. In later years, cables were used to help lower the wagons down the far side. In fact, Pinnacle Pass was so difficult, modern-day road builders decided not to build a road through the pass. Instead, they used dynamite to clear a way for the road through the larger space to the right in the photo above, which passes Twin Sisters. Twin Sisters are the two spires to the left of the group of three in the photo below.

The angle of the above photo makes the third spire to the right of Twin Sisters look much larger than it really is. The photo below, which shows Margery walking toward Twin Sisters, is from a different angle and better shows the size relationship of Twin Sisters.

There are several remote, primitive campsites that were not being used at the base of Twin Sisters, and the photo below shows the view from those campsites back toward the valley.

 

 

There was a branch of the California Trail that went through Salt Lake City, came up Emigrant Canyon, and re-joined the main trail near the southern exit of the national preserve. Later, there was also a stage stop at the end of Emigrant Canyon where it meets the California Trail. The Oregon Stage Company operated stagecoach service between Boise, ID, and Kelton, UT, through City of Rocks from 1869 to 1883. The photo below shows Twin Sisters from the site of the stage stop at the end of Emigrant Canyon. This was the last view that the emigrants had of the City of Rocks; and many wrote about or sketched what they saw.

City of Rocks not only has interesting scenery, but it has an interesting history. We loved learning about the pioneers who traveled through the area on their way to a new life. We couldn't help but realize what a hardy bunch they were.

The emigrants' wagons, called Prairie Schooners, were loaded with provisions for their trip and with all their earthly possessions. There was no room for passengers. Most of the emigrants walked all the way from St. Louis to California. They faced illness and injury. Along the way, the wagons broke down and got stuck. Animals had to be cared for, fed, and watered. Dust or mud was everywhere. We don't think many people today would make it. We certainly couldn't.

We had entered the preserve from the eastern side through Almo where the roads are paved, at least until you get into the preserve itself. If you follow either branch of the road in the preserve all the way to the end and exit City of Rocks on the western side, you will find yourself on Birch Creek Road, which is gravel. As we prepared to turn onto Birch Creek Road, we had to wait for an 18-wheeler to pass while it was being led to an obscure ranch road by someone in a pick-up. There are people who live in the middle of noWHERE!

We traveled north on Birch Creek Road almost 15 miles before we hit pavement near the town of Oakley. Fortunately, Birch Creek Road is fairly smooth, and we were able to travel at nearly 35 or 40 mph most of the way without even kicking up that much dust. Even after learning about the hardships the pioneers endured as they traveled through the dust and mud, we still couldn't wait to get back onto a paved road even though we had the windows up and the air conditioner humming away.

Back at the motor home, Paul could see a car wash was in our future, but that would be another day. For now, we needed to prepare for our departure the next morning. It was time to start meandering back toward the east.

Southern Idaho Part I: Spuds and Waterfalls

When we planned our trip to Yellowstone, we thought about continuing on to Yosemite afterward. We were surprised to learn Yosemite is almost 1,000 miles from Yellowstone! We thought all that extra driving might rush our schedule a little since we had decided to slow down our travels. Then there is the high price of gas, which is even higher in the west than the east and higher in California than anywhere, so we decided Yosemite would have to wait for another year.

However, since West Yellowstone is very close to Idaho (in fact, a small part of Yellowstone National Park is in Idaho), we thought we would drive a short way into southern Idaho and spend a week. As we headed toward our destination of Lake Walcott State Park near Rupert, ID, we passed through Blackfoot, ID where the Idaho Potato Museum is located. We normally don't stop at any attractions when we are traveling in the motor home, but we were interested in the museum since Idaho is so well known for its potatoes. The travel distance was too far back from our final destination in Rupert to return in the car (we're trying to save gas) so we decided to make an exception and stop in the motor home.

The Idaho Potato Museum is located in the old Oregon Short Line Railroad Depot. There was a short video and numerous displays explaining how potatoes are grown, harvested, stored, and used.

The Potato Museum also has a collection of antique potato planting, harvesting, and handling equipment like the machine that Margery is checking out. This machine, which was invented in 1958, is called Spudnik's Scooper and was used to gently remove potatoes from the storage cellars.

Not to be outdone, Paul is getting the feel for this potato planter that was used in the late 1800s to early 1900s. It was towed behind a horse. Hey, the farmer could plant and fertilize at the same time!

Then Margery moved over to the the sorter/bagger to see how it worked.

Idaho grows about 30% of all the potatoes grown in the U. S. The famous Idaho potato is a variety called the Russet Burbank, which was developed by Luther Burbank in the 1870s. The Russet Burbank is a large, brown-skinned potato that is commonly used for french fries and for baking.

It is along the Snake River, which flows through southern Idaho, that the world famous Idaho potato is grown. The climate in southern Idaho is ideal for growing potatoes, even though they only get about 9" of rain a year. Although most people would consider farming impossible with that little rain, the presence of the Snake River with its abundant water makes irrigation not only possible, but desirable. Irrigation allows the farmers to optimize the moisture content of the soil for maximum potato production.

If you remember our last post on the Grand Tetons, the Snake River runs through Jackson Lake in the Tetons in Wyoming. Jackson Lake was dammed in 1906 so that the lake could act as a reservoir for southern Idaho farmers.

Potatoes are rotated with other crops such as wheat and hay in the irrigated fields. Everywhere we went, we saw the long sprinkler lines spraying water. The photo below shows a side-roll lateral sprinkler system in a potato field.

Potatoes are not grown from seed (except for developing new varieties), but are grown from cut up pieces of potato called seed potatoes. Each piece must have an eye, which is an indentation in the surface of the potato from which the plant will sprout. A certified seed potato means the potato is intended to be cut up for planting, and it is certified to be disease-free. Late blight, which caused the potato famine in Ireland that brought so many Irish immigrants to this country in the mid-1800s, can still be devastating to potato farmers today.

After our tour of the museum, they gave us packages of dehydrated hash browns. Here is Paul showing off our "freebies" next to the museum's sign.

These hash browns, by the way, were delicious and very easy to prepare. They are available online at Buyhashbrowns.com. Each carton makes more than a pound of hash browns. Just hydrate with water, microwave or let stand 20 minutes, then grill. There was no way you could tell they were originally dehydrated potatoes.

After we left the museum, we continued on to Rupert, ID. Lake Walcott State Park has about 25 RV sites with water and 30 amp electricity and a number of tent sites in a separate area. Roads and RV pads are paved, and the space between sites is generous and covered with well-irrigated grass. Be careful, because the sprinklers run for about an hour every weekday (during the day, not at night), and they can come on without notice. The campground is quiet and the only sound after dark is the water from the rapids below the dam.

During the week, there were usually only 2 or 3 rigs in the campground besides ours. The campground wasn't even full on the weekend.

The only negative thing about Lake Walcott was the midges. Midges are insects that emerge from the water in great numbers; and, although most varieties don't bite, they are really very unpleasant because of the fact they swarm everywhere. Last year we wrote about our experience at Perry Lake in Kansas when the midges were so thick you could hardly see, and there were even dozens and dozens of them inside the motor home. The only good thing was they were almost all gone the next day. Kansas must have had ALL the midges emerge at the same time. The ones at Lake Walcott weren't as numerous and at least they stayed outside for the most part, but they were present the whole time we were there flying around our faces and into our hair every time we went outside. Idaho must have had smaller numbers emerge every day instead of all at once like they did in Kansas. In spite of the midges, Lake Walcott is still a nice campground.

The town of Rupert near Lake Walcott isn't very big. (Translation: they don't have a Wal-Mart.) But, like so many small, rural towns, they have a nice park right in the middle of downtown.

Lake Walcott State Park is only about an hour from Twin Falls, ID. Twin Falls is named for a waterfall by the name of Twin Falls on the Snake River. Although Twin Falls seems to be a pretty big waterfall in its own right and although the town is named after it, this waterfall isn't publicized much. We didn't even find out about Twin Falls waterfall until after our visit. It's Shoshone Falls that gets all the promotion, and for good reason. Shoshone falls are called the Niagara of the West.

At over 200 feet high, Shoshone Falls are more than 30 feet higher than Niagara and flows over a rim that is 900 feet wide.

Overlooking the falls is a nice park operated by the city of Twin Falls. There are several vantage points from which you can observe the falls.

As we have mentioned, the Snake River is widely used for irrigation, and the diversion of water for irrigation can significantly reduce the flow over Shoshone Falls during the summer and fall. While researching Shoshone Falls, Margery came across the Northwest Waterfall Survey website, so she e-mailed the founder, Bryan Snow, trying to ascertain what kind of flow would be there during our visit. We didn't want to make the trip if it had run dry. After checking out his sources, Bryan e-mailed us back that if we got there within a couple of weeks, there should still be a moderate flow.

Fortunately for us, even though we were there in mid-July, the flow was pretty high. They had some photographs on some descriptive plaques at the park with the flow essentially covering the entire width of the rock; but during the height of the growing season, we were happy to be able to see as much water as we did. The flow was high enough to kick up a nice rainbow.

Below is a panoramic view of Shoshone Falls.

Another interesting fact we learned was that the Snake River Canyon where Shoshone Falls is located was shaped by the cataclysmic flooding of Lake Bonneville in the distant past. Lake Bonneville covered much of what now is Utah and had no outlet to the sea. When the lake overflowed and washed away a natural dam, the water flowed into the Snake River. This flow of water from Lake Bonneville may have continued for as much as a year and shaped the Snake River Canyon. The draining and subsequent drying of the remainder of Lake Bonneville left behind the Bonneville Salt Flats, which is west of Great Salt Lake. Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and a few smaller lakes are remnants of the larger Bonneville Lake.

Snake River Canyon down river of Shoshone Falls is also the site of an unsuccessful attempt in 1974 by daredevil Evil Knievel to jump the canyon on a rocket-powered cycle. Although the cycle actually flew far enough to clear the canyon, the drogue 'chute accidentally deployed during the jump due to bolts on the housing being stripped by the force of the rocket blast. The deployed 'chute not only slowed the flight of the cycle, it caused the cycle to drift back into the canyon and crash at the bottom. Knievel escaped with only minor injuries.

On our way back to the motor home, we stopped at the rapids below the dam at Lake Walcott to look at the white pelicans, which are the white dots that can barely be seen up near the rapids in the photo below.

It was hard to get a good photo of the pelicans because, not only were they far away, they always seemed to be facing upstream so all we could see was their butts. After several tries, Paul finally caught one with its head turned so you could at least see it was a pelican.

We extended our stay at Lake Walcott two extra days for a total of seven, partly in keeping with our slow-down plan, but mostly because we liked the campground in spite of the midges. Besides, we still had another nearby area to explore before we started to meander back east.