Travels in Idaho

June 9, 2018

I have been really busy since I got here, starting the bluebird survey, repairing and replacing boxes, helping out in the office/visitor center, and getting trained for the upcoming spray season.

But I was determined to go out and enjoy somewhere this weekend. I was too tired to even make plans but knew I needed to spend part of the weekend getting a haircut and groceries. I also wanted to get in a visit to Idaho Falls.  Then I spotted a brochure in my trailer about the Pioneer Heritage Trail in Idaho and thought I had finally lined up everything for one long trip. I checked out Freecampsites.net and found lots to choose among.

I finally got all most stuff loaded, except my swimsuit - there was public hot pools on the route - and coffee, got started late morning Friday.  I found the grocery store I wanted to check out was next to a resale shop, so spent several minutes enjoying its wares and picking up a swimsuit. I also got my hair cut and ate a lovely sashimi lunch before setting out for my weekend adventure mid afternoon.

Almost immediately, as I left Idaho Falls, I was blown away by the really different landscape. I was climbing into soft hills, many covered in windmills. There were some evergreen trees, but mostly prairie covered the rolling hills.

I was aiming for a camp spot along the Blackfoot river, near the reservoir, or in the town of Soda Springs itself.  I moved across lots of ranch lands, some withe cows grazing on it and finally was able to look down on the Blackfoot River Reservoir.

As I circled around the east side of the reservoir, I came to the dam, then to a little piece of the river before the bridge. A single American white pelican was resting on the water.

Non-breeding American pelican

I decided I had plenty of daylight left and would head for the free camping area in Soda Springs.  The views continued to be beautiful and interesting as I approached the small town. My phone GPS took be to the free camping spot.  It looks like a city park beside a small lake, with a parking lot and several tables with grills spaced about fifty feet apart.  There were only two vehicles there and one man was fishing. I was the only person putting up a tent. I set up and enjoyed the evening until the evening got too chilly.

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I woke up early the next morning and was packed and gone before sunrise.  I decided to go south to check out Niter Ice Cave.  I had to stop several times along the way to check out places on the Oregon Trail and a dam on the Bear River.

View from near the Bear River Dam, which covers up a smaller, earlier one

The dam itself was still in shadow

Hayfields had already had their first cutting and were drying

And there were a few stacks of fresh hail bales

The ice cave is near Grace, Idaho.  It had the most active irrigation I've seen anywhere. Everything from tit tits in yards to lines of water sprayers in horse pastures, to huge wheeled sprayers in the fields were mostly going.  Backlit by the early sun, they were magical. At one field, I stopped to take a picture of Franklin gulls feeding in the flooded pasture.

This was the view everywhere - I wonder how much longer this lifestyle can persist as the area gets dryer

Part of a center pivot watering system

After knowing I was very close to the cave, but not being able to find it, I finally noticed a smallish sign and realized it was just a hole in the ground. It is actually a lava tube.  I followed the cold rail into the cave. I soon realized I needed a light and went back for it. Then I started seeing my breath and hearing tiny drips. I shone my light on the ceiling and saw magical sparkles, made by water and minerals that have evaporated out on the ceiling. The ground was getting muddy, so I didn't explore further.

Picture taken from behind the cave.  It is in the shadowed area.

Cave entrance

The ceiling as seen in my headlight

 Another feature along the Pioneer Trail I was interested in seeing was the Last Chance Canal.  It was built by the Mormon settlers to bring water to the Gem Valley. Since they had had had several failures when wooden flumes had been destroyed by the heavy snows, this was their last chance to maintain their water rights. They dug a tunnel through asphalt to deliver the water.

The original metal flume was build in 1913 and collapsed in 2005

The new flume bridge was built in 2005 and is expected to last 75 years

This water is diverted into five canals and irrigates 36,000 acres  

This basin receives the water from the flume in the above picture and diverts it into at least two canals
. Note the invasive Russian olive tree- in some places they are forming a monoculture forrest. 

The view as I came down from taking the flume pictures

And the ever present center pivot sprayers

The next thing I wanted to see was the captured  and tamed geyser at Soda Springs. I came back to town and found the geyser.  I had thought to get back by seven, then eight, ,but it was almost nine before I got back. The town drilled into an underground cavern while looking for water for their municipal swimming pool. Water mixed with carbon dioxide came out in a geyser. The town managed to cap the geyser but let the pressure off by letting it go off every hour for three minutes. So you have to be on time or wait another hour. This is a cold geyser and is formed by carbon dioxide mixing with the water. underground, building up pressure.

The site of the geyser- in older days, there was a wheel that the local police turned to release the geyser.  Note the cemetery in the background

I watched this with a local and his guests - he said the geyser can be bigger, but was held back today due to the high winds which would blow the heavily salted water on nearby gravestones, causing a buildup on them, it the water hit them. If  it can go off fully, it reaches about 150 feet and is wider.

One of the viewing platforms - be sure to check the winds or you can get wet and very salty

The gentleman I met at the geyser also advised me to go to a spring - there are at least a couple in town - and taste the water.  He said he gets his drinking water from  Octagon Spring. I visited, Octagon Spring Park, but just drove by Hooper Springs Park. 

The spring is under this little pavilion reached by a boardwalk from the parking lot

The actual spring - it is only the size of a large bowl and produces water that is both strongly carbonated and mineralized and has a slight orange color. It has a sharp, almost explosive taste. Each spring is supposed to have a unique taste. 

My next stop was at a nearby small town, of Lava Hot Springs. I had planned to try out the hot springs here but after feeling how hot it was getting - it reached 91 before I left - I decided I would wait until fall. Instead I visited the South Bannock County Museum which was a tiny, amazing gem.  There were stories of the Indians, medicine, farm life, and many other historical aspects of the area.  I also had my first Italian Soda.  It is carbonated water, flavoring, and a little cream.  I had salted carmel and it was delicious.

This is a closeup of a woman's hat, covered in bird feathers. This is why we almost lost many species of birds.

This is travertine - made by the mineralized waters impregnating rotting plant material. This is what is left, after the plant material completely disappears. 

There was lots more to see on the northern parts of the trail, but I decided I wanted to see a waterfall or two.  I also needed to find a campground. I ended up heading further west, driving past Craters of the Moon National Park to a state fish hatchery, near Carey,  with free camping. I planned to set up camp, then drive another hour to Shoshone Falls, supposedly the prettiest falls in Idaho.  But the weather didn't cooperate and the day got dark and windy.  I decided to camp and then go the the falls this morning, before buying groceries in Idaho Falls and coming home. I enjoyed walking around the hatchery and a little hammock time before going to bed.

But a HUGE windstorm came up and, while I was bracing my tent from inside, one of the Russian olives shading my site lost about a third of itself, the branches brushing my tent. Neighboring campers came over and suggested I get out before overhead branches suffered the same fate. It took four of them to hold my tent while I dressed and packed the inside, handing stuff to them to stuff in the car. After we fought the tent down, I decided to just drive for home. So for another four hours, I got to drive in the high winds.  I got home at 2:30A.M. to find I also had high winds that often shook my trailer But after a nineteen and a half hour day, I managed to sleep through it.  I awoke to find we were under a winter weather watch.  So far, we have only had a little rain and tiny hail. But I still have to drive another 180 miles for groceries.   I'll probably do that after work tomorrow, when it will be warmer and sunnier.

If you wish to check out this byway yourself, click for the brochure. This includes lots of different things, including a ghost town, historic districts, and even a wildlife refuge and kayaking sites.