The snow overnight had turned into ice when we woke up. But it was supposed to warm up quickly so we did not have any problems getting going in the morning. Our destination was one of Ton’s favorite campgrounds on the Snake River in Idaho. It is at the bottom of Hells Canyon, which is the deepest or second deepest canyon in the US. Last time we visited it was the same time of the year and the trees at the bottom of the canyon were in full fall colors. This time it looks like we got here about a week too late though they are still nice.
Today we reluctantly left Hells Canyon, unfortunately we are on a tight schedule for the week. Hopefully next year we will be able to take the time to really enjoy these finds when we are out wandering.
Today we drove US95 from Hells Canyon to Couer d’ Alene ID. It was not marked as scenic highway but really quite a nice drive with a lot of nice varying kinds of land. The fall colors were at there peak and though not up to New England were really nice mostly yellows.
During our 20+ years in the Northwest we had pretty much ignored Idaho which we now realize was a mistake. The good news is that we have an area close by we can spend some time in and discover.
This morning we woke up to this view from the back window of Scout,
and this evening we had this view out our side window. This makes it all worth it.
City of Rocks was as beautiful in the morning as it was the day before. We dawdled around getting out of there. On the way back to the interstate for some hard driving west we saw a sign for a back country by way and took a little detour thru a bunch of ranches with a small town every 25 miles or so. I am running out of ways to describe the beauty of eastern Idaho in the fall. If you are ever in the area around October give South east Idaho a chance you will not regret it.
Our plan for the next couple of days is to follow US95 from Boise to Coeur d’ Alene and then head over to Grand Coulee Dam in Washington. Heading north on US95 we saw signs for the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and our decision on where to overnight was made. On the map we saw that Idaho power had three campgrounds on the Snake river in the canyon. Our expectations were low so when we pulled in we were stunned with the high quality of this campground. Expecting primitive we found paved roads, power, clean showers, and WiFi all for $14. Kudos to Idaho Power.
Caution looked like the right choice when we woke up there was about 3” of snow in W. Yellowstone. When we left we had decided to head for Mountain Home ID for the day, but driving thru the snow down the mountain Ton mentioned a place we had always talked about going to and said the fall colors were supposed to be nice there tight now. So mid-drive we reprogrammed the GPS for City of Rocks National Preserve on the Idaho, Utah, Nevada border.
The view out of our window today.
Ton’s instincts were dead on. This place is a real hidden gem of the park service. It is run jointly by the National Park Service and the Idaho Park and Recreation Department. It is on the old California Trail which is a branch of the Oregon Trail. It has some of the most incredible rock formations and we found it extremely beautiful and tranquil. It is really remote and the night sky was also fantastic.
If you are ever in SE Idaho along I-15 so yourself a favor and swing thru.
Today was about getting off of the freeway and exploring Boise a bit. The primary target was the Basque Town in Boise. Boise has one of the largest populations of Basques in the US. We visited a museum dedicated to Basque Culture in the US and also learned a little bit about Basque Culture in Spain and France. But the real fun was across the street at the Basque Market where they were cooking up Paella on the sidewalk. Ton says it is the best she ever had. After a quick walk around town, it was 102 degrees, we decided to head west.
We had to try some of the Paella.
The next debate was whether to head home from Boise or make one more stop for the night. Ton pointed out that we had never visited Prodigal Son Brewery in Pendleton, so one more night it is.
Around Baker City we saw a large wild fire off to the north. It turns out that the next day they had to close I-84 due to smoke from the fire.
In Pendleton we enjoyed a taster at Prodigal Son, and then walked around town for a while. We visited Hamley’s western wear, Ton was very impressed with the quality of the saddles and clothes. Pendleton seems to be enjoying pretty good times these days. Tonight we decided we needed access to electricity as it was still in the 100’s and airconditioning seemed like a good idea. We ended up in an Indian Casino RV park, nothing special except 30amp electricity.
Pendleton Oregon is famous for its rodeo. This western store is one of the largest in the Northwest.
Today we started heading home. From where we were we had two options to get home one way was to head for I-84 at Boise and the other was to take I-90 to Spokane and head south. After some discussion Ton decided we had not ever stopped in Boise even though we had driven thru it at least 10 times.
After that decision we decided to take the back way. After taking the Interstate thru Butte a city we both remember as being particularly ugly, we took some back roads thru some hills and small valleys. We came into the Big Hole Valley and ran into the Big Hole Valley National Battlefield Monument. The battle of the Big Hole Valley was between the 7th Infantry and the Nez Perce Indians. The story of the Nez Perce is very sad as they were a pretty peaceful tribe forced off their lands and were essentially just trying to retain some freedom off the reservation. The Monument is very well done as are most National Park operations. Of course we are biased but we think the National Park Service is one of the best things going in our country.
After that we drove down the Salmon River Scenic Highway the opposite direction we had gone a few days before. At Sydney we turned onto the Big Pine Scenic Highway and pulled into a beautiful Forest Service Campground at Lake Stanley. We had Lake Stanley and an incredible view of the Sawtooth Mountains right outside the back of Scout.
Lake Stanley with a great view of the Sawtooth Mountains.
We had been corresponding with a couple in Victor ID who have a Siberian Tiger vehicle on order. This is the much larger cousin of our little Tiger. They had a standing invitation to visit them if we passed that way so we decided to take them up on it.
Enroute to Victor we were driving down the Sacajawea Highway in Idaho. It turns out that Sacajawea was from the area that is now Salmon, so there is a great deal about her in the area.
Outside of the town we saw signs for the Lewis and Clark Scenic Backcountry Highway. Ron was nervous about the state of the road due to all of the storms the night before, but Ton said that the BLM and Park Service always exaggerate how tough things are, and we could always turn around if it looked bad. The byway is a 38 mile gravel route to Lemhi pass where the Lewis and Clark Party crossed the continental divide. It turns out Ton was right and the road was a well graveled road suitable for logging trucks.
The view from Lemhi Pass on the Lewis and Clark scenic byway.
When we arrived at Victor not wanting to arrive with empty hands we stopped at Teton Brewing to pick up a growler. The beer is good and growlers are cheap if you are in the area.
We enjoyed good conversation, excellent Pizza and Beer. Thanks Ron and Gabi for your hospitality.
Today was scenic highway day. We planned to cover two scenic highways the Sawtooth Scenic Highway and the Salmon River Scenic Highway. The problem is that the weather was not that cooperative with periodic heavy thunderstorms throughout the day.
The first highway we took on was the Sawtooth Scenic Highway. It has a reputation as a beautiful road. I do not know if it was the weather cutting down on the views, but while it was pretty and had some exciting views it did not knock either of our socks off.
The Salmon River Scenic Highway on the other hand really made a positive impression. As it sounds, the road follows the Salmon River through some incredibly beautiful mountain valleys and gorges. We were very impressed with the Salmon River Highway.
Salmon River.
We spent the night in a campground run by an 83 year old widow, because Ton was so impressed with the quality of the reviews of this campsite and her spunk to run a campground by herself. Right as we checked in there was a big thunderstorm to put us to sleep.
Today we drove the Owyhee National Scenic Backcountry Byway. Last year we had visited Leslie Gulch on the Oregon side of the Owyhee’s. This year we decide to cover the Idaho side of the Owyhee’s. The byway is 130 miles long of which 100 miles is good gravel. It was an interesting drive but not as spectacular as Leslie Gulch.
Pronghorns along the Owyhee Scenic Byway.
The highlights were the three forks area where the three branches of the Owyhee come together, and a couple of Pronghorn sitings. While the valleys were pretty it was mostly sagebrush and grass so after awhile it got a little monotonous.
The final stop was Mt. Home AFB, for laundry and restocking of the fridge. Tomorrow we need to find a car wash to knock 130 miles worth of dust off Scout.
Craters of the Moon was a delight. The geological features are fascinating, the Rangers were knowledgeable and friendly, and the campground was very nice.
The harshness of the land is what makes Craters of the Moon so fascinating for us.
Today for us was a short 3 hour drive from Mt. Home Air Force Base to the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The National Monument is in Southern Idaho at the base of the Pioneer Mountains. The genesis of the monument is the hot spot that is currently under Yellowstone NP. About 11 to 15 million years ago the hot spot was under the current Craters of the Moon. This is one of the few continental hot spots in the world where magma comes within a few miles of the earth’s surface. Most of these hot spots are under the oceans. The hot spot is relatively fixed, but the crust of the earth is moving a couple of inches a year. So 11 million years ago the hot spot was about 200 miles west of the current location in Idaho with all of the resulting volcanic activity that we currently see at Yellowstone.
There has been volcanic activity as recently 2000 years ago due to weak spots in the earths crust. As a result you can see many types of lava on what appears to be a very desolate area, that supports a great deal of life as we learned. At night we attended two Ranger talks, one that focused on the geology and the fauna of the park, and the other on the wildlife resident in the area. They were both fascinating. The Ranger on the second talk managed to even attract a bat which landed on her shoulder during the talk, and a large male mule deal with a very large set of antlers who did a walk by during her talk.
The only down side was a Roadtrek 190 who pulled into the space between us and a nice German couple. The people inside never exited their vehicle, but turned on a large obnoxious generator and proceeded to run it for 6 consecutive hours 10 feet from Scout. Ton and I retired inside the vehicle rather than eating outside. The German couple did not have that option and ended up packing and moving to another site.
Today we drove the West Elk Scenic Highways to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We had to hustle out of Aspen in the morning to beat the bicycle race. We drove along the Elk Scenic Highway passing a bunch of State Troopers and support vehicles for the race.
Fans and support for the Tour of Colorado Bike Race.
After a couple of hours of driving we arrived at the sign for the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP. The drive in was on some county roads with the last 6 miles on dirt roads. As we got near the park entrance there was still nothing that would hint at how spectacular the views were. The Canyon is only about a half mile wide but varies between 1500 and 2000 feet deep. At the bottom is the Gunnison River which rips along at a pretty good rate. The North Rim is pretty lightly visited so the overlooks were pretty basic, and you could approach the rim of the Canyon with almost no protection. Ton got over her fear of heights and got some good pictures. After spending a couple of hours at the North Rim we went back to the Elk Scenic Highway and headed to the more developed South Rim. The last 30 miles of the Elk follows the Black Canyon and reminded Ton of the Pacific Coast Highway near Big Sur if you change the Pacific Ocean to the River and Mountains of Colorado.
When we got near the South Rim we decided we needed to stock up with some food, and Diesel Exhaust Fluid in Montrose. We also needed good internet so we decided to stay in a campground in town. When we checked in the guy told us this valley only averaged 7” of rain per year. When we were done checking in we headed out to the visitors center at the South Rim, and of course it rained. So we drove the rim road and headed back to town. By the time we got to town it was raining buckets! They probably got 1” of their 7” of rain for the year.
We got up early and headed to the Trail Ridge. The bulk of this road is above the tree line and the top of the pass is over 11,000 feet. The visitors center at the top is very nice and completely off the grid. They get their electricity from a generator, and water from a dam near by. Most winters it is buried to its’ roof in snow. Ton went to the store where interestingly most of the staff was college students from China, (and one from Macedonia) who were there working on their English.
About 11,000 feet in the park.
After completing the Trail we decided to push on southwest towards Gunnison. Ton suggested we take the Rocky Mountain Scenic Byway. The last 40 miles may have been more spectacular than the National Park with multiple 14,000 foot mountains and signs every couple of miles forbidding vehicles over 35 feet. The peak of the drive was Independence Pass here slightly over 12,000 feet and was our third time passing the Continental Divide today. Our original plan was to push on past Aspen after doing a drive thru to see how the other half lives. But when we got to Aspen we discovered that the only road out of town going west was closed for a couple of hours, after wandering around Aspen a couple of times looking for an escape to the west we decided to double back to Difficult Campground a Forest Service Campground we had passed coming into Aspen where we got the final spot for the night.
Today we started heading west again and stopped at Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive from Ft. Collins to the park was bumper to bumper the entire 30 miles so Ron was pessimistic by the time we arrived at the park about getting a campsite. Rocky Mountain NP is only about an hour from the Denver Metro area so it is well loved, but there were plenty of campsites. We arrived in the early afternoon and decided to save the highlight of the park the Trail Ridge for tomorrow. We headed over to Bear Lake and despite signs every couple miles saying that the parking lot was full we pressed on. When we got there a Ranger stopped us and asked several questions about Scout and how it handled on the highway, it was the first Tiger she had seen, she then asked the important question which was how long we were and when I told her just over 20 feet she waved us on and told us to enjoy our day as we would fit in the parking lot.
Alpine Lake in Rocky Mountain NP.
Later we attended a Ranger talk and turned in early with plans to get up and head over the hill to the Alpine road.
I visited Organ Pipe Cactus in January of 2020 and it immediately became one of my favorite places run by the Park Service. The location is incredibly remote but it is worth the drive. The Ajo Mountains and the cactus make for a great experience. I also included an entry for Ajo Arizona, which is a nice town worth stopping in on the way to the Monument.
With great reluctance I left Organ Pipe. I decided to head towards Tucson to do some much needed shopping, and to be somewhere that I could get TV to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.
As I was leaving I debated whether to stop in the town of Ajo as it was about 20 miles out of the way. In the early 1980’s my sister lived in Ajo as she had married a guy from there. I remember visiting her and thinking it was the most remote place on earth, a dusty company town that was dominated by a gigantic copper mine. At the time the copper mine there was supposed to be the largest in the world. The mine closed in the 1990’s and given how remote it was I wondered what state the town would be in.
A mission style church across from the main square of Ajo.
I am glad I decided to visit as the town had much more character than I remembered and actually seemed to be thriving. It is one of the oldest settlements in Arizona having been founded in 1854, one year after the land was purchased from Mexico. The town is centered on a typical Spanish style town square, common in Mexico and New Mexico. It is small but very well preserved and charming.
The town square with a very nice Christmas Tree even though it is February 1st, I guess why waste a good Christmas tree on just Christmas!
Since the mine closed it looks like the town has become a small artists colony. Since it was Saturday there was a small farmers market with local artists, and some baked goods, but not a lot of farm produce. There is also a antique and art store around the corner from the square that was interesting.
The entrance to the antique market in Ajo.
Next to the antique store was a sign saying do not miss the artists ally, so I turned down to check it out. There were some interesting wall murals down the ally, and I ended up spending about 20 minutes walking the ally even though it was only 30 yards long.
Another mural from the artists ally.
Finally it was time to head out to Tucson. As I was crossing the Tohono O’Odham Reservation which is the second largest Reservation in the US there was a surprising amount of traffic. It turns out this weekend is the annual tribal rodeo and festival. I passed the rodeo grounds and was tempted to stop for the day but pressed on instead.
I spent the rest of the day in one of the busiest Costcos I have ever seen, and the military grocery at the Air Force Base in Tucson. Tonight I am parked on the Air Force Base dry camping.
I slept in a little this morning before heading out to explore some more of the Monument. As I was walking around I saw a European camper with Netherlands plates. I asked them how they liked traveling in the US and they said they were enjoying it tremendously and were looking for ways to come every year. I told them about our van in France and it started a long conversation about how we arranged things in Europe, and they asked questions about purchasing here in the US, as they are thinking about buying an American RV. It was an interesting conversation, and I learned about some places they really enjoyed in Europe to add to our future travels.
The campground tucked into the desert at Organ Pipe.
I spent the day doing a couple of drives along the other two scenic roads. These roads were interesting as they showed different environments in the Sonora. One was dominated by Saguaro cactuses. The other was a road that paralleled the Mexican border for 14 miles to a small natural pond fed by springs. The road was heavily traveled by construction equipment as they are building a section of the wall here.
Trumps Folly, a scar on the Sonoran Desert and a scar on the American Soul.
I returned to the campsite which is one of the best I have seen in the Park Service and is very well managed by the rangers. There are a couple of trails that leave from the campground so I walked the desert view trail and enjoyed the expansive views, and the quiet that you get when you are far away from civilization. The Park Service had put out very interesting plaques describing how the native American and early European settlers used different plants for medicine and to produce household goods. This place is special, the views are incredible, often the only sound you here is the wind, and both the day and night skies are pristine.
A Saguaro forest on the desert view trail.
When I returned to Scout for the evening I ran into Harry and Erna and we spent some more time over a couple of beers talking about traveling in North America and Europe. I also said good bye to John and Yvette my neighbors with the Tiger and thanked them for their advice on the blog.
Once again I finished up my day by attending another ranger talk. Tomorrow I am reluctantly off to civilization as the food cupboard is bare.
The plan for today was to drive the Ajo Mountain Road and hike a couple of the trails along the road. I woke up about 6 am and thought I would go out and watch the sunrise after I made my morning coffee. I made my way to the top of a hill and enjoyed the quiet of the desert morning. The sky was crystal clear which made for a pretty but not spectacular sun rise. I ended up wandering up into the desert and ended up with a nice walk while enjoying my coffee.
I tried a little artistic shot of an Organ Pipe at sunrise, but I miss the real photographer in the family.
After returning to Scout and puttering around for awhile I bought another day for the campground before taking off for the drive. The Ajo Mountain loop is a 21 mile gravel road up into the Ajo’s. Both hikes are near the base of the mountains. One is called Arch trail and is an easy 3 mile out and back, though I never did see the Arch. The other trail is two trails that connect to lead you to an overview that gives you views into Mexico, and back towards Ajo. When I got to this trail I was feeling a little lazy so I decided to hike the flat part and skip the 1000 foot climb to the overlook. I was able to follow two Park Service Rangers out looking at plant life.
Two nice examples of the namesake cactus of the park.
The park is being significantly impacted by the current government immigration policy. A large portion of the wall is being built across the valley floor at the base of the Monument.
These signs are abundant in the park.
It was early afternoon when I returned to the campground for lunch. I was planning one more short hike from the campground for the afternoon, but instead I ended up talking to my neighbor John for a couple of hours about Tiger ownership, military experience, and blogs. John and Yvette’s blog is www.theturtleandthetiger.com, it is their adventures full timing in a Tiger around the US.
This bird was singing up a storm when I went by.
Before I realized it it was dinner time and time for me to do my evening catch up with Ton. I ended the day with another interesting Ranger Talk on how nocturnal animals navigate in low light. The Ranger talks are one of my favorite things about the parks, and the young men and women who share their passion for the parks and nature always gives me a warm feeling.
Today I reached the target for the trip. When I was looking for places to go both Ton and Dylan my son said that I should visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. So I am here now, and I am really glad they recommended this place.
I was pretty low on fuel so the plan was to find a gas station before I left Yuma. I plugged the Monument into Greta and she gave me a different route than I took yesterday but I figured there would be a gas station on the way. The route took me through an extensive agricultural area in the desert. I learned why the Proving Grounds tested bridges in the desert as the Colorado River runs thru Yuma. The agricultural area is a result of tapping the river water.
The green of the fields against the desert mountains was jarring.
I ended up on the Interstate without gas and I really needed gas so I got off at the first available fuel. When I pulled up to the pump they were really gouging so I put in enough to get me to the exit from the freeway. A little further up the freeway I saw fuel at a reasonable price so I filled up. With the fuel problem solved i headed on down to the Monument.
The drive thru the back country was pretty quiet, with no towns for about 70 miles until I came into the old mining town of Ajo. My family has a connection with Ajo as my sister lived there for a few years. On the way out I plan on stopping to check it out.
The drive into the monument is lined with all types of cactuses not just the Organ Pipes that the monument is named after. On arrival I was a little worried about campground availability so I headed up there but there was plenty of room and the Ranger told me I could pick any spot that had a green card on it. As I was driving in I saw another Tiger like ours which is pretty rare. The spot next to it was empty so there are two Tigers parked side by side. The couple is from Massachusetts and they are full timing in their Tiger.
Scout parked up next to a large Saguaro cactus.
Once I settled in and finished lunch I decided to head for the visitors center along a walking trail where I got an introduction to all of the different types of cactus in the Sonora desert.
There are four types of cactus in this photo if you look carefully.
They were giving a Ranger talk when I got to the visitors center so I caught the end of it. After I consulted with one of the volunteers and made a plan for the next couple of days I headed back to Scout to prepare dinner. After dinner I spoke to my other neighbors who are also from the west side of Portland and finished the day with another Ranger talk on coyotes.
What can you say about Yellowstone. It is the original National Park and it is magnificent. It is also a great place to see animals. We visit often, and our son Dylan worked there as a Ranger for three years. We have also included entries about Grand Teton NP and the Beartooth Highway as they are both adjacent to Yellowstone and should be included in any trip to the area.
Today was geyser and hotspring day at Yellowstone. We visited all of the hotspring sites between the west entrance and Old Faithful. We then stayed for an Old Faithful eruption and had lunch. While the skies were still clear it was colder and windy so while it was good picture weather it was not good hanging around outside weather.
Hot springs near West Yellowstone.
Mid-afternoon we decided to head over to Mammoth Hot Springs as Ton was not going to let her friends see Yellowstone without seeing where our son Dylan worked as a ranger. We did not have the best light for Mammoth but it is still pretty spectacular.
One of Tons favorite photos.
We returned to our campsite well after dark tonight and whipped up a quick meal.
Cannot leave Yellowstone without a shot of Old Faithful.
