Idaho has more whitewater river miles
than any other state in the continental U.S.
On Tuesday, we experienced the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Yesterday, we followed the Salmon and Payette
Rivers, although we just appreciated views of the rivers from the highway and
countless overlooks.
The Salmon River is the legendary
“River of No Return,” and we followed a portion of the river from White Bird to
Riggins, Idaho’s whitewater capital.
Highway 95 parallels this mighty river, and we witnessed how its power
had carved the beautiful Salmon River Canyon through the mountains. On the way we passed back into Mountain Time
Zone, one more indication that we’re nearing the end of our trip.
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| The Salmon River Is Peaceful Here |
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| The Salmon River Cut this Canyon |
A bit farther south we turned onto the
Payette River Scenic Byway. The Payette
River seemed to be even wilder than the section of the Salmon we had been
following. We watched the river crashing
and tumbling its way over rocks through the narrow river valley. Often the river was a wild torrent, while in
other places it was barely a ripple.
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| Payette River Whitewater |
McCall was our destination for
lunch. This quaint resort mountain town
sits on Payette Lake and is a popular place for both summer and winter
recreation. We soon climbed into tall
tree country and ascended into high mountain valleys. Snowcapped peaks provided a dramatic backdrop
for much of the day.
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| Payette Lake |
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| High Mountain Valleys |
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| Snow Lingers on the Mountains |
We arrived in Boise, Idaho’s capital,
and drove through the downtown area where we saw the capitol building. Our favorite stop, however was a local co-op,
where we picked out local cheeses, wine and produce. The prepared foods were too tempting to
resist. We will eat well for the next
few days.
When we stopped for the evening, I
uncorked a bottle of a local red wine from the Snake River Valley called
Chicken Dinner. I just loved the name,
but the wine also turned out to be very good.
It was a nice way to end a lovely day.
The Snake River cuts its way through
much of south central Idaho, and the river was our constant companion for much
of today. The high desert plateau which
we passed through is now a rich agricultural region, thanks to irrigation
provided by the Snake River.
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| The Snake River Winds Its Way Through South Central Idaho |
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
also owes its existence to the Snake River and what was found in the bluffs
that form the river canyon. The monument
protects the world’s richest known fossil deposits of the late Pliocene Epoch,
about 3.5 million years ago. Hagerman also
contains the largest concentration of fossilized horses in North America and is
most famous for the Hagerman Horse, Idaho’s state fossil.
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| The Hagerman Horse |
Although it is not possible to view
fossils on a trail, we were able to get a closer look at the sedimentary layers
in the bluffs, which are approximately 600 feet high. Each layer in the formation represents a
different geologic event. The views down
to the Snake River were beautiful.
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| Snake River Overlook |
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| Sedimentary Layers in the Bluffs |
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
is also one of only four national park units that contain segments of the
Oregon Trail. From an overlook, we could
clearly see the trail ruts. These ruts
are not two parallel ruts carved into hard rock. Here, the ruts are U-shaped because the feet
of the oxen dug more deeply into the soft soil. The trail ruts most closely resemble parallel
swales in the landscape. By the time the
emigrants reached this area, they had already walked 1,300 miles. They usually arrived here in July, and the
temperature often reached 100 degrees. The
Oregon Trail seemed much more real when I could look at the actual ruts made by
so many thousands of wagons.
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| Oregon Trail Ruts Are Visible Between the Two Poles |
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| This Is the Landscape that the Oregon Trail Emigrants Traversed |
The Snake River had one more surprise
for us, called the Thousand Springs. Just
south of Hagerman, we could see natural springs cascading down the walls of the
Snake River Canyon. These springs are
not waterfalls, but instead flow naturally from the underground aquifer of the Snake
River Plain.
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| Thousand Springs |
As we passed into the city of Twin
Falls, we were delighted to find diesel under $4.00 per gallon. We haven’t seen fuel prices this low since we
left Austin, Texas, in March. We crossed
the Snake River once more in Twin Falls and wondered what might have possessed
Evil Knievel in 1974to attempt to jump this canyon.
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| Who Would Try to Jump the Snake River Canyon? |
