Passing through Idaho

Visiting southern Idaho

Boise, ID

We left Arizona three months ago and were in need of an oil change, haircut and a visit to the chiropractor. We used our three days in Garden City, ID to do that and had time for a little riverside bike ride. We found "The Joint" which is a nationwide network with 400 locations across the country works well for us. They can look at your chart online and see how you have been treated in the past and know of any potential problems. Dr. "O" was very good and got me back on the saddle again.

As we rode along the beautiful Boise River Greenbelt to downtown Boise and stopped to watch the river surfers, a news crew that had been filming the surfers and us approached us. The reporter asked if he could "mic" Mike and film us for their "Idaho Life" piece.

https://www.ktvb.com/article/entertainment/places/idaho-life/idaho-life-a-swell-situation/277-566127223

In the above clip you can see us in three 1-2 second blips starting at second 49. We got a kick out of watching glimpses of our self that night on the news. Don't blink.

It was great to have signs along the multiuse path telling us what was just off the path. The container off to the right was being transformed into a coffee house.

There were also restaurants as we got closer to downtown Boise.

Arco, ID

In 1955, tiny Arco won fame as the world’s first nuclear-powered city. The reason that the government chose this corner of eastern Idaho as one of its nuclear sandboxes being it is remote and sparsely-populated, Arco is the kind of place that a nuclear accident might go unnoticed. Or at least under-reported. Did you know that the USA’s only fatal nuclear accident occurred in Arco, Idaho? In 1961, there was a core meltdown in the National Reactor Testing Station which killed three servicemen.

 



Submarine Park

 Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago along the Great Rift for a lava flow of 618 sq miles long. More eruptions are expected in the future.

 

Our visit to Craters of the Moon was chosen because there is not a lot out there in this section of Idaho and was good stopping place for a few days. We don't like to drive long distances. This turned out to be an interesting area.
Pioneers used the Goodall Shortcut through this section of Idaho rather than along the Oregon Trail along the Snake River to avoid the Indians that were known to harass settlers. There are still wagon ruts along the way.

There were four caves in the park to explore once we got our permit at the visitors center.

 On August 22, 1969, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, Joe Engle, and Eugene Cernan landed at the airport in Arco. They then proceeded to Craters of the Moon where they explored the lava landscape and learned the basics of volcanic geology in preparation for future trips to the moon. Much of the moon's surface is covered by volcanic materials.

The wind was blowing so hard from the west yesterday. It seems to be the case frequently with trees growing like this.

Monkey flowers

The ability to grow in this harsh environment means overcoming a lack of moisture, meager soil, and surface temperatures that exceed 150 degrees Fahrenheit. In such a harsh environment, you wouldn't expect to see so many flowers and butterflies. We had arrived in time for the peak bloom in the middle of June.

Even though the air temperature was 68 degrees F, it got very hot hiking among the black lava rocks.

   The area is a designated International Dark Sky Park.

Climbing a cinder cone.

There were butterflies everywhere. This one kept landing on me. He rode on my hat for a while.

We got an early start to avoid the crowds. The sunshine made it pretty warm but was much cooler in the caves.

 Buffalo Cave

 We are going in after putting on our headlamps.

 

Mike's third eye headlamp.

 

Indian Tunnel 

We had to watch our step over the boulders.

Climbing out.



Trail markers to get back to the other trail.

 

EBR I

 

We had a short 70 mile drive to Idaho Falls before heading to Wyoming. Roadside America suggested a stop at this museum. A little different than the power plant from which Mike retired.

Experimental Breeder Reactor I the world's first nuclear power plant
 

 This museum along highway 20 on the way to Idaho Falls was where scientists first created usable amounts of electricity by splitting the atom. The intern leading the tour was very interesting going back to 1951 including stories about the people involved in the development and working of this nuclear energy. It was much better than the self guided tour that was also available.

 

We looked through windows to see the stainless steel tank that comprised the core. It was kind of an eerie place.

 

 Heading to the Grand Tetons....



 



Newberry Volcano National Monument

We were having trouble with the driver's side window that would get stuck in the down position. We have had this problem before and took it to the Ford garage and paid to have it fixed. He wasn't crazy about paying $400 to have it fixed again, went online to youtube and found a fix. If it didn't work, he would take it in. He fixed it. Hurray!

The Big Obsidian Flow formed 1300 years ago is Oregon's youngest lava flow.

Obsidian is very sharp on the edges and was used by the Native Americans for weapons by making arrowheads,spearheads, knives and jewelry.

 

 

There are few places in the continental United States where you can walk in a landscape so utterly foreign. The Big Obsidian Flow is a patch of black and grey volcanic glass covering about 4 square miles of the Newberry Crater floor. We saw everything from the classic jet-black glass suited for Native American tools to frothy grey glass that looks more like a stone sponge than an arrowhead.

It was amazing walking through the lava flow but had to watch where we were putting our feet. The black shiny obsidian was hot from the sun with sharp edges.

As we walked the trail, at the top was a treat with a great view of Lost Lake in the crater and mountains in the background.

Paulina Falls falls 80 feet with twin falls was just a short walk to the overlook but 1/4 mile down to the bottom for a different view.

Paulina Falls spills over the lowest point of Newberry Caldera.

 

After walking around the Big Obsidian Flow and Paulina Falls, we headed over to the lava tube cave for the 1 mile walk into the cave.

The Lava River Cave formed about 80,000 years ago was like entering another world. It is Oregon's longest lava cave extending almost 1 mile.The forest service job did a great job of making the cave very walkable. We walked down 55 steps into darkness requiring our headlamps. Lamps were available at the trailhead for $5 but our headlamps worked just fine keeping our hands free. At times we felt like we were in the belly of a whale with the striations along the walks of the cave.

We made it to the end. It was interesting to spend the time walking a mile underground and listening to the quiet and dark. We took along extra flashlights in case the headlamp's batteries ran out.

There were just a few bats in the cave. With almost 400 caves in Oregon, I bet they found a quieter place tosleep during the day without people walking through.

Oregon has many covered bridges that we will have to return and see. This one is difficult to see though the window as I took the picture.



 

It had been over a month since we had last gotten our mail and had it sent general delivery to the Sunriver post office minus the junk mail. We got a few bills and a Father's Day card with a nice gift card which we promptly used.