IDAHO
It
seems like I’ve been trying to get to Idaho for years. Aside from two quick visits to Mesa Falls, in
the northeastern corner of the state, Idaho has eluded me. There were a couple of problems. First, Idaho isn’t the easiest place to get to. It’s directly on the way to nowhere. Then, I kept thinking that we would include
it in with a trip to Wyoming, or Montana, or Oregon, or Washington. In fact, this year we were going to split our
two-week trip between Idaho and northeastern Oregon. But the more I researched the hiking options
in Idaho, the more I wanted to do. As it
turns out, 2 weeks wasn’t anywhere near enough time for Idaho alone.
Idaho
is actually easier to get to than I thought. We used frequent flier miles and booked a
flight from Asheville to Boise, with a single connection in Dallas. My initial plan was to spend the first week
plus in the Sawtooths and the White Clouds. We would then finish up the trip in the
Eagles Cap Wilderness in eastern Oregon.
Ultimately though, I decided to save the Eagles Cap for another
trip. We’d spend all
of our time in Idaho. That meant
more hiking and less driving, as well as being able to see more of the Sawtooths and White Clouds.
Our
flight from Asheville was at 6am, which meant getting up at 3:30. That was pretty brutal, but the flight was smooth and we were able to sleep a little on the plane. The flight from Dallas to Boise was also
smooth, and we were only a little tired when we arrived. Thanks to the early start and two hours of
time changes, we arrived in Boise late that morning. That was good, because we wanted to do a
little sightseeing, and we had a long drive to the City of Rocks, where we
would camp that night. It’s worth noting
that the City of Rocks, in southeastern Idaho, is actually
closer to the Salt Lake City airport than Boise. If we plan another trip there, I’ll check
flights and rental car prices for both.
THOUSAND SPRINGS AND A
TRILLION ROCKS
Initially
I thought we would go straight to the Sawtooths the
first night. However, when I started
looking at campground reservations a couple of months before our trip, I found
that everything was booked. There are a
lot of “walk-up” campgrounds in the Sawtooths, but I
was concerned about finding a spot on a Saturday afternoon in July in such a
popular place. I didn’t want to spend
half a day hunting for a place to hang our hammocks, particularly when we were
tired from traveling.
I
found a couple of options in southeastern Idaho. The City of Rocks National Preserve was the
most intriguing. It’s high-elevation
desert, with fascinating rock formations, cliffs, and even a natural arch or
two. The heat was a concern –
temperatures are in the 90’s in the afternoon in July. It cools off at night though. I figured that we would arrive in the evening
and leave the next morning before it got hot.
We
picked up our expensive rental car, which was a Jeep Compass with 64K
miles. That worried me, as 64K is pretty close to the life expectancy for a Jeep Compass. I was right to be worried – more on that later. We got coffee and spent a little time in
Boise running errands. We hit REI for
stove fuel, and Albertsons for groceries.
We had to try 3 places before we found denatured alcohol for my
backpacking stove. Ace Hardware is the
place to go! We had a quick lunch at
Jersey Mike’s before hitting the highway towards Twin Falls.
We
made a couple of stops in Thousand Springs State Park that afternoon. The park features
several small areas that aren’t connected, scattered around Hagerman,
Idaho. First up was a visit to the Malad River Gorge.
The Malad River emerges from springs and
builds volume before carving a slot canyon right under the freeway. At the end of the slot canyon, the river
tumbles over a waterfall and into the Devils Washbowl. From there, it runs through a broader canyon
before reaching a hydroelectric plant prior to its confluence with the Snake
River.
It
was 95 degrees when we arrived, and there is no shade. I knew it would be a quick visit! We walked across the footbridge that spans
the slot canyon and provides a top-down view of the Devils Washbowl. Then we continued around to an overlook that
provides a view of the waterfall. I
would’ve continued along the ridge above the lower canyon, but it was simply
too hot to extend the hike. It would be really cool to get down to the river from the top of the
cliffs, but there is no easy route.
Christy thought there might be a possible way through a break in the
cliffs down-canyon, but we didn’t investigate.
It was just too hot.
According
to the State Park website, you can access the lower river via the Idaho Power
service road off of Highway 30. However, I’m not sure if that refers to the
river upstream from the power plant, or downstream. It looks like you would have to walk around
the power plant to get upstream.
From
there, we drove to Ritter Island to check out the actual Thousand Springs. Ritter Island itself has weird hours and was
closed, but you don’t have to drive out onto the actual island to see the
springs. The drive down was on a busy
road one and a half lanes wide, which hugs the edge of a cliff. We made it down safely, after one very close
encounter with an oncoming car. Along
the way we passed many of the namesake springs, where the water drips out of
the side of the mountain in little rivulets.
All of that water quickly comes together and
plunges over a series of waterfalls into the Snake River.
There
were many, many people swimming, boating, and picnicking along the river. We drove through the parade and parked at the
end of a dirt side road. From there, it
was just a short walk to the base of the biggest waterfall. The water here originates in the Pioneer
Mountains far to the north, but it goes underground below Craters of the Moon
National Monument. It finally emerges at
the base of a cliff and cascades down into the Snake River.
It
was getting late, so we skipped some of the other parts of Thousand Springs
State Park. We drove straight to the
City of Rocks, hoping to get camp set up before dark. We had reservations for campsite 10, but we
were supposed to check in at the Visitors Center first. It was closed, so we followed signs for the
campground. This is where a combination
of poor information, fatigue, and inadequate pre-trip research caused a ton of
confusion. There are two camping areas
in the City of Rocks. One of them is actually part of Castle Rock State Park, although the
campground is separate from the actual state park and entirely within the
National Preserve. We followed signs
there, incorrectly. When we found
campsite 10, there was already someone camped there. In fact, there was someone camped at every
site in the campground. This was
puzzling, and the campsite host wasn’t home.
We considered improvising a spot and stealth camping, but this all
seemed very wrong. Finally, we decided
to drive up the main park road into the heart of the preserve to see if there
was another campground.
It
turns out that we had actually reserved a primitive
spot in the heart of the park. There are
campsites scattered throughout the place, and we followed signs to campsite
10. Reaching the site required a short
walk, but it was worth it! It was a
fantastic spot under junipers, with great views to the east and south. Best of all, the trees were conveniently
spaced to hang our hammocks. Our
campsite was far superior to the sites in the state park, for a fraction of the
price. The site featured a picnic table
and fire ring, but there is no water.
While Christy set up, I drove back to the state park campground and
filled everything up. I caught a lovely
sunset on the return. We were both
exhausted from a long day, so we cooked and ate dinner and went straight to
bed. We had a big day planned on Sunday!
We
watched the sun rise the next morning right from our hammocks. After a quick breakfast, we broke camp and took
a quick tour of the park. We stopped at
a few of the more impressive rock formations, including Elephant Rock and the
Bread Loaves, and I also did a quick hike to a small natural arch. Our time was very limited, so we weren’t able to do much.
I’d like to return and hike there another time.
Back to Idaho
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!