Tag: Idaho

Stanley, Idaho Area – Part 3

More miscellaneous shots.

This photo set includes a couple Milky Way images from a very special evening for me. More info in the captions.

IDAHO. SEPTEMBER.

Stanley, Idaho Area – Part 1

Since I worked part-time for the summer, I was able to explore the surrounding area on my off days. I had never spent any significant time in Idaho before but found it to be really beautiful. More info in the captions.

IDAHO. JUNE-JULY.

Central Idaho

I continued traveling north in Idaho. On the way to my next stop, I saw the amazing Sawtooth Mountain Range for the first time.
It turned out my next campsite, outside the small town of Stanley, had an outstanding view of the Sawtooths. When I arrived, the specific site I had found on an app was occupied so I parked my rig and took a hike with Sadie to look for another site. While on our hike, I happened to meet up with two ladies who were also hiking, Anne & Katherine. Anne kindly invited me to come to her & her husband’s home a couple hours away for my next stop.
While I enjoyed first one site and then another with outstanding mountain views, I was also monitoring a Facebook page listing “workamping” jobs. To my surprise, I saw one that was just a few minutes from where I was camped. I contacted them, went for an in-person interview, and (later) got the job. It was a bit before I was to report, so I went on up to visit with Anne in McCall. On the way, I stayed one night above beautiful Lake Cascade (which had been my original destination in coming to Central Idaho). The next day, I made my way to Anne & Joe’s beautiful home. Their hospitality, including meals at an actual dining table, proper showers, and the opportunity to finally clean the mud off my rig from City of Rocks was much appreciated. McCall is a beautiful resort town with water and snow and golf playgrounds.
I may have overdone this gallery with mountain scenes, but I can’t get enough of them. The Tetons and the Sawtooths are ranked one and two in my book–not necessarily in that order.

IDAHO. JUNE.

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve

From City of Rocks, I headed toward Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve with one overnight stay along the way. While I was still at City of Rocks, it had begun raining and the roads throughout are dirt. Upon my arrival to the camping spot I chose on the way to Craters, I realized the full extent to which those conditions had affected my rig. It may be strange to mention this, but the mud created by the rain on the dirt roads seemed like it contained some kind of adhesive! The mud that coated many parts of my rig had hardened–and I couldn’t get it off. My cleaning brushes were ineffective. I drive on dirty, muddy roads all the time, but this was like something I had never seen. Since there was no way to clean it, I just had to leave it that way. Fortunately, an angel with a hose and cleaning supplies (plus my elbow grease) came to my rescue several days later.

Craters of the Moon was a unique place. It’s so strange that this landscape is where it is. ‘Certainly does seem like another celestial location. As usual, no dogs are allowed on the paths, so I mostly drove around seeing as much as I could see with a couple short walks here and there.

This was one of the situations where finding public lands to camp was not practical, so I grabbed one of the last spots in the Preserve’s campground. This was also an unusual experience as it was located on volcanic rock.

CotM is an interesting place and certainly worth a visit if only for its uniqueness.

IDAHO. JUNE.

City of Rocks National Reserve (ID)

I continued north into Idaho and headed to the City of Rocks National Reserve. This was an unusual and interesting place. Not only did it have remarkable rock features, but it was also the site of historical pioneering trails. I’ve always found America’s pioneer days of particular interest. This area is also a climbing mecca. Climbers fascinate me because I am terrified of heights.

I’ve included photos of several of the Reserve signs, and I left them large enough so they can be read.

Also, more info is in the photo captions.

IDAHO. JUNE.

Travel thru WA & ID including “Cataldo Mission”

WASHINGTON/IDAHO/MONTANA. AUGUST.

Miscellaneous photos from travel through Washington and Idaho, including a spontaneous stop at the “Cataldo Mission” in Idaho.

I saw a “brown sign” on the interstate and exited rather quickly, hoping I didn’t alarm my traveling companions behind me. I had no idea what the Cataldo Mission was but thought it might be interesting to find out, and my friends agreed, so we found the RV parking and began exploring. ‘Turns out this is the location of Idaho’s oldest building.

(See photo captions for more info).