Idaho — What We Saw, What We Read

Our attempts to beat the cold resulted in a much shorter stay in Idaho than we had first planned. Below freezing temperatures and snow expected in Sawtooth National Forest and Craters of the Moon National Monument meant that we would have to come back to them on a later trip.

A six-hour drive from our campsite near Smith Rock State Park brought us into Boise in the late afternoon. We parked the car just outside of Downtown and got out to stretch our cramped legs. We walked through the Downtown area, admiring the quaint brick buildings lining the city's streets. We made it to the capitol building then turned around and walked over to the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial. The small park is adjacent to the city's Greenbelt (bikeway) is one of the only places to receive a piece of the Chestnut tree that was previously outside of the annex in Amsterdam. It was evident by the park and the people passing through that the Boise community was particularly proud of this unique and unexpected space.

After our short walk around the city we returned to the car and drove to Sue's house. Sue is a globe-trotting retired physical education teacher who was kind enough to accept our couchsurfing request. She showed us around her home and the koi ponds in her backyard and told us all about Boise history and her experiences traveling around the world over Ethiopian food at dinner. We had a warm nights sleep (on a heated blanket) grateful for a night indoors. The next morning Sue packed us a treat of homemade raspberry jam from her garden and we were on our way again.

Walking along the Quote Wall at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial.

After leaving Sue's, we set off on a 10-mile hike on Boise's extensive Ridge to Rivers trail system. Most of the trails in the system are on private property but the owners have been gracious enough to open them to the public. There is an astounding number of trails available and our 10-mile hike was only a sampling. Another impressive piece of the Boise community.

After finishing the hike we set off for the World Center for Birds of Prey, the headquarters for the Peregrine Foundation which is a non-profit founded to conserve endangered raptors around the world. One of their proudest achievements is the removal of the Peregrine from the endangered species list in 1999. There were many birds on exhibit, all of which are kept at the center because they would not be able to survive in the wild and they also host the largest breeding program for California Condors. During the live presentation, we met Winston, a screech owl who seemed particularly suspicious of our presence. We would definitely recommend a visit to the Center for anyone passing through the Boise area.

After seeing all we could see at Birds of Prey we hit the road again, driving along Idaho's famous Snake River until we reached our camp for the night. As the sun was setting we pulled into the Milner Historic Recreation Area, a site bisected by the Oregon Trail. After a hot meal we settled in for the night, this time huddled in our smaller tent to save us some packing time in the morning. With temperatures expected to be below freezing, we knew it would be a rough evening even under all our warm gear. We tried to fall asleep to the cacophonous sound of hooting owls all around us. Raptors!

The next morning we quickly packed up our tent, jumped in the car, and turned the heat up. The temperature only made it up to the mid-thirties during our hour drive to City of Rocks, our last stop in Idaho. Emigrants passing along the California Trail came across the granite formations jutting out of the surrounding plateau and described it as a "city of tall spires", "steeple rocks" and "the silent city". As they passed through, many wrote their names in axle grease on Camp Rock though the names are slowly fading. Despite the area being a famous spot for climbers, offering thousands of trad, sport, and bouldering routes, we had honestly never heard of it before starting to research Idaho. Once again, we were disappointed by our bad timing with the weather. It was too cold for us to camp there (though we did see several ambitious climbers camped among the frozen sites). Our few days in Idaho barely scratched the surface of all that there is to see and explore in this beautiful state. As we drove toward Salt Lake City we firmly decided that our longterm next camping trip will be spent exclusively in Idaho.

The sun beginning to rise over the Milner Historic Recreation Area.

Camp Rock at City of Rocks where emigrants passing on the Oregon Trail would write their names in axle grease. Many of these date back to the late 1800's.