Idaho

Pocatello

We’ve spent the last 9 days in Idaho.  Our destination was Pocatello, a pretty city with mountains all around to visit friends that used to live in Bakersfield.  They knew we were coming and had some friends over to their house for a bbq.  Their house is south of the city in the mountains with a fantastic view out of almost every window.  We met their two daughters who were very nice.  Sitting on their deck which is in front of the house, we saw a deer walking across the street.  This is not unusual for the area, in fact they see moose during the winter and a skunk family lives down the street.  Driving home on the dark, country road we saw a mother deer with two babies walking by the side of the road.  The temperature has been dropping into the mid 40’s at night.  The next evening we went to dinner with their dinner club which meets once a month.  It is made up of most of the same people we met at the bbq. 

On our travels here we saw higher mountains, but everything else stayed pretty much the same, crops, cattle and some horses.  

City of Rocks National Reserve

This unique geologic area became a landmark in 1843 for California bound emigrants.  A few granite pinnacles and monoliths are in excess of sixty stories tall and 2.5 billion years old.  The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing.   It has more than 700 challenging climbs that rival Yosemite National Park and make it a favorite spot among technical rock climbers worldwide. 

At one of our stops in the park we started talking with two rock-climbers as they were about to start their climb.  We asked if we could watch and take pictures of them, and they were very nice, even taking the time to explain all about their equipment, etc.  After taking many, many pictures and even a few movies, they came down and we left.  What a lesson they gave us about this sport.  They were no youngsters, both being over 50, but in good condition.  They even drove three hours from Park City, Utah to do this. 



Not just a natural wonder, City of Rocks and the nearby town of Almo are also historically significant.  Wagons headed West on the California Trail passed through what was then called Goblin City: you can still read ancient axle grease inscriptions on “Register” Rock.  Local buildings and businesses date back over 120 years to a time when the West was wilder.  Although it was quite warm, a little over 90 degrees, it was a very enjoyable day, seeing beautiful rock formations and learning about something we knew very little about.



TO BE CONTINUED AS WE WANDER  THROUGH IDAHO