Idaho was just a stop on the way to Yellowstone. Or at least that was the plan. After Portland and Seattle (which we really enjoyed) we didn't feel like seeing next city so we didn't really see Boise. We headed east, towards Yellowstone. We took it the opposite way than thousands of Oregon pioneers who went this way in mid-19th century.
Idaho landscape reminded us a lot of one of our favourite states - New Mexico. We didn't expect this at all. We thought it'd be flat and boring, eespecially that while other states present on their car plates the best they have, Idaho plates say "Famous potatos". Meanwhile they have mountains, sometimes deserts (which must've been not fun for those early settleres), sometimes it's green, sometimes it's volcanic.
After going through some brochures we were really tempted by the mountains. Just a few hours drive from Boise there are some really good ski resorts. We were thinking about going to Sun Valley and Ketchum. Besides on the way there we would go through Hailey - town where Bruce Willis lives (and owns half of it too). Long ago you'd have to be noble, now Die Hard is enough… Kevin Spacey lives in Idaho too, in Boise, and his brother makes a living as limo driver there.
Willis town was tempting but we've decided it was not really on our way. And we've seen places like that before, nice views, expensive restaurants, antique shops. 20 minutes walk and we'd be asking ourselves why did we come here...
So on our way to Yellowstone we've decided to stop in just one place - Craters of the Moon. We found free campsite nearby - Hayspur Hatchery. Peace and quiet, we even managed to have a grill in the afternoon and fire in the evening (although finding any wood was a challenge). Unfortunately the next day the weather got really bad and the forecast said it'd get even worse. Next week (3rd week of May) in Yellowstone was supposed to be around 6-8 C/42-46F during the day and below freezing temperatures at night, plus rain and snow. Ouch. Time for change of plans. We'd go to Yellowstone in a few weeks (although we're running out of time) and for now we've decided to go to Utah, which we skipped earlier, also because of the weather.
But first we went to see Craters of the Moon. It's a small sea of lava with a few trails and paved roads. We've seen it before, but in New Mexico we could run, hop do moon-walks on lava beds and here we had to stay on pavement. We walked for a few hours. Small craters, big craters, two kinds of lava (Pahoyhoy and A’a - first one is lava pouring freely with clearly visible waves after it cooled down, second one is lava with gravel and rocks).
We watched the movie in visitors center. We learned that southern Idaho and famous potatos are irrigated by water flowing through lava tubes tens of miles long. When it flows lava tends to get cooler form top, but it still flow beneath. Then flow slows down and lava level go down. That is how lava tubes or tunnels are formed and they can be tens of feet high. How does it work with potatoes? When it rains in northern Idaho water is absorbed by lava beds and leaks to tubes. It goes down for miles and in most bizzare places comes back to the ground as bigger or smaller springs. And thanks to these lava tube rivers Idaho has its famous potatoes.
Lava walk anywhere in the US is a must see. In Idaho the interesting part was that instead of one big crater you could see far away, there were dozens of smaller cinder cones and a few ash buttes. If it just wasn't so cold we'd probably spend there much more time. But it was, so after couple hours (one of them watching movie and exhibition) we went back to our trailer. Practical tip: Craters of the Moon is a national monument so you have to pay the fee unless you have the annual card America the Beatiful.
On our way to Utah we stopped in Twin Falls area. First Paweł with Maciek went to see Mammoth Cave (Kalina just fell asleep and we didn't want to wake her up). We don't really know why we stopped there but it was...intriguing. It was rather a redneck attraction but there was actually a lot to see.
Mammoth Cave is located 8 miles north of Shoshone, Idaho, on scenic state highway 75. To be more precise, after a few miles from highway on a gravel road one can see a few falling apart buildings. Birds are walking around, fence is broken, nobody there. Should we go in or not? We went in. Young guy watching TV (not Fox News though, too bad, it would complete the picture - Idaho is very republican and antyethnic state), he said the entrance is 8 USD per adult, Maciek goes for free. Bit expensive, but as we're already here…
At the entrance we got two lamps and this got Maciek a bit worried. There was a sign saying that it's a fallout shelter. Cave was really a basalt tunnel carved by lava, which after nuclear apocalypse was avoided (or after the owner died) was turned into tourist attraction. Tunnel was really long, maybe even up to 1000 feet and up to 30 feet high. At it's end there was a sign saying that over our heads there are more than a 100 feet of solid rock. Maciek was not happy about any of it. He was a little bit scared of the dark, especially that there were only two of us in a really big cave with only two small torches. But for 8 USD it was quite an adventure.
Cave was just a part of the attraction. There was also a ""museum". And there were...two-headed calfs, stuffed bears, dinasour bones, ceramics from Peru, traditional Indian clothes, buffalos skeletons, stuffed birds, more dinasour bones, old fridges and washing machines, hmm, maybe we went too far? Crazy freak-show, but even if part of it was authentic we know some Polish museums that would be more than jelous.
From there we went to see two Twin Falls attractions: Shoshone Falls and Perrrine bridge. Both, of course, on Snake River, which for us is the third most beautiful American river after Colorado and Columbia.
Falls should be seen in spring. When it's dry it's not impressive at all. We were there when the water level was medium but it was enough to be amazing. We overheard a conversation though that on dry season you can see dry walls. Shoshone Falls is the biggest waterfall in USA. Not as tall as Multonomah Falls and not as wide as Niagara, but for sure there is some criteria it's the best at. For sure it has great view to the canyon.
Going back to the interstate we planned to take to get quickly to Salt Lake City, Utah, we stopped at Perrine Bridge. In semi-desert climate of southern Idaho the view on Snake River gorge are totally breathtaking. It looks a little bit like Italy as Snake River winds lazy among cypress trees, and on top of canyon walls there are Italian-looking villas. And it's green and romantic, plus the bridge, as usually in the US, adds, as we'd call it, industrial romantic element. We saw some people base jumping and with their paragliders from the bridge. We can add it to our to-do-things list for the next journey across America.
We got back in the car feeling the first raindrops on our backs. All the way to Utah we could see heavy clouds over our heads. Oh well, at least we will get to Mormon-land in a clean car…
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