Cabin Fever

Last Saturday was so nice.   Even though the day started out foggy and was still pretty hazy all day, it was great to get out of the house.   It got up to the mid 50’s.   We decided to head south to the Snake River Canyon.  It’s close; about 30 minutes South of home.   

Celebration Park along the river is an archaelogical site.  It is very dry,and rocky from the lava flows and there are a lot of critters.   Spring is a perfect time to visit, before the rattle snakes make their appearance. A lot of the rocks are taller than me.  (Thats not saying much!)

There are 1000’s of petroglyphs to view.  You have to really look for them. Some really stand out depending on how the light hits them.  Others not so much.  It’s a federal violation to dig, deface or take anything from the site.  There are quite a few arrowheads, too.  The little center has a lot of cool information and history.

The petroglyphs range from 200 – 15,000 years old. 

There is a bridge that crosses the river,  I think it was used back in the day for rail cars to take supplies across the river.  It has been converted to a walking path and you can hike or take horses etc across and enjoy the desert.   Down by the park you can put a boat in. There are catfish, bass, and even sturgeon.  In the 40’s a 1500 pound sturgeon was caught.  It wasn’t uncommon to catch them around 400 pounds.   Now they are protected everywhere in the river.

Idaho has so many natural wonders to explore and I look forward to exploring all of them.  

 

Enjoy!

Michelle

 

Rivers and Lizards

I grew up in Eastern Idaho…  We lived fairly close to the Snake River.    The school I went to was Snake River.   I moved to Boise as a teenager and didn’t think much about the river at that age.    You can read all about this amazing river HERE.   It runs down along the Eastern part of Idaho, across the Southern part of Idaho and into Oregon.  There are crappie, bass, trout, catfish and sturgeon that weigh 100’s of pounds.   The pioneers had to cross this great river as they trekked along the Oregon Trail. 

The Snake River runs through the Snake River canyon about 20 miles South of Kuna. (my home) It is an old lava flow way out in the desert.   On the way to Silver City (old silver mining ghost town in the Owyhee mountains), there was a Ferry that crossed the river.  It was a route to get from Boise to Silver City and to San Francisco.   

Over the weekend we stopped at a little museum near this part of the River.   There is now a large bridge that crosses the river.

 

We drove along the river until we arrived at Marsing Idaho.  The river is pretty wide and smooth through this area of Idaho. 

Looking across the river there are several orchards and a couple of wineries.  The biggest one is St Chapelle .  You also have a perfect view of Lizard Butte.

Idaho sure has some beautiful scenery.

 

Enjoy!

A Winter Walk

It was such a pretty day Saturday.  The fog had lifted. The sun was out.  And the sky was blue with only a couple of clouds.   I had cabin fever.  I wanted out of the house.   I decided to grab my camera bag and hit the road.   I took a drive South of town to the desert.

This is what the desert of Southwest Idaho looks like.   It is about 8 miles from my house.

Off in the distance you get a glimpse of the Owyhee Mountains.

Isn’t it lovely?   Nothing but sagebrush and lava rock for miles.   It actually looks kind of pretty this time of year with the little bit of snow patches here and there. 

The pretty blue sky and sunshine was very deceiving.  There was a breeze and it had quite a bite to it.   I drove to Dedication Point off Swan Falls Road and hiked down the trail to the lookout.

Below in the canyon runs the Snake River.  What a beautiful sight.  Despite my numb fingers, pink nose and my hair blowing wildly in all directions; I took several shots.

Even though I was chilled to the bone, it was a nice little hike and it felt good to get out of the house.   I need to plan a few more of these adventures.   I think its time to get a new Four Wheeler.  Does anyone want to join me?

Enjoy!

 

I Live in the Desert.

My Handyman and I went for a drive down to the Snake River to check out the water levels.   Our snowpack this Winter wasn’t very good so we’re expecting a drought.  The experts say we’ll be out of irrigation water around mid August this year.   We drove to Celebration Park, which is out towards the Owyhee’s, south of Kuna.   It was established as Idaho’s only archaeological parks in 1989.

The area was a wintering grounds for the Paiute Indians.   There are arrowheads, petroglyphs; a unique Indian art dating back 12000 years and other interesting things to see.  We were out in the middle of the desert.  The ground is covered with large lava rocks.  It’s hot.  It’s dry. There isn’t a lot of color except near the water.  The water in the river doesn’t seem too low yet.

There are hiking trails everywhere on both sides of the river.   We crossed the bridge to take a couple of pictures.

No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trails; only foot, bike and horse traffic.    The park is on the Western boundary of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area.  You’ll see all kinds of raptors flying around.

I took a quick hike around to find some rocks with petroglyphs.

This one was probably the best.  This rock is probably about 6-7 feet tall.

The landscape is barren. The Indians probably wintered here because it is down in a canyon and protected from the wind.  Also the river was full of sturgeon and other fish.

Idaho has so many unique and beautiful landscapes.   The southern Idaho desert has so many places to explore.

We had a great time on this little adventure.  Next time it will be early morning and I’ll be toting my fishing pole.

 

Enjoy!