Jul 08, 2014

The thumbnail is a shot of the magnificent Snake River not far out of Pocatello. The emigrants had followed this river as they had the Platte River further east.

Oh and in case anyone was wondering, we came across 2 more Subway stores on our way out of Pocatello. 

I was intrigued that the mountains around Pocatello looked like they were vertically gathered up with valleys folding over one another and leading down to the high altitude desert plains. The town lies in the foothills right on the lower rims of the mountains and was probably a relief to emigrants glad to be through the mountains but they were soon to find a whole lot more nothingness reminiscent of the country they had already traversed. So today we headed out into flat somewhat featureless plains covered in saltbsh, some cottowood trees evident along waterways and then just disppearing into the hills and that's what the emigrants would have seen but today we had the added element of irrigation which brings the land to life. Quite a contrast.

 

We decided early in the day to do the tourist rather than the Oregon Trail purist thing and headed for the American Falls which are now covered by a hydro dam so only a few of the cascades are visible at the spillway. There were a lot of pelicans here doing some opportunistic feeding and a lot of smaller birds no doubt feeding on the glut of tiny flies which were in plague proportion!

 

From there we had the choice of Massacre Rocks or Register Rock. I figured for deaths on the trail overall those from massacres were not high and I didn't need to see a reminder of that so we headed for Register Rock to see where at the end of the day after eating and feeding stock emigrants recorded their passing by inscribing their names on the rock and here is one.

 

From here we headed off on what was the Californian Trail to see the 'City of Rock' which was quite a spectacle. This is a shot in Albion on our way.

 

This is the entrance to the park and the city is visible in the distance. Note the gravel. Before today on this trip we had already ridden on more gravel than I had previously ridden on and did nearly as much again today.

 

And a shot of Camp Rock, again with names inscribd on it.

 

And a view back down to the flat lands we had come from.

When I can load video onto You Tube I will add a link here of a short vieo (perhaps 2) Norm took riding through the City of Rocks. 

 

We saw a combination of large commercial ranches and holdings and small farming lots today with equally smaller machinery and infrastructure. We had lunch in Oakley with many substantial buildings (this is one) but struggling.

 

We called into Shoshone Falls known as the Niagra of the West, east of Twin Falls which now powers a Hydro Power Station and is still very impressive and while this wasn't on the trail of those travelling with the wagons, they apparently often trekked to see them to find the source of the roaring water. The contrast of the black volcanic rock to the sandy high prairie desert land was stunning. This was a look over the spillway.

Needless to say there was again lots of wind and many wind farms in out travels today not to mention temperatures in the high 90's. We were grateful of a little cloud cover this afternoon and also grateful when we finally got to the hotel. Felt like big day. 

Bits and Bobs:

 

The road we followed to see the City of Rocks and yes the tarmac was about to run out and deteriorate greatly from the surface in view.

 

Yep gravel, gravel and more gravel and this was some of the best of it.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Ameri Tel Inn Pocatello, 1440 Bench Road, Pocatello, ID 83201y

Well maintained building and surroundings. Comfortable bed. Good sized room and good amenities. AC, included parking, wifi, buffet breakfast and 24 hr gym and pool. Walked next door for dinner. Staff helpful. Only marginally more expensive than last nights stay.