(The Professor is a name I gave to a friend who shall remain
a mystery, because he is.)
Dear Prof:
Heading along Route 84, I passed from Oregon into Boise,
Idaho and quite honestly was not impressed. It’s a nice town, I’m sure but it reminded me of New Jersey in a desert.. I had seen enough wastelands through central and
eastern Oregon but the only thing I found remotely attractive was the Snake
River at the welcome center, and that was photographing the Oregon Side.
It was my first time “feet down” in Idaho. Unless you
counted a step over the “Welcome to Idaho” sign along I-90 I passed on my way
out to the Coast, I hadn’t stopped in the state as I crossed the panhandle. It
was beautiful country, especially the lake at Coeur D’Alene, but I was so hell
bent or reaching Oregon that day, I wouldn’t stop.
Like I said, I was not impressed by Boise, but to be honest,
I didn’t give it much of a chance. I just viewed it from the Interstate, a maze
of seemingly endless retail operators mixed with tumbleweeds blowing across the
highway. If one hadn’t just been
driving from Oregon, perhaps the wastelands would have been more attractive for
their beauty, but there is nothing beautiful when viewed from a big box
retailer or car dealership.
I was also finding it difficult to drive their was a fierce
wind blasting from the east and forcing my gas mileage down from about 11 mpg
the day before to 6 mpg as I had head-on winds pushing on both the truck and
the trailer. I was not very happy about this. Another issue was the speed
limit. They let people drive 75 mph out here! I wouldn’t even attempt it. I
haven’t a clue what the accident rates are here, but it was like being trapped between
choices of going to fast or creating issues by going the 55 mph I wanted to.
Drivers were constantly passing me and blasting their horns in outrage.
And so I decided to take a back road – Route 20 – up to
Idaho Falls where I am staying through Memorial Day Weekend. It is an
inexpensive and unassuming RV park, about $20 per day with few amenities. But
It’s seemingly safe enough and a good base camp as I explore the nearby Grand Teton
and Yellowstone National Parks.
I did see Yellowstone about a year ago, but was only there
for an afternoon. I managed to see Old Faithful. But I missed a lot. This time,
I have five days to explore. And at around $3.50 per gallon, gas is cheap
enough to do so.
But back to Route 20. Most of the route was pretty much my
own, though speeds of 65 mph are permitted on this two-land road through the
wilderness. I was much fretted as I began hauling the trailer up the hills.
Although I had just filled up, I was down to 5 mpg and was quite concerned if I
would reach another gas station. There was a sign on the road near the station
where I filled up that read “next service, 155 miles.” Even with a 25-gallon
tank, at 5 mpg, I would be short by 30 miles.
But when I was in the hills for about an hour, there was a
place to pull over that marked an incredible view. I could look back and see
the road I had driven through the magnificent green hills. There were snow-capped
mountain peaks in the far background. This was somewhere near a place called
Hill City and while I saw many hills, I saw no signs of a town either. But out
in the valley, I saw a red ranch house and couldn’t help but wonder what it
would be like to live there. The scenery was too beautiful to describe, but so
was the isolation. I couldn’t begin to imagine what winter would bring.
Top: Rural Route 20 in Idaho. Incredibly beautiful, and desolate, I wondered who would build a ranch here, and I'm jealous. Bottom: From the same vista, the road I had just climbed.
Where one must drive up mountains, there is also a place
where one drives down them. It was only a mile later that moved on to Sun
Valley and the Snake River Plains. Mileage would eventually rise to 10 mpg,
which is normal for towing. I gradually watched the “miles to empty” display on
my dashboard exceed the “miles to go” on my gps unit. I really liked a place
called Soldier Mountain. On the mountain is a ski resort, but I chose to simply
pull over and enjoy the view from my route.
A bit further on was the Craters of the Moon National
Monument and Preserve. I had heard of this locale since childhood. It is the
location of a sea of lava fields from a 52-mile long tear in the earth’s crust.
This lava is frequently quite jagged, unlike the well-worn cliffs of the
Columbia Gorge. It was rather interesting; though I had seen so much volcanic
rock over the past year I have to admit to having a “So What?” attitude. It’s
pretty in it’s own way, but after seeing places such as the Dakota Badlands,
Yellowstone, the Everglades and more, it just seems kind of minor league.
The Craters of the Moon are miles and miles of volcanic rock with just a bit of vegetation to decorate them
As you may be aware, most of my return trip to date has been
following the Oregon Trail, only in reverse. I had become very acquainted with
The Dalles. The Dalles is the town where the Oregon Trail ended. To get to the Willamette
Valley, pioneers had a choice of risking the raging river with rapids and
waterfalls, or heading into the mountains and risk an early blizzard. What I
have learned from this experience is an incredible perspective of just how
tough the journey was. I took my time from the Midwest and reached Oregon in
about 10 days. But these brave and foolish souls had to travel, mostly by foot,
over endless and rugged terrain. I cannot help but think that as they witnessed
the vast wastelands, they wondered if there really was a promised land waiting
at the end of the journey.
I passed near Butte and saw the immense rocks that were
landmarks that gave the pioneers hope. There were two similar peaks near a
place called “Atomic City” which is where the Idaho National Laboratories are
located. From a distance, one can see that one peak is extremely dark while the
one next to it is extremely light. As you got closer, the difference wasn’t as
radical, but along the route one could fantasize about what the scientist had
done to the lighter (or darker) one. I suspect that the Lab’s location is so
remote because it wouldn’t do to have an experiment accidently blow up. I can’t
help but contrast it with the Brookhaven National Labs on densely populated
Long Island and speculate on what kind of terrors were created.
Twin peaks near Atomic City, home of the Idaho National Laboratory. From a distance, the difference in color is startling, but not so much when viewed from a closer place.
Anyhow, at that point, Rout 20 merged with Rout 26 and
suddenly I found myself in fairly heavy traffic. I decided that since I only
had about 30 miles to my destination, to go at the speed limit to avoid
creating my own personal traffic jam. And so as I finish writing this, I am
proceeding on. Today, the Grand Tetons, tomorrow the world.
