Peaks to Craters!

Mountain Home, Idaho  

Fort Running Bear RV and Campground

June 20 – June 30, 2021

 

You’ve probably been hearing about the extreme heat hitting the northeast region of the US -- record high temperatures in a region of the US that typically doesn’t even need air conditioners!  In fact, most homes don’t even have AC.  We were very fortunate to have made reservations two months ago at Fort Running Bear RV Resort, located in in the mountains of southern Idaho.  What a retreat this turned out to be!  We not only escaped the heat, but found ourselves secluded among the mountains in this remote campground.  It's so secluded that to get to this spot, you drive 25 miles into the mountains and then go the last three miles down a gravel road deeper into paradise!

View from Fort Running Bear

To be honest, at first, I wondered what in the world we had done to ourselves.  We have been going everywhere and doing everything for over a year now and have become accustomed to taking side trips to local areas of interest.  Our reservations were for ten days here and we really were VERY secluded.  Well, it didn’t take long to adapt to the quiet, peaceful quality of mountain life!  The owner of Fort Running Bear (Steve) planned the perfect retreat scene 31 years ago when he purchased this property.  Steve planted every tree in the area which provided welcome relief from the sun.  Although we were 10-15 degrees lower in temperature in the mountains, it still got plenty hot!  

 

It was delightful to wake up to the chilly mountain air, grab a light jacket and enjoy a cup of coffee outdoors, just to take in the view and thank God for the beauty surrounding us! 

 

Steve built an extremely challenging miniature golf course that we found ourselves playing several times.  I never did master the 2^nd hole, but I must say I came close to perfecting the 9^th hole!  Dick still beat me two out of three games we played, but that only leaves me wanting to play a little more!

I really couldn’t figure out why the swimming pool wasn’t any busier.  About 2:00 pm, the temperatures would be in the low 90’s and we frequently headed to the pool.  I wondered how busy it would be, only to find it completely empty!  We had the pool to ourselves! (Could the dead mouse floating in the water have scared everyone else away?)  About the time we were considering leaving, another couple joined us.  It turns out Glee and Jim have a lot in common with us.  They met and fell in love in Kansas City years ago, live full time in their RV during the summer months (escaping the heat of Arizona), love dogs, and drink whiskey!  Sounds like the start of a lasting friendship to me!

When we weren’t playing putt-putt or swimming, we spent time reading, enjoying the views, sewing (I finished a window cover for the front door), or strolling the trail Steve maintains around the campground.  Steve even put in seats at a couple of spots along the trail, which we took as an invitation to watch the sun rise up over the mountains -- a spectacular way (literally) to start a day!

 

A dear friend from Hastings (Thanks, Jean!), told me about Craters of the Moon National Monument and her fond memories of visiting the park years ago.  We found it intriguing and couldn’t resist taking a day trip to it.  Not a volcano in site, yet over 600 square miles of Idaho are covered with lava!  These fast volumes of lava originated, not from a volcano but rather from a series of deep fissures that cross the region.  The park offers a 7-mile scenic loop that provides access to trails that highlight various volcanic features.  Although we didn’t get to any of the back-country trails, we did manage to hike all of the shorter trails that the park offers.  We began our tour at the visitor center, where we learned to identify various lava features, get an overview of where to go and what to do, and most importantly, get a cave permit!  Before long, we were hiking up spatter cones (where you could look inside of and see snow at the bottom!), along the rim of craters, snow cones, finding tree molds (where lava surrounded a tree and the tree’s moisture cooled the lava leaving a mold of the former tree), and hiking through a lava tube!  It was hard to pick a favorite!

View from on top of Inferno Cone

Walking up the side of a Spatter Cone

View from the rim of a crater

Lava landscape

Inside the lava tube!

The lava tube exit!

Believe it or not, we ran across Goodale’s Cutoff on this trip.  In 1862, Goodale led a wagon train of emigrants along a trail originally used by bands of Shoshone-Bannock. Later, this trail was also used by fur traders who rode horseback.  It wasn’t believed wagons would be able to get through due to the rocky nature of the lava fields.  The cutoff was used due to increased tension between the Shoshone and the emigrants along the Oregon trail, located 40ish miles south.  Although this route was definitely a challenge, and many wagons did not survive the rough terrain, most made it safely through. A passage from Julius Caesar Merill’s diary on Sept. 4, 1864 described the experience in the quote below.

“Not a shrub, bird, nor insect seemed to live near it. Great must have been the relief of the volcano, powerful the emetic, that poured forth such a mass of black vomit.” 

While we were there, we did find some changes from Julius’s description.  It was surprising to see butterflies flitting around everywhere as well as so many wild flowers blooming in the cracks of the lava.  Lastly, a little bit of trivia for you!  Apollo astronauts Alan Shephard, Edgar Mitchell, Eugene Cernan and Joe Engle learned basic volcanic geology here in 1969 as they prepared for their moon missions!  Well, I’m certainly not prepared for a trip to the moon, but I have found myself wondering if Elon Musk has considered preparing clients for trips into space here!

Lava flow field

Another side trip we took was to the Shoshone Ice Cave.  This is actually another lava tube!  It is the largest know lava ice cave in the world.   Although it was once filled with searing hot lava, 100 feet below the earth’s surface, today it is filled with ice!  It’s got quite the history following mankind’s discovery.  Shoshone used it as a sacred place.  In 1880, local residents discovered it and started harvesting ice, giving the town the reputation of the only place within hundreds of miles where you could purchase a cold beer.  Another piece of random trivia:  Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie apparently did some skating in here too!  For us, it was a welcome retreat from the heat as the average temperature inside the cave is 28 degrees!

Where are those ice skates when I need them?

Our final side trip was another day of experiencing the Back Country Byway of the Main Oregon Trail.  We completed part three of the trip, leaving only a side trip once we reach Boise in August.  This portion of the trip took us along the Oregon trail as it left Mountain Home and to Bonneville Point, just outside of Boise.  What took us a few hours to cover, took the emigrants weeks.  Many graves were left along the route, water was scarce and shade was nonexistent.  Motivation of a better life brought these strong individuals on this adventure.  I’m not sure I would have survived.  I’m thankful today’s route to a better life is through education.  Staying in school and obtaining a degree takes longer than the five months the emigrants spent on the trail, however it certainly is an easier trail!

Oregon Trail - Part Three!

Dick and I celebrated our 39^th anniversary while we were here.  This called for a trip into Mountain Home!  First on the agenda of being in town was to pick up the mail.  I had done a little shopping on Amazon and it turns out the campground is too remote for mail delivery!  USPS gets a lot of bad press, but I’m here to sing their praises!  This was a Saturday afternoon and the post office had already closed.  I had the key to the PO box, but my packages had been delivered after the post office closed. My packages were not in the box.  We had parked on the side of the post office and I could see delivery trucks returning from their routes so I asked one of the employees about my packages.  He asked me a few questions, tracked them down and brought them to me!  Amazing service!  

 

Next we went to mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel.  This is a lovely, simple church.  The priest was delightful with a wonderful sermon on encountering God in our daily lives.  I loved the simplicity of the crucifix against the painted brick wall.  It wasn’t intricate, but the painting depicted Calvary and was a reminder of what was real. 

For dinner, we went to Lots Fillipino Restaurant.  It was delicious and I highly recommend it!  When our marriage began 39 years ago, I’m not sure I could have told you we would be on this grand adventure, but it’s clear the right guy found me!