Salt Lake City, UT, and the Sandlot!

Sept 5-7.  Our goal was to spend some extended time in Salt Lake City at Hill AFB, a bit north of Salt Lake City .  That was not to be.   AGAIN, they were completely booked and we got one of the last overflow sites for 3 nights only, Fri. through Sun.  Welcome to the sandlot!

We were here in 2010 and wound up in the same site!  Nothing but dirt!  As many cords as it takes are run to the street behind us to give us water and electric.  What a mess!  Yes, it was just as hot as it was in 2010.  This FamCamp stays busy.  Of course, the base is allowing active duty people to use the campground for temporary housing, so 16 sites were taken up by them.  But that is a real bone of contention for another story.   We tried to extend but since we could only get one more night where we were, we decided to move on and avoid the mud from the incoming rain forecast. 

We had also been to Hill AFB 2008.   The AFB is at the bottom of the Wasatch Range, which makes for a pretty setting.  The third picture was taken in 2008.  It is much prettier with snow on the mountains!

  

You can see the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island from the campground.  

The island has an area of 42 square miles and is the largest of 10 islands were John C. Fremont and Kit Carson during exploration of the Great Salt Lake in 1845on.  It is said they shot a pronghorn antelope n the island and in gratitude for the meat they named it Antelope Island.  In 1893 twelve Bison were taken by boat to Antelope Island, there were 4 bulls, 4 cows and 4 calves that provided the foundation for what is now the oldest and largest publicly owned Bison herd in the U.S.. The numbers of Bison on the island vary between 550 and 700 and the reason for that is that in October there is a yearly round up where the Bison are counted, inoculated and culled to keep the population under 700 which has been determined to be the holding capacity of Bison for the island. Some of the Bison from the round up are sold for meat or for breeding stock.  There are several natural freshwater springs on the island that provide the water for the animals. 

We have driven over to the island on the causeway in previous visits,  and you can really smell the stench from the salt.   It is a nice leisurely scenic drive on the island as you look for the wildlife.  We have seen the pronghorn and buffalo but not the big herds that are supposed to be roaming the island.  You can see the causeway in the aerial photo. 

   

Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, Isaac Morley, George Washington Bradley and several other Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley.  Although Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints, less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper are members of the LDS Church today.  Immigration of international LDS members, mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed the Crossroads of the West. It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913.  Before Mormon settlement, the Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute, had dwelt in the Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years.  The first US explorer in the Salt Lake area is believed to be Jim Bridger in 1825.  Army officer John C. Fremont surveyed the lake and in 1843 and 1845. The Donner party, a group of ill-fated pioneers, had traveled through the Great Salt Lake Valley in August 1846.

Four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young designated the building site for the Salt lake Temple, which would eventually become a famous Mormon and Salt Lake City landmark.  We visited the temple in 2002, but the choir was visiting elsewhere so we did not get to hear them sing.  

Shelley, Idaho

After leaving that wonderful campground in Salmon, ID, we headed south towards Idaho Falls for just a short stay.  We continued to follow the valley between the Salmon Valley Range and the Lost River Range.  We passed by ranches and farmland with nice views of the mountains. 

   

Then the valley widened and we found ourselves on a very long almost straight road that seemed to go on forever.  We drove many many miles without seeing a soul.  Just us, cows, one antelope, and even a coyote.  There are signs to watch for deer and cows!  Sure enough, we saw something black right on the side of the road, and soon realized it was a cow!  Guess the grass was greener on the other side of the fence after all!  What grass? The landscape became mostly scrub brush and desert so we saw cows grazing all along the hills and the base of the mountains.  “Here comes another RV.  Wave!  Who knows when we will see another human!”   If you break down out there, you better plan on getting out the grill, let the awning out, and get out the camping chairs!   Who knows how long it could be before help arrives!   

  

After about two hours on that lonely road, we were approaching Interstate 15 South and the valley really opened up to flat open land as far as the eye could see.  In the far distance we could make out the shadowy outline of the 3 tallest peaks of the Teton Range at Teton National Park.  The peaks are so tall that mountain men and Indians used them as a beacon when hunting or traveling.  We reached the interstate and headed to Idaho Falls.  Along the way as we passed through a small town, we saw a small real cattle drive being driven right down the road under an overpass.  Cowboys on horses and all! 

On the outskirts of Idaho Falls we saw buffalo, but they were fenced in like cattle.  Maybe that farmer is in the buffalo meat products business.  Hard to believe Buffalo used to number in the millions and blanket the west.  Some history stories say that they were so thick,  it would take 30 minutes before the entire herd passed by.  We have eaten buffalo meat before and it is pretty good if cooked right.  Just tastes like steak. 

  

We stopped at a small city park in Shelley, ID, just south of Idaho Falls.  Doug found this park on the internet.   It only has 12 sites and a small local recreational park.  It was clean with lots of green grass.  This little park seems to be quite popular.  We didn’t think they took reservations but I guess they do.  We wanted to stay 2 nights but could only stay one because all sites were taken the next night.  At least we had a nice sunset.    

  

A Little Piece of the Garden of Eden and A Deer Haven

What an unexpected gem!  At the end of our drive on Tuesday, we stayed 2 days at a small campground in Salmon, Idaho, we found on the internet.  What a little piece of Eden this place is!  The Healdshaven campground is right off HWY 93.  The entrance to the campground is indicated by a weatherworn sign and is a gravel road that curves around and passes between two ranches for a short distance.  Even the cows were up against a corner of the fence to greet us!  Unless you follow the road to the end, where it dips down the small hill, you would never know the campground was there.  We were greeted by a sweet little frail looking elderly woman, who must have been in her 80s.   She is the owner and still runs the campground after her husband passed away a few years ago.  Even in the picture below, the road looks like it ends at the mountains, and the ranches are nestled in the small valley beneath them.   

 

We are pleasantly greeted by a beautiful little campground with maybe a dozen sites under shade trees.  We had the whole place to ourselves the rest of the day until almost dark when only a couple RVs showed up for the night. 

Then as you step out from under the trees you behold the beauty surrounding this small campground.  Tucked beneath a colorful rocky mountain, white clouds against a dark blue sky, the Salmon River flowing by, and deer grazing nearby-priceless!!  It couldn’t have gotten any better than that!   You could even boondock on the grassy area below the hookup sites if you wanted to be closer to the river.  It was just so peaceful and serene.  We walked down by the river and then I would linger even longer just soaking in that serenity.  This is definitely one of the most memorable places where we have camped.  Pictures really cannot show the scale and what a beautiful spot this is.  I even watched an eagle soar along the riverbank.

 

  

Then there were the deer!  Oh, my, I was in deer heaven!  There must have been at least 25 does and fawns, some still with their white spots, that roamed all through the campground from noon until dark each day.  When the deer were out, so was I!  I must have taken over a hundred pictures of them.  

  

It is hard to decide which ones to post!  The deer would let me get pretty close to them, so with the camera zoom, I was able to get some nice close up shots.  I had such fun since I love wildlife.   Such pretty gentle creatures. 

      

I especially love the pictures I shot of the mother doe lovingly nuzzling her fawn.  Aw….that was so sweet! 

 

It seemed like half the herd were fawns.  I have never seen so many together at one time.  What a treat!

    

Alright, enough deer pictures!  We were sorry to leave this wonderful place.  If ever heading north through the area again, we will certainly make it a point to stay at this campground again.   But one last cute picture.  What is she saying to me?  “Oh, for  goodness sake, take that camera away from that crazy lady!!” 

South Through the Bitterroot Valley From Missoula, MT, to Salmon, Idaho

A pleasant 3 hour drive took us south down through the Bitterroot Valley passing small towns, ranches, winding through mountains and forests, and crossing Lost Trail Pass.  We followed HWY 93 and, when looking at the map, it goes almost straight south.  So if you follow it, it takes you out of MT, and back into the larger part of ID.  We had not taken this route before so it is always exciting to see new and different scenery.  It was a nice cool sunny day to be on the road again.

    

The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern MT.  It extends approximately 95 miles from Lost Trail Pass in Idaho, where it is much more narrow, to a point near the city of Missoula, where it becomes wider and more flat. To the west is the Bitterroot Range, and to the east is the smaller Sapphire Mountains.  The Bitterroot Range is known to be steep with deep canyons along with being heavily forested. The Sapphire Mountains are much less forested along with rounder and drier.  The southern end of the valley is split into the East and West Forks, and the northern end drains into the Clark Fork River.  Highway 93 runs through the center of the valley, exiting to the south over 7014 foot Lost Trail Pass. U.S. Highway 93 is the main travel choice through the Bitterroot Valley.  

The route had very little traffic, which is the way we like it.  Then we went up and over the Lost Trail Pass.  Yet, again I wound up in mountains that I enjoy so much, as long as there are no really steep drop offs and plenty of guardrails.  Amazing to watch the landscape change so quickly.  So nice to feel like you have the wilderness to yourself.   Historically, the valley was the long-term home of the Salish tribe of the Flathead nation. In early September 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed Lost Trail Pass from present-day Idaho in order to connect with the overland route through the Rocky Mountains. Passing down Camp Creek and the East Fork, they followed the Bitterroot River northward to the point where it connects with the Nez Perce Trail and Lolo Creek.

   

As mentioned above, the route follows the Bitterroot River out of Missoula, so following it and crossing over the pass made us feel like we were Lewis and Clark and gave us the chance to experience even more Lewis and Clark adventures that we didn’t take the time to explore when following as much of the Expedition’s trail that we had time for in 2008.  We both just finished reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose and are using it as a guide to give us even more insight as to what it must have been like for Lewis and Clark.  It is fun doing that, following in their footsteps (or horsesteps!), looking for the landmarks, and seeing the historical markers along the highway. 

  

The Bitterroot River meets the Salmon River just above the town of Salmon, which now had us in Idaho.   Just more great scenery made for a nice drive. 

The next blog will be about our campground in Salmon because it deserves special space.  You will understand why!