We had a day to fool around which we had scheduled without ever being here in Heyburn. This may not have been the wisest choice by me since there is little to do or see here. Our 100 mile round trip to City of Rocks yesterday was terrific but we were unable to find much to see today. Nevertheless, we went looking for some redeeming features and started our day by driving over to Minidoka Wildlife refuge a bit northeast of Heyburn.
The area between Heyburn and Minidoka is almost all farmland except where there are some food processing facilities. Maybe 15 miles into our drive, we pulled up on the north side of the refuge and found the Minidoka Dam. It is an unremarkable structure but there are quite a few interesting aquatic birds there: grebes, American pelicans and big flocks of swallows that were busy feeding on the abundance of nasty little bugs in this area. The bugs were so thick that you could see big clouds of them prior to some of them being smashed on the windshield of the truck. Stopping the truck and getting out is a rallying call for the tiny vermin so it is best to stay in your vehicle unless going for the lumpy skin motif. I’m suppose there are myriad other forms of wildlife here but we mostly saw bugs.
We drove out of the miasma of insects and decided to try a state park called Massacre Rocks about 25 miles east and took a route around the south side of Minidoka where we were fortunate to see a jackrabbit and some more swallows. Massacre Rocks are named for the location where one of the extremely rare attacks by Native Americans occurred on a wagon train back in the 1860s. Apparently it was a back and forth battle but the settlers came out on the losing side 10 to naught. The location is in a quite beautiful gorge of the Snake River that now has a state campground and a boat launch ramp. We drove through the area until we ran out of stuff to see which took about 20 minutes.
From Massacre Rocks we drove about 3 miles to a place called Register Rock where early settlers carved graffiti into a big boulder near the Snake River, leaving their misspelled names and accurate dates of their passage on a big basalt boulder. This place is on the National Register of Historic Places but seems unworthy of a special trip to see it. Instead, one can drive almost anywhere near railroad tracks here and see a plethora of graffiti painted liberally onto boxcars as art in motion.
This concluded our excursion to see all the fascinating Heyburn vicinity attractions we could find. On our way back home, we drove through Burney on the other side of the Snake River from our campground and stopped at an allegedly Chinese restaurant named Shon Hing for an early dinner. Peggy ordered a mystery pork dish and I ordered something called General’s chicken. Both dishes were not very good. The pork dish had vegetables that had been properly vulcanized to the point of tastelessness and the General got his chicken from a bag of frozen white meaty stuff. The fried rice was white which raised the question of what fried rice should look and taste like. We were not going to get the answer to this question at Shon Hing. To top it off, the little pidgin-speaking waiter attempted to have us pay way more than the food was worth through a massive arithmetic error in addition. I caught it before we paid. He didn’t even look sheepish about his abacus work.
I am sure that Heyburn residents consider their home a vibrant, interesting community but we do not agree. I will borrow a phrase from a movie to describe the place: Heyburn is a place with few admirable qualities but, taken as a whole, I was wrong to have thought so highly of it. For our readers: Give Heyburn a pass.
Despite Heyburn’s null set of attractions, we did take a few wildlife pictures toady. You can see them if you click here

Another day of exploration today and we decided to go see something we did not know existed called City of Rocks National Reserve. It is just a little north of the Idaho/Utah border about 50 miles south of our current camping spot in Hayseed..no…Heyduke….uh….Heyburn, ID.
We started the trip by driving across the Snake River on US-30 into Burley where we turned south on ID-77. We passed through tiny towns called Albion, Elba and Almo before turning west on a dirt and gravel road into the Reserve. We hadn’t gone very far on the gravel before we came across a small cattle drive tended by a young guy and girl and using the road as the pathway. They were very nice about us fouling up their drive and told us to just drive through the herd. The cattle were very nice, too, but they did leave quite a bit of green splatter on the road as we approached from the ugly end of the beasts.
The Reserve is pretty small (hence the dirt road) but has some dispersed camping spots and lots of big rock monoliths that are always preferred by those wacky rock climbers. Apparently, they were also favored by pioneers coming across the country in wagons because they used to stop here and left their names on the rocks with axle grease for paint. The rock projections pop out of green pastures up at about 6200′ elevation. The hills on the horizons have quite a bit of snow on them. The rock formations are shaped such that they sort of resemble big dinosaurs or turtles or monsters and, in some cases, penises. Very sexy.
The gravel road extends from where we came in near Almo and remains gravel and dirt up through Emery Pass at 6800′ and then descends toward Oakley. It is pretty plain that you are passing through different climate zones on the way because the plant and flower types keep changing.
This little hidden gem is absolutely gorgeous. There are many places to stop and take short hikes and the changing vistas along the road are magnificent. It is a pretty long drive from anywhere to see this place but the trip is worth it. If the weather is uncooperative and rains or snows, it might be better to see the Reserve another day unless driving a four-wheel drive vehicle. We spotted many birds, including some Lazuli Buntings, Red-winged Blackbirds, hawks and lots of finches and swallows. We also spotted about a dozen mule deer and big, fat gopher snake patrolling the road near Oakley.
There are some pix we took along the way and you can see them if you click here

Today was a travel day so we bundled up all our stuff and departed Hagerman, ID. We did not expect much in Hagerman when we pulled in a few days ago but were pleasantly surprised by the abundance of wildlife and gorgeous scenery.
We left Hagerman RV Park by about 10:45 AM headed east. We chose not to use the freeway instead choosing to follow US-30 from Hagerman to Heyburn, ID. This drive was not as scenic as the drive from Marsing to Hagerman but after the 75 miles on US-30, it is pretty plain how the U.S.A. feeds the world. The drive took us mostly through either flat land or gently rolling hills, all tied up in crop production. It looks like as long as someone was interested in eating alfalfa or spuds, he would never starve here. I don’t know about alfalfa but I am positive that liquor can be made from taters although you could not buy the resulting product unless you went to an Idaho liquor store. The laws in this scenic, but backward, state require that almost all alcoholic beverages, except beer and wine, be acquired in a state liquor store. A 1.75 liter bottle of Jack Daniels cost about 60% more here than in California. My liquor horde, which we acquired in California, is almost exhausted and it looks like replacement is going to be costly.
We pulled into the Heyburn Riverside RV Park by about 1:00 PM. It is a spacious facility that alleges to have wi-fi and also has pretty big spaces that are not shaded in any way. The trees here are runts. The park is very clean. They have a kiddie playground, spacious restrooms, full hookups and ample noise from the adjacent Highway 30. Fortunately, it only costs $21 per night for seniors, like me. The Snake River runs right by the park but the big volcanic bluffs, erupting springs and ample wildlife are conspicuously absent here.
I had no sewer disasters like I was privileged to experience in Hagerman a few days ago. I am delighted that my sewer valves have now been altered in such a way that picking up turds will not be part of my agenda. I think I fixed the valve so it is idiot-proof, which includes me. I have heard that everyone with an RV ultimately has a sewer disaster but, for some reason, I thought through careful deliberation, sound reasoning, solid logic and personal cleverness I would be exempt from this horrible experience. I was wrong. It was terrible.

Yesterday we drove past a local feature called Thousand Springs where precipitation, creeks and rivers northwest of here disappear into the porous lava formations only to pour out of the edge of the formation where the Snake River has cut down through the lava. There are waterfalls evident for miles along the east bank of the river. Yesterday’s exploration took us across the river from all this wonderful stuff and we wanted to get a closer look. Today we drove down the east bank of the Snake and got to see these cascades up close. There is a lot of water squirting out of the lava around here.
Navigation by map in this part of the world is not very productive because roads plainly shown on our DeLorme Gazetteer either don’t exist or they are invisible. Also, the roads here do not have proper names like Elm Avenue or Main Street instead having names like N 600 E and S 4200 E. We took many routes that initially seemed like the shortest route to somewhere only to find the way we selected was bogus so we covered a lot of miles but very little actual distance. Surprisingly, we ultimately made it to where we wanted to go despite my poor navigation.
One of the places we wanted to see is called Balanced Rock and after only 3 or 4 wrong turns, we actually made it to our destination. Balanced Rock is located down in a 400 or 500 feet deep depression in the lava formation and the area is quite scenic. I cheated on the way back home by using the Garmin so I would not be obliged to demonstrate my navigational prowess further.
Regardless of the wacky road names and phantom boulevards, this area, called the Hagerman Valley, is absolutely gorgeous with fantastic scenery everywhere you look. There are lots of birds and little scurrying critters to see and the trails we have taken have been great. We will reluctantly leave this area tomorrow headed further up the Snake River.
There are a few pix of our excursion today which you can see if you click here

When we came into Hagerman yesterday, it seemed like a nice, tidy town with less than 1000 residents. We wanted to go take a spin around the area to see if anything above average was to be found and were we ever delighted with the results. After spending a few hours scheduling for RV spaces along the course of our future travels, we hopped into the truck and headed north on ID-30. After a short distance, we came to a roadside sign with an arrow which pointed toward Malad Gorge State Park.
After turning toward the park, we traveled about 5 miles through brush mixed with farmland that was infested with gorgeous birds and otter-sized critters that were scurrying along and across the road. We spotted several duck varieties, magpies and red-winged blackbirds which seemed to be everywhere. The otter-sized critters we identified once we got home as what locals call a “rock chuck” but which is more accurately identified as a yellow-bellied marmot. They are cute little cusses but they can’t run very fast due to a waddling gait.
Once we entered the park, we found we were along a massive (Malad) gorge in the lava crust with a pretty substantial river running through it. At the head of the canyon was a big waterfall which was open for business, flowing at a rate the local signs said was 5000 cubic feet per second, otherwise known as “a whole lot of water.” Every few hundred yards along the upper edges of the gorge, smaller but no less spectacular waterfalls were cascading over the edge and down into the enormous broken lava boulders covering the floor of the gorge. Interpretive signs at the park indicate all the water we saw falling into the gorge is from underground springs and very pure. The river water flowing through the bottom of the gorge is almost transparent and viewers on the rim can see the rocks on the bottom of the wide stream.
There are numerous places to pull off the narrow park road and they are located near short trails that lead from the car to spectacular overlooks of this gorge. On one trail, we encountered a very laid-back gopher snake soaking up some rays right in the middle of the path. Down another, we found a beautiful waterfall that looks impressive going over the brink but disappears into the lava rocks at the bottom. There is no visible creek or river leading away from this waterfall. Right along the side of the waterfall, about halfway to the top, we spotted a very vocal hawk who was trying to persuade us to leave his part of the world. He quit squawking as soon as we went out of sight.
Signs we read at the park indicate that water from rain, creeks and rivers all over south central Idaho disappears into lava formations left over from millions of years of flows from shield volcanoes. We finally left the park and headed back toward and then through Hagerman on ID-30 until we reached a spot about 4 miles south of town called “1000 Springs” and they weren’t kidding. Massive flows of water can be seen emanating from the sides of the Snake River Gorge which turn into beautiful waterfalls plopping into the river below. We stood in one parking lot next to the river and could count not less than 50 places where springs were cascading into the river. This place is magnificent.
We finished off the day by driving over to the nearby town of Wendell where we ate dinner at the Farmhouse Restaurant. I can state for a fact that they have really good chicken fried steak but their vegetable (corn) seemed to taste like and have the consistency of butyl rubber. Their potatoes, both hash browns and baked, were great. Peggy got a steak with her baker and she said it was very tasty, too. We got out for about $35, including drinks.
There are about a dozen pix you can see from today’s travels if you click here

After gathering up our stuff, we departed Riverhaven RV Park in Marsing and set out for Hagerman, ID. We had a couple options on how to get there and we chose the slow road. We could have driven into Nampa and picked up I-84 but instead we selected a very nice drive on ID-78 which runs sort of parallel with the freeway but about 15 miles south.
The terrain along 78 is split with about half being bleak desert and the other half being big volcanic palisades with agricultural activities in the wide valley floors. We eventually had to get on I-84 for about 20 miles but the remainder of the nearly 150 mile trip was happily spent driving on single lane country roads while trying to identify the birds we spotted along the way. We even spotted a snake which, fortunately, was visible enough that I had time to stop before running him down. He looked real similar to gopher snakes I have seen in San Diego but his color was all funny. He was white with plentiful black markings. No rattles. We waited for a couple minutes until he felt compelled to slither out of the way.
There is very little interesting scenery along the I-84 section we traveled today but once we turned off the freeway at exit 141, we drove down into the Hagerman Valley and the scenery instantly became more appealing. The road descends through a lava cap rock system into the Snake River area. Hagerman is a nice little town with not less than a half dozen parks, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, the Snake River and Salmon Falls Creek running through town, Malad Gorge State Park and a nice downtown museum. We pulled into the Hagerman RV Village which is a nice park with ample shade. The spaces are not enormous but there is grass areas between spots, the park has full hookups along with an activity center, ample restrooms, wi-fi in addition to being centrally located between the numerous nearby attractions.
As I was setting up for our stay, I had a waste tank disaster that, fortunately, was of small magnitude. I had very recently dumped the waste tanks so my stupid error was not much of a disaster but it definitely warranted some serious washing of my ugly body after I resolved the issue. I may have secretly anticipated some such disaster when I originally stocked the trailer so I was well supplied with all the stuff I needed to clean up the foul mess. Disgusting, but educational.
We got a few pix along the way which you can see if you click here

We elected to try another wildlife refuge for the destination of the day. About 10 miles from our camping spot in the Riverhaven RV Park is the Deer Flat NWR. We popped over for a glimpse. The refuge is pretty close to Nampa so the solitude and silence we encountered at Snake River Birds of Prey NWR yesterday were conspicuously absent. At Deer Flat, they have a small visitor center with some informative displays but, strangely, dead stuffed birds that look like the operators did not bother using the skills of a taxidermist instead choosing to have a blind amputee create their wildlife models.
Outside the visitor center is a pretty grass area where the staff has installed some feeders that are greatly appreciated by blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, doves, robins and surely all the bigger birds who find them so tasty. In the river behind the center, an osprey couple has taken up residence in a big nest atop a pole in the river. Considering the abundance of wildlife here, there is little speculation on why they look so well-fed.
We spotted some fishermen in boats in the Snake River behind the visitor center but, after watching osprey pluck fish directly from the water, hook and line fishing seems impractical. We hung out for maybe an hour before we bolted for other climes. On the way back through Marsing, we pulled over and tried a Mexican restaurant named Alejandro’s which had very good food at a very reasonable price. It doesn’t look like they have a lot of competition in this town because very few other businesses exist here and only a tiny fraction of those businesses are restaurants. Marsing looks like it is either dying or dead. It is a pity because the folks we did meet around here were very nice.
We got a few pix that you can see by clicking here

Today exploring was on the agenda so we started out the day by driving almost 30 miles southeast to the Snake River Birds of Prey National Wildlife Refuge which might be the longest title in the whole Federal system. The country we drove through, despite an altitude of about 2600′, is basically a desert. We saw lots of Paiute ground squirrels, magpies and a few hawks but the terrain appears pretty bleak and lifeless.
Once you get to the Refuge, however, things change. The Refuge is a giant canyon with the Snake River at the bottom with 700′ cliffs on each side of the gorge. Interpretive displays at the Refuge indicate that this canyon has been filled with lava five times over the last couple million years but the River has always won out, returning to almost it’s original course. The cliffs and river are stunning here. There is a great overlook about a quarter mile from a parking lot near the canyon rim where we only saw a few big raptors but hundreds of swallows who were busy eating the abundant supplies of bugs. From the overlook we spotted some dirt roads down in the gorge so after lingering at the edge for a while, we continued down the road to Swan Falls.
Swan Falls might have been a set of falls back in the day but now there is a cute little hydroelectric / irrigation control dam there. Near the dam we turned down the Snake River east bank on a well-graded dirt road for about 5 or 6 miles. We spotted some harriers and maybe a falcon cruising the bottom of the gorge. They were kept company by lots of swallows swallowing bugs. In the river were a variety of waterfowl, mostly ducks and geese. There are available BLM dispersed camping sites in the bottom of the gorge. At one spot there is even a restroom but almost all other evidence of human habitation is absent.
We finally left this beautiful spot and headed north through Nampa and Caldwell. There is a Wal-Mart in Nampa where we stopped for some supplies but other than that, there was little in these two towns to make us excited. Just regular old rural towns with abnormally obnoxious traffic lights which seem to be programmed to make traffic in all directions stop simultaneously, allowing nobody to go. After quite a bit of time awaiting the greens, we headed back to our spot in Marsing.
We got a few photos of the refuge that you can see if you click here

We departed Narrows RV Park 25 miles south of Burns and headed north to US-20 where we turned east, headed for Idaho. There are some passes over 4000′ on this road before starting the long descent heading east. US-20 closely follows the Malheur River all the way across the state until it dumps into the Snake River that separates Idaho from Oregon.
Most of the drive across Oregon on this stretch of road is very pretty. The river has provided much of the path for the road as it passes between tremendous palisades of lava, basalt and ash laid down over the last 15 million years. I don’t know how this part of the world looks in other seasons but this spring the scenery is stunning and the plants are open for business. Flowers, pastures and birds are everywhere.
We entered Idaho across the river from Nyssa, Oregon, and almost immediately started driving through pretty flat farmland. Lots of alfalfa growing here and it is emerald green, contrasting with the beige soil where irrigation is not provided. The farm hands were busily putting around on their tractors, both in the fields and on the roads. We traveled southeast up the Snake River for about 30 miles until we came to Marsing which is an ugly little town sporting many abandoned buildings and failed structures. A few miles further and we pulled off at the Riverhaven RV Park.
Riverhaven Park borders a flat section of the Snake and has an enormous green lawn between the RV spaces and the river. Dogs and cars are not allowed on the grass. The park boasts of having wi-fi but it does not work. The spaces are very close together and not level plus there is no pool, no clubhouse, one restroom and no attendant on duty but the Passport America price per night is only $15. It is very quiet but there are lots of bugs due to the proximity of the river. Many swallows were working their hearts out trying to devour all the insects but it is a lost cause. There’s just too many of them.
We got some pix on the drive here that you can see by clicking here

We wanted another look at the Malheur NWR so we left our campground on Sodhouse Lane and headed south on OR-205 toward Frenchglen. We had only gone about 10 miles before we turned out on a gravel road running east from 205 which took us to the Buena Vista Overlook. Buena Vista translates to good view in English and they weren’t fooling when they named the spot. There is a small gravel parking area at the base of a short path which leads right out to the edge of a lava outcropping overlooking a vast high desert prairie interrupted by lava cap rocks. On the eastern horizon is the 9000’+ Steens Mountain which was completely covered with snow. In the foreground is a wide creek which is, based on the volume and number of different bird sounds, extensively inhabited with a variety of species.
After ogling the mountain and prairie view for a while, we got back on 205 southbound to Frenchglen where they have some BLM housing and the Frenchglen Hotel. The hotel is a historical landmark, maybe because it is one of the only wood-framed buildings in town. This is about as close as we could get to Steens Mountain without driving on 48 miles of washboard gravel roads. South of Frenchglen we drove up on a lava finger that only required about a 600′ vertical component in around 3 miles. The caution sign at the top indicates the grade is 14%. From here we turned around and headed for Burns. There were animals everywhere and this time we kept a list of stuff spotted: pronghorn antelope, mule deer, sandhill cranes, snowy egrets, trumpeter swans, a snake too quick to properly identify, a lizard of the same type, red-winged blackbirds, Canadian geese, many varieties of ducks we couldn’t identify, meadowlarks, yellow-headed blackbirds, barn swallows, magpies, coots, white-faced ibises, a rough-legged hawk devouring some unfortunate critter, common snipes, redhead ducks, northern pintails, black-necked stilts, marmots, jackrabbits, prairie dogs, blackbirds and cinnamon teals. It is like driving through a safari park here.
We drove Hotchkiss Road near Burns again so we could check out the birds and we were not disappointed. A quick stop for fuel in Burns before we drove back for another pass at Hotchkiss Road. It is like a big zoo aviary. The birds here are plentiful and come in an amazing variety of vibrant colors. After we got home a gorgeous little bird we identified through quick camera action and considerable page shuffling in the Peterson’s guide as a (no fooling) yellow-rumped or Audubon’s warbler. This part of the world offers stunning scenery and abundant wildlife viewing. I would love to come back here someday although it won’t be tomorrow because we are going east to Idaho.
We got some pix today during our drive and you can see them by clicking here