Antelope Island State Park, Utah

Antelope Island is the largest island within the Great Salt Lake at 42 square miles. The island lies just minutes from the hustle and bustle of Salt Lake City, but seems a world away; an oasis of wilderness. It captivated me. The light was soft, though often dramatic as it danced through the clouds. Wildlife is abundant here. We saw jackrabbits, coyote, bison, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and a barn owl during our visit. The salty water of the lake does not support fish, however brine shrimp thrive in it. The shrimp provide food for millions of migratory birds. The lake is gorgeous from a distance. Up close, you can see (and smell) what is left behind from millions of birds feasting on brine shrimp. It’s pretty gross, however we witnessed people swimming in it; to each their own.

Mosquitos also thrive here. They are relentless and I concluded that they must be immune to deet, as it proved useless in repelling them. The netting on our tent was covered with them, just waiting for that zipper to open in the morning, so they could feast again. We experienced our first storm in some time while camping here. Thunder, lightning, wind, rain…the whole shebang. It was quite the storm too, with the tent blowing in on us as we “slept”. We don’t get real storms in Oregon (at least we haven’t experienced any in the Rogue Valley), and I’ve missed them. Experiencing a storm like this, with just a tent for shelter is a humbling experience; you are at the mercy of nature. There is a sense of renewal that comes following a storm; as if everything is fresh and new again.

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Idaho

Idaho is a state that I have had somewhat of a romantic notion about for some time. I have seen beautiful images of its landscape and it struck me as a place with abundant natural beauty and wide open spaces. We stayed at Miracle Hot Springs, which as the name implies, has numerous man-made pools with different temperatures of mineral rich, hot spring water. They also have a private campground, as well as furnished dome tents that you can stay in. We tent camped here for 2 nights. The facilities were clean and nice. It was luxurious for us to be able to shower and soak in the pools. It is located in the Thousand Springs Area along the Snake River. We visited Shoshone Falls, which is known as “The Niagara of the West”. During the spring, snowmelt from the Tetons flows into the Snake River and creates quite the spectacle here. During the fall, the falls themselves are nothing spectacular, as the water flow is minimal. The area is beautiful nonetheless, and you can imagine the force of water during spring run-off must be tremendous. We rented a canoe and paddled around on the Snake one afternoon. We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing in Idaho, but spent some time relaxing in hammocks at the campsite and soaking in the springs. Overall, we were unimpressed with this area of Idaho. The Snake River Canyon is beautiful, but miles of flat land filled with odorous feedlots dominates the landscape of southern Idaho. I would like to see the eastern and northern areas of the state in the future, in hopes to validate my previous notions of Idaho.

Leslie Gulch

The second stop on our journey was at Leslie Gulch, a canyon in eastern Oregon not far from the Idaho border. Just minutes east of Bend, the landscape changes as you enter the vastness of the high desert of eastern Oregon. We drove through miles of sagebrush and distant mountains before reaching the 25 mile gravel washboard road that would lead us into the canyon of striking tuff formations. Leslie Gulch is BLM land and has a free primitive campground. We were the only ones camping during our visit. The rugged landscape is remote. Solitude is easily obtained here; unless you include the company of flies. Flies loved it here and were abundant. If you have ever seen the movie “The Proposition”, there is a scene with swarms of flies that I was reminded of. Luckily, the flies dissipated as the sun set and we enjoyed a peaceful evening alone in the wilderness. The flies returned with the morning sun and we decided to make the first of many changes to our initial “plan”. We had planned to camp here 2 nights, but decided to cut it short and let the flies find someone else to swarm. I have no regrets of taking the time to visit this remote area and would consider visiting again; though I would research the best time to minimize the potential of flies!

Newberry Volcanic National Monument – Paulina Lake Area

It has been a while since my last post. During that time we enjoyed our first extended vacation between work assignments. We saw some amazing places and spent close to three weeks back home, enjoying the company of our family and friends. It was great to see everyone. It is our hope to maintain these cherished relationships we have. It is the hardest part of our new lifestyle; being so far away from the people we love so much. We are now back in Oregon and have settled into our new home, a 5th wheel! We are loving it so far. It is cozy and comfortable. We will be leaving the Rogue Valley next week and heading to the central coast for the next chapter of our adventure. I will begin an assignment in the town of Florence, though we plan to park the 5th wheel inland in the town of Mapleton. I expect it to take some time to get caught up with photos and posts, but will do my best to share our adventure in a timely manner.

Our first stop on the road was in central Oregon, southeast of Bend at Newberry Volcanic National Monument. You may remember this place from a previous post. The Monument has three sections, with one we have still yet to explore. We tent camped 2 nights at Paulina Lake inside the monument. We just so happened to be here during a lunar eclipse/super-moon, which we had the privilege to experience from Paulina peek (elevation7,984 ft). The view of the 4×5 mile wide Newberry Caldera is breathtaking. Within the Caldera lies two lakes; Paulina Lake and East Lake, which are separated by a central pumice cone. Big Obsidian Flow, the youngest lava flow in Oregon, lies within the caldera as well. It was cold here, with water freezing overnight. The pro to this: we had the campground almost entirely to ourselves, which allows you to enjoy the serenity of the environment.

the road to experience

Monthly Archives: November 2015

Antelope Island State Park, Utah

Idaho

Leslie Gulch

Newberry Volcanic National Monument – Paulina Lake Area