Almo, Idaho.

The City of Rocks Backcountry Scenic Byway winds its way around the Albion Mountain Range in southern Idaho. The 49-mile (79 km) journey starts at the city of Albion and ends at Oakley. We picked up the byway at Almo and headed toward the namesake and major attraction on the byway, the City of Rocks. Last August, I shared some photos of our visit to the City of Rocks. You can refresh your memory here.

Much of the byway is on gravel roadways, but they are basically well cared for. Travel by car will require 90 minutes or so at speeds appropriate for the unpaved sections. When you get to the City of Rocks, however, you will want to allow some extra time to explore the “Silent City” and marvel at nature’s handiwork.

The Albion Mountains are in the background on your journey which takes you through typical rural Idaho scenery. Our trip in early October 2020 featured hazy skies from the months of wildfires blazing at that time in the western states.

Along the byway, there are historical markers that point out interesting elements of the scenery such as this covered wagon displayed near the California Trail.

From 1841 to 1869, travelers headed west on the trail that brought thousands of travelers through 5,000 miles (8,047 km) and what is now ten states from Missouri westward. Parts of that trail are still in existence and travelers in the 1800s put their names and dates they passed through on the rocks in what is now the City of Rocks. Graffiti artists indeed were found well back in history, it seems.

Along the byway, there are plenty of opportunities to learn the history of the area, and the rocks in the park are a favorite for technical rock climbers. There are a wide variety of formations that require a large number of technical rock climbing skills.

The rural landscape was definitely showing off its autumn colors and there is plenty of rangeland for raising cattle. Ranching is a big business in the area.

There were few fences and plenty of signs to warn of cattle that might be nearby. A small herd found some tasty grass along the highway, but it appears one of the herd was looking for more flavorful options.

A view from the side of the road demonstrates that the byway, at least on our trip was well cared for, but being gravel, it is wise to keep your speed reasonable. The recommended travel times on the byway are April through November.

Campsites are available in the City of Rocks, but be sure to reserve early. If they happen to be full, you can check along the byway at the Pomerelle Mountain Resort and the Lake Cleveland Recreation Area. Also nearby is Castle Rocks State Park. The park, in addition to rock climbing, includes many miles of hiking, biking, and horseback riding.

Please feel free to click on any of the images above to view them in 4K HD on my Flickr site, or you can click here to visit the album where you will find a couple of “bonus” images at no extra charge.

John Steiner

Driggs, Idaho.

Regular readers know that we like to explore scenic byways when we travel. in October 2020, on our way to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Park, we found ourselves (unexpectedly) on a scenic byway we hadn’t planned. It turned out to be the fastest way from our previous night’s stay to Wyoming and the gateway to those two National Parks. At one point, we stopped and found this placard defining the route of the Teton Scenic Byway.

I’d love to know specifically where we saw this placard, and if I’d used my cell phone, I’d know the GPS coordinates. Unfortunately, I used my D500 which doesn’t have a GPS chip. Luckily, we’d been taking photos along the way, and once we found we were on part of this 70-mile (113 km) byway, I captured all that many more images to share.

It is always a treat to come upon any wildlife. Our first images along the route included a small herd of elk calmly gathered in a valley, a couple of large bull elk standing vigil over their harem.

It was October 6 when we traveled this route so in the higher country, those autumn leaves were on their way to full color, not quite yet ready for prime time. Another week or so, and we would have hit the perfect time for those spectacular fall colors.

The valley is home to many ranches as well as the wild creatures of the area. This corral was one of many we saw along the route.

On our easterly journey, we could see some of the mountain ranges that ringed the valleys we traveled through. We never encountered any bears, happy there were no close encounters, but disappointed that we couldn’t view any bears from the comfort of a fully extended telephoto lens inside a sturdy SUV.

We would see our first glimpse of the Grand Teton range in the distance. The namesakes of this byway were not as visible as we’d have liked, haze from those western wildfires made them hard to see clearly. The image above provides a clearer image than we saw in real life as Luminar’s haze filter did a great job in helping to clear the smoke from the image. This one is the clearest view we had. You’ll see if you explore the gallery and other photos posted here that were much hazier.

In addition to elk, the valley is home to bison. This image features part of a larger herd spread throughout the valley. This part of the herd was relatively close as I had my zoom lens set only to 58 mm. Contrast that with the 300 mm zoom I needed to capture that herd of elk I shared above.

If you travel through Grand Teton National Park, you’ll see the eastern side of the mountains. Traveling on the Teton Scenic Byway, you’ll see the western slopes. Well, that is, you will if they aren’t obscured by smoke and haze.

As we got closer to the eastern edge of the byway, fall colors were more prevalent. It is a beautiful time to explore the valleys west of the Tetons. An info page here on the Visit Idaho page suggests that late spring, when all the wildflowers are out, is also a great time to take this journey.

I have included many more images in my Flickr gallery than I am sharing here. You can see any of the images here close up by clicking on them to go directly to my Flickr site. From there, you can scroll the entire gallery, or you can visit the album page to see and select any specific image to pixel peep. Photo metadata is provided for those techies who care about those details. You will find the album here.

John Steiner

Arco, Idaho.

This scenic byway in south-central Idaho starts on U.S. 20 at Shoshone, travels past Craters of the Moon National Monument northeast to Arco, and then north along U..S. 93 to Challis. On that northern leg, it parallels the Lost River Mountain Range. Some of the state’s highest mountains are in that range, including the highest mountain in the state, Mount Borah. Plan about 3 hours for the 140-mile (225 km) drive.

Our journey on this trip, however, covered only that portion between Shoshone and Arco. The opening image features a view of the Pioneer Mountains, a much shorter range than Lost River, that parallels the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Pioneer Mountains mark an east-west shortcut for settlers in the 1850s as they tried to avoid skirmishes with the Shoshone Indians. That route, known as Goodale’s Cutoff ran along the base of these mountains.

On the other side of the road, the northern border of Craters of the Moon is easily identified as the flow of lava stopped there. In the background is the tallest of more than 25 cinder cone volcanoes. Big Cinder Butte is accessible via a road within the national monument. If you are planning a visit to the park, you can get a much closer view of this cinder cone volcano.

As you arrive at Arco, you will probably notice the large hill in the background above the city with a multitude of numbers painted on the hillside. To see the numbers clearly, you’ll need to click on the image to get the 4K HD Flickr image and then click twice to zoom in. Number Hill started gathering numbers when the Arco class of 1920 painted a large “20” onto a rock face on the hillside. Every year since then, the graduating class has memorialized their year on the mountainside. That begs the question so that it is now over a century since the painting began, did the class of 2020 paint their own “20” on the hill, or is the 1920 version good enough? What about 2021? I did not find an answer to those questions.

Given our choice to travel only the southwestern portion of the route, I noted that the byway starts at Shoshone. Well, the name belies that statement. Highway 93 near Challis and the Lost River Mountains mark the start of Peaks to Craters. The westbound highway to Shoshone marks the end of the byway as it connects to the Sawtooth Scenic Byway.

From Arco, to stay on the byway, you turn northwest on U.S. 93 toward MacKay and Challis. However, our next stop on our long journey is easterly so we continued on U.S. 26 and U.S. 20 toward Idaho Falls.

We would eventually find ourselves in the Snake River Valley. The image above features a view of the river near Idaho Falls. Strictly speaking, this image and the remaining images in the gallery are no longer on the byway, but the scenery between Arco and Idaho Falls is well worth the journey.

Click on the image above to get a close-up view and to see the entire gallery in 4K HD, if your browser allows. In Flickr, clicking an area of the image will give you a closer view if you only have an HD monitor.

John Steiner

Almo, Idaho.

In southern Idaho, about 5 miles (8 km) north of the Utah border as the crow flies, the City of Rocks has tracked visitors since the 19th century as settlers traveled through the area westbound via the California Trail.

Our modern “steed” traveled part of that same trail, now paved in parts on the City of Rocks Back Country Byway. I will feature more about this scenic byway in a future post, but this post is about the unique rock outcroppings that have come to be known as the City of Rocks. The opening photo features an arch that looks like the folding fingers of a fist.

Our first views of the “city” came about at a pull-off on the byway. The skies were still hazy from those western wildfires that plagued our images for much of our road trip. But below those hazy skies, in the distance, we got a glimpse of the “suburbs” in the City of Rocks National Reserve.

The panoramic view above is a closer view of the unusual landforms in this area. According to the National Park Service, the outcroppings are the results of weathering, slope movement, and Erosion. The geologic description of the reserve can be found here.

Westbound settlers traveling the California Trail left their marks on rocks nearest the trail. Many of those rocks still bear this graffiti from the 1800s. Trails around some of the largest rocks allow today’s visitors to view the inscriptions close up… but please, don’t leave any of your own. There are signs letting everyone know that there is video monitoring. At least to this writing, they have not had to resort to fences to protect the writings created over a century ago.

What you can do, if you have the equipment and desire, is climb some of the taller rocks in the reserve. From the NPS website, climbing is allowed on established routes or to just “scramble around.” (Their term). If you are an experienced climber and wish to place new permanent anchors, you must first apply for a permit. There are also certain rocks and routes that are closed seasonally due to nesting raptors. Be sure to do your homework before you start “scrambling around” on the rocks.

Though the haze kept the skies from their usual vibrant blue, the trees were doing their part in the color arena. We happened to pick a great time for catching autumn colors.

Hikers and mountain bikers will find both easy and difficult trails. One trail you might find most informative is the 0.6 mile (1 km) Geological Interpretive Trail. A dozen stations along the trail. At the end, there is a short loop where the trail then retraces the route back to the starting point, about 1.2 miles (2 km) total distance.

Probably the most difficult hiking trail is the North Fork Circle Creek trail that winds some 6.3 miles (10.1 km) through the reserve. There are several mountain bike and horse trails, and for those wanting to take in more of Idaho’s beauty, nearby Castle Rocks State Park hosts several opportunities for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.

This week’s post takes full advantage of the larger number of images I can feature by using my Flickr account. Though this post features eight images captured in the reserve, I have posted 24 HD images in a Flickr album for you to view. To get there, simply click on one of the images above. From there you can scroll through the gallery. If your computer or smart phone has an HD (1024 pixel) or less display, you can click on each image to get a zoomed-in view. Of course, all of the image metadata is available for those who enjoy knowing such details.

On another note, thanks for sticking with me on this journey of some 8 years and counting. There are many more images to come.

John Steiner

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

If you find yourself traveling on I-90 through Idaho, you’ll pass through the city of Coeur d’Alene. Just east of the city is Idaho State Highway 97. The scenic drive follows along the eastern shore of the lake about 36 miles (58 km) to the town of Harrison and ends at Idaho State Highway 3. The road is two-lane and has few passing lanes, so expect a leisurely drive and allow at least 90 minutes one-way. The opening photo is a view captured from my drone. In fact, all of the photos in this post were captured from my Mavic Air launched from scenic pull-offs along the roadway.

Our trip down the byway was longer than 90-minutes as it was a detour from I-90. When we arrived at Harrison, we turned around and headed back toward I-90. If you arrive at Harrison around the lunch hour, you will surely find one of the restaurants lining the highway to your taste. If you are headed toward the Palouse, this byway ends at Idaho 3, where it meets the White Pine Scenic Byway and its southern route to the Palouse area of Washington State and Idaho.

You’ll notice that I captured lots of panoramas from the drone for this post. Truth is that from the highway level, there are few viewpoints that really show off the lake itself. Many of the scenic pull-offs were vistas when they were created. Over time, the tall evergreens grew up to hide the views of the lake.

While that may seem like a disadvantage, you’ll find enough lake views to satisfy most tourists. You’ll want to spend time on the Mineral Ridge Trail at Beauty Bay, the Thompson Lake Wildlife Refuge, or the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes if you have time.

The highway is open throughout the year, indeed we saw lots of local traffic using the highway as well as the ever-present out-of-state license plates. Keep an eye out for eagles between Wolf Lodge Bay and Beauty Bay, in December and January. If you are on a summer trip, though, you’ll be far more likely to see Idaho’s well-known osprey. They have a wingspan reaching to six feet (2 m) and hover over the lake looking for their meals, the kokanee salmon, large and smallmouth bass, and trout.

The size of the lake lends itself to creating large panoramic images, so you’ll find no shortage of them in this post. The lake is approximately 25 miles (40 km) by 10 miles (16 km) and is a natural lake fed by the Coeur d’Alene River and the St. Joe River. The lake’s outflow is the Spokane River that flows westerly until it joins the Columbia River.

All of the images above (and some extra images) can be found in my Flickr album featuring the dronie shots I captured on our scenic drive. Click on any of the images to go to the gallery to see all of them. Instead of using the drone’s ability to create panoramic images automatically, I prefer to take multiple images and stitch them together in Adobe Lightroom.

John Steiner

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Lake Coeur d’Alene, in northern Idaho, is a natural lake created with the ice recession after the last ice age. Two rivers, the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe feed the lake, and the outflow is into the Spokane River. Along the east shoreline, a scenic byway attracted our attention and we headed southerly through some genuinely beautiful country. State Highway 97 from the junction of I-90 and Idaho 97 is a 35-mile (56 km) drive that ends at Idaho Highway 3 near the city of Harrison, Idaho. It is a narrow, winding road that you will likely see from both directions as you head back north to rejoin I-90 after you explore Harrison and maybe break for lunch or a snack. In a couple of weeks, I will dedicate an entire Travel Tuesday post to this byway.

About the photo: In the meantime, here’s a teaser image captured from my drone. I launched the drone from a pull-out on the side of the road to capture a view of the lake as it flows toward its outlet at the southerly end. My Mavic Air drone has a fixed f/2.8 lens, so my exposure adjustments amount to shutter speed and ISO, in this case, 1/1000 sec. and ISO-100 respectively.

The image was imported into Adobe Lightroom for basic tweaks and final edits made in Luminar AI. It is an altered reality with a sky replacement courtesy of Luminar’s tool.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge-response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment.

John Steiner

Arco, Idaho.

We traveled along the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway on our way between Carey and Arco to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument. The story of the byway will be featured in an upcoming Travel Tuesday, however today I focus my lens on probably the most unusual landscape I’ve seen in the United States.

Though the volcanic activities have been relatively quiet, there is still underground seismic activity ongoing that, for now, has closed part of the park. According to the United States Geological Service (USGS), the area around the national monument is one of the youngest volcanic areas in Idaho and is considered the most likely to erupt.

The National Monument is larger than I expected. At the Visitor Center, a ranger described the area using a satellite map image. The 1117 square mile (2893  sq km) park is shown in dark on the map in the photo above. As we visited during the fall of 2020, the pandemic was in full swing. The Visitor Center was closed, but the rangers were available in open areas outside to visit with and ask questions.

At one location, a huge cinder cone rose high above the general level of the area. If there is a hill, I must climb. Well, from here at the base, it didn’t look that big, so my wife and I started climbing. When we got to about where the person in the photo is walking near the top, we could see that from the base, we couldn’t see the actual peak as the slope changed. What you see in this image is only about two-thirds of the total climb. If you, like me, are older than dirt, plan to take a breather or two on your way to the top.

A cinder cone is created during a violent volcanic event. Bits of congealed lava spew from the central vent and fall in a cone shape around the eruption. Cinder cones can be quite tall. This cone is known as Inferno Cone. According to one source, it is unique in that the 6181-foot (185 m) cone is flat on the top and doesn’t have a central vent. Prevailing winds over the spewing vent blew the bits of lava into the huge cone some distance from the actual vent.

If you decide to hike the short trail to the top, rest assured, you won’t be hiking the 6181 feet from the base. The parking area is only about 185 feet (56 m) below the flat-topped summit. The views from the top of this hill of lava allow you to see the vastness of the volcanic area. Those mountains in the background are on the northwest edge of the lava fields. You can see from here that the fields do indeed cover almost all of that real estate between this point and the mountains. At the conclusion of this post, I will include a gallery of images captured there, including more views from the top of this lava mound. The image below was captured from about half-way up the side of the cone.

We spent the morning at the park which was plenty of time for us to travel the loop road. Hikers may enjoy a trek on one of several trails, each varying in length and difficulty. Due to seismic activity, though, some of the trails have been closed. Check with a park ranger before picking an appropriate hiking trail for more information.

There are 55 volcanic cones and 14 fissures in the park. There are a couple of spatter cones we checked out on our visit. These cones are the result of larger blobs of lava being expelled than the bits that create a cinder cone. The two spatter cones we viewed have paved walkways and a viewing area where you can look directly into the vent that created the cone. I found a source for much detailed information about Craters of the moon that I used in documenting parts of this article. You can read the entire treatise here.

I conclude this journal entry with a gallery of images captured that morning we spent at Craters of the Moon National Monument. As always, I recommend clicking on an image to enlarge it and make it easier to scroll through the collection (if your browser supports the function.)

John Steiner