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Thread: Trip Report: Road trip to Idaho

  1. #1

    Trip Report: Road trip to Idaho

    We have several friends that have moved to Boise/Meridian and one was getting married so we decided to road trip to Idaho. Summer had just started and my daughter is out of school so we decided to take 8 days and explore. Since we had 6 days prior to the wedding we took our time getting to Boise and I wanted to go through Oregon to get there.

    Every year we spend two weeks in Oregon near Crater Lake. We've spent time in central Oregon and up the coast but never eastern Oregon. After completing this trip I kind of know why many don't flock there but it was beautiful nonetheless. Our trip took us from outside Sacramento to Klamath Falls on the first day, all freeway. Day two was traveling East from KFalls on highway 140 which was mostly Ag and tons of water compared to drought stricken CA. There were also a couple mountain passes and much construction.




    So many rules around the work sites.





    If I saw a detour on the map and it involved a dirt road I took it. Some were short, some were dead ends and in a couple cases they were very long (two 40 mile 'detours'). I didn't know eastern Oregon had this type of terrain.




    A really cool alkali lake.






    Past Burns it turned into high desert and started to get drier. At this point we had been driving quite a while with still hours to go. The kids were doing better than me.







    We hit up a large wetland called Malheur Lake which is part of a National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of cool birds and other desert/wetland wildlife.



    Trusty 4Runner getting the job done.
    Last edited by 4x4mike; 07-01-2015 at 12:22 PM.

  2. #2
    After Malheur and the diamond craters, sorry no pictures, we hit the road again. The entire trip was very hot and the AC was blasting the entire time. We refueled in Burns, I hate not being able to pump my fuel and pay the way it is in CA, and hit the road. Up next was about 200 miles of more desert and heat, oh and 55 MPH speed limits.



    Because the desert is just the desert I stuck to the road because at 55 we were covering ground pretty slow. Even out in the middle of nowhere people were getting pulled over and large trucks were driving slow on the two lane roads. Bascially I was doing 55 and getting 23-24 mpg or doing 90 and getting 14 mpg. I did have about two 45 minute stretches at 90 to make up some time. I didn't want to push it or the 4Runner too hard because if anything were to go wrong we were far from help, not to mention we still had a lot of traveling to do.

    After the desert we came down along some beautiful rivers and creeks that were flowing like mad. The water and road were in some nice red canyons, and it was still very hot.







    From there we hit Idaho and 80 mph speed limits so I matted it to 90 until we got to our hotel. I'm usually pretty easy on the throttle and keep at or below the speed limit while in CA. This trip has totally changed me and I better mellow down before I end up with a ticket. I wanted to keep good data for overall travel distance and mileage but the fast-slow took it's toll. The wind coming home at the end of the week killed it.

  3. #3
    Once in Idaho we took a day to rest and just poke around. The kids enjoy hotels more than being stuck in the car so we laid low. Below are just some randoms of a few days before hitting the road for exploring out of Boise.





    Resting minions



    A nice hot hike over looking Boise





    We also hit up the Idaho Botanical Garden on the grounds of an old penitentiary. I found their lush green gardens perfect to barf in as I was dealing with a stomach bug. Everything was green and cool and wonderfully displayed until I showed up. I pretty much ruined a Zen garden.









    Barf pond

  4. #4
    Idaho is full of scenic byways and before even planning the ID trip I knew I wanted to go to Stanley, via highway 21 and see the Sawtooth Mountains. The drive was very nice and for the most part it reminded me of home and the drive to Lake Tahoe from my house. Even then it was nice to get out on the road again, belly full of pepto and some offroadness.












    Hot springs flowing into the Payette River








    The Payette


    Before too long we made it to the Sawtooths traveling along the Salmon River


    America bird

  5. #5
    We spent a few hours at Redfish Lake, ate and relaxed before turning back. Driving for that day was 7 hours and the kids wanted to get pack to the hotel pool. Little did they know I had planned out dirt roads and trails for as much as the remaining trip back to our room. Little did I know my stomach was planning a ruckus. At that time my wife crawled into the driver seat.

    I didn't get too many pictures of her in action but I was busy hanging on. She drove that mother like a rental car while I was calling out trees, water crossings and holes.

    Trailside




















    This was a 20 mile dead end due to a bridge out over the river

  6. #6
    Fast forward a few days, skipping pictures that look like the above, and we were on our way back to CA. Because we had one day to do the 550 miles and work the next day we motored home the most direct route. It goes through a little portion of OR and then into NV before going through Reno/Tahoe and back down the Sierra home.

    The little corner through OR was yet another part of OR I hadn't been to so we checked out stuff as it came. Actually I pre-googled stuff via dirt along the highway.

    Pillars of Rome












    Out there was about 20 miles of fun fast dirt road and tons of dust. Every so often we'd hit a giant pillow of flour like dirt that would poof in all directions. The dust over the hood was pretty cool and lucky for me I was the only one out there. With no wind I had a very long dust trail.


    Nevada was all wind and for the most part head on. At parts the speed limit was 55 but most of it 80. At 70 my mpg was out the door and near white knuckle. I'd do faster stints but while going fast I just imagined my exhaust manifolds and cat glowing red. I couldn't wait to get to Winnemucca (said almost no one ever) but once there I couldn't leave fast enough (says everyone). It was hot with a super hot wind that carried blowing sand. We ate, fueled and split. Nothing good enough to take pictures of for like 250 miles.


    Miles long dust plumes



    I had APRS going for our trip out and our trip back. There were sections on both ways of no mans land so there were no data points, hence the straight connect the dots lines.



    Ultra Gauge shot of the trip from start to arriving in Idaho. Mix of fast/slow, mountain driving and offroad.


    Shot of start until leaving ID.


    Another one pulling into my driveway. The wind and my desire to just get home reduced the mileage. I bet sticking to the speed limit and no wind storms would have given me close to 21. Cool.

    Last edited by 4x4mike; 07-01-2015 at 12:41 PM.

  7. #7
    looks like a great trip
    i sell cars to soon to ever work on them

  8. #8
    sweet!
    Lance
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  9. #9
    Never been to Idaho or those sections of Oregon so thanks for enlightening me. That green river was really pretty. Was that using a filter post-processing or does it really look like that? Also, did you ever figure out what was making you sick to your stomach?

  10. #10
    That river really looks like that. Even up here in Northern California we have a lot of those rivers and it's because of the rock underneath and cold water. In CA it's granite and super clear and clean water. I assume something similar there in ID but I don't think it was granite. The geology was so interesting especially at the hot springs which added to the scenery.

    During my trip I used a polarizing filter off and on. Sometimes, just like with sunglasses, it helps outdoors when it's really bright. It does make some of the colors pop but that can be cancelled in the camera or post processing. Without the filter you can also do some in camera tricks to change the effect. Honestly I just point and shoot and most of my post processing is cropping and fixing red eye in Picasa, so nothing special.

    As for the stomach I'm guessing it was whatever the kids had the week before. With it being summer they are exposed to so much more than during school. Parks, stores, traveling, etc. We picked up something somewhere and it was my turn. I don't get sick much but when I do I'm a wuss and the driving around and seeing as much as we could while we were there made it a little tough.
    Last edited by 4x4mike; 07-24-2015 at 08:20 AM.

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