Idaho…Mother Nature’s Paintbrush

Our road trip to Oregon took a much-anticipated detour loop to McCall, Idaho. And as we headed west, our road trip took us through a beautiful, but rather desolate landscape on our day long journey.

Sometimes I felt as if we had landed on the moon…with no space suits required.

I’m not sure what it is about abandoned barns and rusted farm equipment that fascinates me so much, but I am always looking for ramshackle buildings to photograph as we speed by on any journey.

If only these old farmsteads could talk…

And when I say speeding by…I mean SPEEDING, since the speed limit is still 80 miles per hour in many sparsely populated parts of the American West!

Farmers and ranchers were busy bailing hay and straw as we passed by, and the golden fields were a beautiful contrast to the “purple mountain majesties” in the distance. (It’s abundantly clear to me as to where those lyrics came from!)

Mother Nature has blessed the Western United States with MANY awe-inspiring vistas, and it wasn’t long before we began to climb from the valley up into those beautiful mountains.

Because of drought conditions, Idaho has suffered from forest fires again this year. And as we began our climb from Boise (elevation 2,730 feet) to McCall (elevation 5,013 feet), the air was tinged with smoke from fires burning not too far away.

The river rafters who flock to the Payette River were shrouded in a smokey haze as we passed by.

The beautiful 82 mile long Payette River is a major tributary of the Snake River, and it is known for it’s whitewater. Experts say parts of that rushing water are some of the most challenging in North America, and maybe in the world!

We climbed higher and higher on that winding, narrow Idaho road. And the air became cleaner as our altitude increased.

On this trip to McCall, we were traveling during midweek, and that’s a great time to make the trip. Locals will tell you to avoid traveling up or down that winding, narrow, mountain road on the weekends, since many, many visitors use the road on those days.

And I must say it’s also nerve-racking to share that narrow road with the scores of logging trucks making the trip at all times! My fingers were often crossed, hoping the ropes securing those logs to the truck bed were secured properly!

Our nail-biting, yet beautiful trip up the mountain led us to the small town of Cascade, Idaho. We spent about twenty minutes looking for the local Chamber of Commerce office, but to no avail. Turns out they don’t have a Chamber of Commerce, but since I was intrigued with the town Peepaw and I kept asking around for someone who could tell us more.

I was finally directed to City Hall where I met Heather. She turned out to be a wonderful spokesperson for the City of Cascade, Idaho.

Heather told me she wished we had more time to spend in their town…especially when she found out I had never tasted huckleberries. She told me we had arrived smack dab in the middle of the picking season!

After a short visit with Heather we headed on toward our destination of McCall. I was really anxious to arrive, since we were going to spend some time with treasured relatives we rarely gt a chance to see. (More about them later.)

And as our day long trip was coming to an end, I saw one more abandoned property that caught my eye. If only that house could talk…

One thing’s for sure about a trip to Idaho.

Mother Nature’s paintbrush has been VERY busy…no matter what road you choose.