HAERR TRIPPIN'

Day 3: Oregon to Idaho

Continuing our quest for knowledge, we began our day at the Keeney Pass Interpretive Site.

Keeney Pass was named for the early western pioneer, Jonathan Keeney. In 1831, at the age of 19, Keeney left Missouri to explore the Rocky Mountains. He joined Jim Bridger of the American Fur Company and spent his life trapping and trading throughout the west. Thousands of emigrants on the Oregon Trail used this pass to reach the fertile farmlands that laid further west. The countryside of Keeney Pass has largely been unchanged since this time.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management as an interpretive site, it offers a 2/3-mile round-trip hike along a section of the original Oregon Trail and visible wagon ruts near an interpretive shelter. Wayside exhibits tell the stories of the overland experience and the native peoples of the area.

A recent fire left evidence of its destruction while also exposing the swales that are the Oregon Trail.

We also stopped at Mile 1526.8 to visit John D. Henderson's Grave.

The bronze plaque reads, "Pioneer Grave of John D. Henderson. Died of Thirst, August 9, 1852, Unaware of Nearness of the Malheur River. Leaving Independence, Missouri, in May 1852, Mr. Henderson and Companion Name Unknown, Had Completed Only Part of the Journey When Their Team Died. They Were Compelled to Continue on Foot Carrying Their Few Possessions. The Twenty Miles of Desert Separating the Snake and Malheur Rivers Proved too Great a Struggle for the Weary Travelers."

The large stone below the plaque, has the original burial inscription carved upon it.

Our home for the night was Idaho's ookily named Massacre Rocks State Park. It received its name from a grouping of boulders that created a narrow break through which the Oregon and California Trails passed. Emigrants, fearing that American Indians might be waiting in ambush, named the boulders "Massacre Rocks." Skirmishes between emigrants and Shoshone Indians did occur in August 1862, but these took place east of the park. The state park still contains visible remnants of the Oregon and California Trails.

We lucked out by getting site #31 which overlooks the Snake River. Wow.

While the Visitor Center was closed when we rolled into camp, we were able to learn the local history by various informative plaques located about.

The Park features a dramatic landscape formed by ancient volcanic activity and reshaped roughly 14,500 years ago by the catastrophic Bonneville Flood, the second worse flood in the Earth's history.

These stone 'knobs' were intriguing and everywhere on this one hill we climbed. So dang geologically cool.

And just look at the view outside our dinette window! Winding for more than 1,000 miles, the Snake River originates in Wyoming, flowing north along the Idaho-Oregon border, eventually making its way into Washington, where it joins the Columbia River as its largest tributary.

“I choose to listen to the river for a while,

thinking river thoughts,

before joining the night and the stars.”

-Edward Abbey

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Day 2: 449 Miles Traversed

Today was one where we traveled through a variety of landscapes. We meandered through villages, towns, and cities... A lumber town which smelled delightfully like newly sharpened pencils; small villages that once had a heyday but were now barely hanging on; and bigger towns which offered all the goods a consumer craves.

That natural scenery was gorgeous, too.

We called it a night in the Oregon town of Vale (pop. 1,894). It has been said, about this little spot, “When you are on Main Street in Vale, Oregon, you are walking on the actual Oregon Trail."

In the early nineteenth century, the area of Vale was known as a stopping place for fur trappers, missionaries, and Oregon Trail emigrants. The Astor Expedition passed through the region in 1811–1812, and Peter Skene Ogden and Hudson’s Bay Company employees trapped beaver there in the late 1820s. Vale became the first regular stop along the Oregon Trail in present-day Oregon, and a trading post was established near the future town in 1853. Several pioneers recorded in their travel journals that the adjacent Malheur River contained hot springs where they enjoyed much-needed baths and rest.

When gold miners arrived in the region beginning in the 1860s, stockmen and businessmen such as Louis B. Rinehart made a living in Vale by supplying beef to miners. Rinehart’s house, constructed in 1872 from locally quarried sandstone, was later used as a hotel, store, post office (1883), and a stagecoach stop (1878).

Other local stone structures include the Vale Hotel and the Grand Opera House (1896), the First Bank of Vale (1901), and the Vale Drug Store (1907).

I fell in love with this vintage hotel/trailer park. The architecture (look at those breeze blocks) and the color just called my name.

That said, we were looking for some open space, peace, and quiet. We found it at Vale's rodeo grounds. Home truly is where you park it.

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Miscellaneous Stuff...

Steve and I have embarked on a Road Trip. Before fully beginning, we made very necessary stops to hug on grandchildren and to visit old friends.

Besides numerous rounds of backgammon, strolls throughout the neighborhood, crafting, and just having time together, we also went on a walk on Sonoma County's West County Regional Trail.

I will walk almost any trail if it ends in a quaint town that offers coffee and cinammon rolls. Today's found us in Forestville.

One of the things I share with both daughters-in-law is a love of thrifting. While I didn't buy this kit to make Betty Ann it was a reminder of Steve's Mom and we both loved that.

What I did buy was this vintage 1991 Conair butane curling iron! I had one for decades and when it died, the new version that was available was junk. When camping, we mostly do not have electricity so having a gas powered way to add a little curl is a special treat. So very, very cool.

Santa Rosa is home to a beloved collection of Peanuts statues, a lasting tribute to Charles M. Schulz, who lived and worked here for over 30 years. Originally part of Peanuts on Parade, a series of public art projects celebrating Schulz’s iconic characters, these larger-than-life sculptures of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Lucy, and more now reside at local businesses, parks, and neighborhoods across the city. One day, I planned to find them all. They bring me joy.

We ended our official First Day on the Road in Redding visiting our old Tahoe friends, Joanne and Gene (read about them here). What a start to the adventure.

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