It was a relatively short trip from Yellowstone to our next stop
in Arco, Idaho. Along the way we drove through Grand Teton National Park. As a lifelong fan of grand tetons, I have to say, it was a most impressive sight.
Arco, Idaho turned out to be an interesting place, sort of time warp to the 1950’s when a futuristic utopia seemed just around the corner. Their claim to fame, emblazoned on everything from t-shirts to storefront marquees, is “The First City in the World to be Powered by Atomic Energy”. I assume this has everything to do with being located next to a truly gigantic National Defense Laboratory, which is big enough to be a city itself. I can’t tell you any more about that, because the black SUV parked across the entrance road definitely discouraged inquisitive visitors with cameras. But from having billboards urging you to try the Atomic Burger at the local café to a random submarine conning tower installed in a downtown park, you can tell something interesting definitely was going on here back in the day. Not so much now, mind you, but it was a curious look into a place that, once on the cusp of greatness, felt frozen in time and subsequently forgotten.
We stopped in Arco because it was the closest camping we could find to our next exploration, Craters of the Moon National Monument. This wasn’t a huge park, which after Yellowstone was something of a relief. We set aside just one day to explore it, and that proved to be perfect. We climbed cinder cones, hiked past lava beds, and peered into deep tubes and caves that still held snow. It was a stark landscape, covered in rough pumice and tough, scrubby growth. It was all beautiful in its own way, and unlike any other place we are likely to see. Astronauts trained here before the first moon landing, and it’s clear why. The one thing that will undoubtedly stand out above everything else, however, will be the wind. It was an insanely windy day. Hats were flying, kids were almost blown off of hilltops, and our legs were pelted by tiny cinders and rocks. It made an already otherworldly place even more so.
We also did some primo stargazing, pulling off to the side of the road well away from anything. While cars and trucks came by more often than was optimal, we got breathtaking views of the night sky, found constellations, reveled in the milky way, and the kids even saw a shooting star. It was a great moment.
From Arco we kept going west, to Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, where we had a date with the Payette River. One of the kids’ bucket list items was white water rafting, so we hooked up with Cascade Raft and Kayak and took a trip through some rapids. Our guide Ryan was laid back and funny, and we had a great time floating through the calm parts and then paddling through the rough ones. Class III was as high as we went, which was a good level for our crew, although Olive is determined to try some harder ones in the future. The scheduling gods were on our side for this trip, because there is nothing better to do on a 98 degree day than float on your back down an icy river. I wish I had more pics, but I did buy a few from the staff photographer. All in all, Idaho provided us with some great memories.
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