July 12

As been our custom, we left Boise, Idaho avoiding freeways.  We headed for Payette, Idaho to find the ferry crossing over the Snake River into Oregon.  We failed in this regard and the Payette County Historical Society & Museum sympathized with our efforts and suggested a book that might be helpful.

Our grand return into Oregon was the welcome sign of the commercial progress our state has over all the others we visited.

We made a side trip to Willow Creek and then onto Baker City to see the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  An excellent center, but as we anticipated, they had no information on the trails the Parcels took from their entry into the state to Lebanon, Oregon. 

We continued on to Pendleton for an over-night stay.  Home tomorrow.  There may not be a blog entry tomorrow.

July 11

In Ketchum, Idaho we had our most expensive meals and most expensive lodging, but it was good not to try making it from Pocatello to Boise in one day – not the route we followed.  We continued the Parcel’s  desert trail toward the Boise Valley.

Once in Boise, we headed straight to the Idaho State Historical Museum.  We didn’t find any pictures of the Chinese gardens that the Parcels were so impressed by.  So far we haven’t seen any fruit orchards, but we still have tomorrow.  We did take lots of pictures in the museum and then again outdoors.

 

 

 

Linda has been taking pictures of flowers throughout the trip.  This is one taken today.  Tomorrow we make it back to Oregon and home by Saturday.

July 10

Left Pocatello, Idaho late.  Tried to find an atlas / gazetteer of Idaho, but after the GPS lead us to two locations without a bookstore in sight and then to a used book store that didn’t have it (whose manager recommended we go to an Ace Hardware store because they sold outdoor stuff) we temporarily gave up and went to see the replica of Fort Hall.  The replica must have been inside the Federal Court House, since it wasn’t within several blocks of where the GPS sent us.  We suspected that the Craters of the Moon National Monument was still where the GPS could find it and weren’t disappointed.

The way we interpreted the diary, the Parcels took the Goodale Cutoff to save time getting to Boise.  This meant they went through the Craters of the Moon area.  The Park Rangers at the monument, having heard our story, agreed with our interpretation.  The trip from Fort Hall through the Craters of the Moon area was 45 miles to any water or grass for the animals.  But this is what they should have found after their all night travel through the desert.

One of the rangers told us we should find a wagon trail at this spot and we did.

The area west of this small paradise was more desert.  We continued onto Ketchum, ID which was not part of the Parcel adventure.

 

July 9

An emotion filled day.  We left Rock Springs and headed to a much used Oregon Trail ferry crossing a 30 minute drive north of Green River.  We took pictures of a replica of a ferry and saw our first wagon wheel tracks.

We then proceeded to Granger and took photos of a Stagecoach Change Station.  These stations weren’t needed in 1888 after the business collapse of the Pony Express mail service in 1861, the end of most passenger stagecoach travel with the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, and the end of most conflicts with the Native American tribes in 1877.  Anyhow, Myra Parcel noted passing at least one of these stations in her diary.

We passed through much beautiful scenery.  This picture is in Idaho approaching Soda Springs.  The Parcels celebrated the 4^th of July in Soda Springs, so sometime on our trip tomorrow we will pass through the same location as the Parcels on the same day they did – just 125 years later.

 

 

The day was emotional for us because we finally (with only three days left) took a number of pictures that had eluded us since we started this diary-related journey.  As an added bonus, we took pictures of the most treacherous part of the trip that they survived.  The steep downhill struggle is depicted in the life-size portrayal outside the really really great National Oregon / California  Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho.

July 8

A day of rest in Rock Springs, Wyoming translates into one hour more sleep, half the driving of a normal day on the road, and returning to the same bed for a second night.  From Rock Springs we drove to the next city to the west called Green River (which is mentioned in the diary).  After talking to the nice folks at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, we realized that the Parcels probably crossed the Green River at Buckboard crossing.  The picture shows the landscape approaching the river from the east.

Buckboard Crossing is now part of a recreational area which includes a boat landing and camping.  This picture is of Buckboard Crossing taken from the west side of the reservoir formed by the Green River.

After having crossed what was then a rushing river by ferry, the Parcels traveled north to the town of Green River.  This picture shows what they might have seen approaching the town.

The big tourist attraction in Sweetwater County is Flaming Gorge, so named by John Wesley Powell, who started his trip down the Green and Colorado Rivers from the town of Green River, Wyoming in 1869.  This our favorite picture of this very picturesque gorge.

July 7

We got a bit later start this morning because we feed the car’s GPS navigation device Lat/Long settings and county road intersections.  Our first diary-related stop was Barrel Springs.  We passed through what we discovered too late were no public access roads for trucks we now believe were hauling water for fracking.  We saw many unmarked large storage tanks along the way.  Barrel Springs was uninspiring, but the trip on Barrel Springs Road had some nice scenery.

After lunch in Wamsutter (where we ran into the first convenience store and restaurant that don’t allow use of the restrooms unless you buy something), we went off to find three more diary landmarks.  The sight of Black Buttes was one such landmark.  We are sure the crane in the picture is a more recent addition.

 

We didn’t have high hopes of finding Mud Springs (the last landmark for the day), but we did.  Not very exciting for us in 2013, but when there was water in 1888, a different story. Thank you, Google Earth and Google Maps for your help.  It makes us wonder, however, what kind of maps the Parcels used.

The trip from Mud Springs to Rock Springs was filled with many nice views.  We drove through the first rain we’ve had in days.

July 6

From Cheyenne we headed west to Ames Monument which honors the Union Pacific Railroad financiers who envisioned a transcontinental railroad.  The Parcels passed by this monument in 1888 while it was still the highest point in the Union Pacific track.  The railroad has since been relocated twice to lower elevations, leaving the monument with no train track in sight.







From the monument we went through Laramie and onto a road that passed through the Medicine Bow Mountains.  What a beautiful trip.  The Parcels traveled on Rattlesnake Pass, which a park ranger informed us still existed and had been close to (if not part of) the Overland Trail north of the mountains.

The Parcels crossed the North Platte River for the last time in Saratoga (just west of the Medicine Bow Mts.) and having read part of the diary to the park ranger, we are now reasonably sure that they continued from Saratoga on the Overland Trail for the next few days.  We stopped in Saratoga take a picture of the river and to tour the local museum.

Doing our best to duplicate the Parcel’s 1888 trip, we headed north and then east to just to drive west again on the gravel road used as a pass north of the Medicine Bow Mts.  Along this route, which was also very pretty, we saw many antelope.  These sightings are certainly something most travelers miss on I-80.