I mentioned in the last post about still waiting on all the parts needed to have the work done on our new Jeep so it can be flat towed. Rather than extending our stay at Willard Bay State Park north of Salt Lake City, we decided to head even further north into Idaho. It’s past mid October and going north might seem risky but the weather in this part of the country has been extremely nice and the forecast for where we are heading looks good for the next week - mid 70’s for highs and mid 30’s for lows.
Our destination is City of Rocks National Reserve near Almo Idaho. It’s about a 145 mile drive from our current location and sort of in the middle of nowhere. There is camping within the national reserve but it is only for tents or very small rigs. There are some private campgrounds nearby but they had poor reviews. An Elks Lodge in the town of Rupert has electric hookups but this would be an hour drive each way which makes visiting the reserve a pain. Castle Rocks State Park is just a few miles northeast of City of Rocks and does have a campground that we can fit in. Even better, the state park’s campground is separate from the main state park and conveniently located just a mile from the entrance to the national reserve. The Smoky Mountain campground has 37 sites with electric and water as well as a dump station. It seems like the perfect spot to base our visit so we had reserved a site for 7 nights. We made the drive without incident but it did require us to drive separately.
Entering Idaho on Interstate 84
We have found that the regulations in state parks can be confusing and those in Idaho were no different. Besides the fee for the campsite, vehicles are required to have an entrance pass. What wasn’t clear was whether both the Jeep and the motorhome would require the pass, or just the Jeep. Nor was it clear whether our camping fee included one of the vehicle passes or not. Since each entrance pass is $7 per day, our campsite was going to cost either $38, $45, or $52 per day. Being off season, there wasn’t a camp host to check with, just an entrance kiosk with equally confusing wording. We ended up deciding to buy one additional vehicle pass just to be safe. We did eventually run into a park employee walking the campground checking for proper tags and it sounded like our conclusion was correct but even he wasn’t very clear with what the rules are.
Based on the remoteness of this location and the fact that the population of the nearest town (Almo) is only 74 people, it might not be too surprising that we have no over the air TV reception and only occasionally get cell coverage if we use our roof mounted antenna and the wind is blowing just right. I guess we will be out of touch for the next week.
Having a full week here, we didn’t feel obligated to quickly see all there is within the national reserve. Instead, we would drive thru the City of Rocks and head north up Forest Road 562. Our destination was to find a few geocaches that had been hidden over 6 weeks ago but hadn’t been found yet. We have never been “FTF hounds” (first to find) like some other geocachers. It is possible to enable notifications on your phone to let you know when a new geocache has been published in order to rush off to find it first. That isn’t our style of caching, but when we are presented with the opportunity to search for recently hidden and not yet found caches in an interesting area, we will go for them.
The drive thru City of Rocks is a somewhat rough dirt road but doesn’t require a special vehicle to make it to the various trailheads. There were quite a large number of people in the reserve as we went by and it really looks like a fascinating place to explore. The drive north out of the park was much rougher. This will be the first time driving the new Jeep on roads it should be able to eat up without problem. Our caches were not hidden on a trail listed in AllTrails so we didn’t have coordinates for a trailhead. But our maps did have some dotted lines so we roughly knew where we needed to go. We did have difficulty finding the starting point of the trail and ended up driving to the northern end of our intended hike but found an area where we could park well off the road and start our journey. The colors of the autumn leaves were on full display.
Pretty Setting at Start of Hike
The trail to the south started out as a dirt road. It was in very rough shape at points but easy enough to hike. The views over the are was quite nice. A side trail heads up to Graham Peak, but it is would add nearly a mile to our hike and a couple hundred feet of elevation so we skip it.
Overlooking Valley to West
Our trail splits off the road and follows a barb wire fence line. It’s not much of a trail and is rocky at points but manageable. We eventually get to a point on the ridge where we can look over into the valley where City of Rocks is located. It is a rather stunning view at this time of year with the mountains in the distance, the rock outcroppings in the valley and the bright yellow Aspen trees interspersed along the hillside.
Trail Along Fence Line
Overlooking City of Rocks
Closeup of Fall Colors
There are some rather large rock cairns along the path but as we work our way down the hill, they aren’t really needed since the trail is rather obvious. We find the 4 caches without problem and are first to find on all of them. We work our way back to the road to discover the place we missed as we drove up the road. Our hike was about 2 miles at this point and we had the choice of backtracking on the trail we just hiked or follow the road. We picked the road mainly to just get different views of the area. Plus there is practically no traffic so we don’t need to worry about getting run over. One couple in a pickup truck did pass by and made sure we were okay. They are familiar with the area and don’t often see people walking the road. Other than it being all uphill, it was a decent walk along the road and definitely got other views to the west.
Large Rock Cairn
Entering Sawtooth National Forest on Road
Colorful Valley
Back at camp, we headed out for a walk before sunset. There is an equestrian area that is part of the campground. A trail leads from the parking area and continues into City of Rocks. The full trail is 7 miles long but we don’t have enough energy or daylight left to do more than a mile before turning around. It’s a pretty hike and even ran into a cow grazing just off the trail.
Moooo
The next morning, we saw we had gotten a call from Utah but given our poor signal level, we weren’t able to actually talk with them. We assumed it was our car dealership calling to tell us something about our registration paperwork they are working on. We drive a few miles to the visitor center for City of Rocks to see if they know how far we need to go in order to get cell coverage. They actually have decent Wi-Fi here and we can connect our phone to make a call using this instead of a cell tower. It turns out all of our paperwork was completed and they were getting ready to send it. We got a tracking number for the package so we know when the DMV in Florida receives it. We were pretty impressed with the dealer getting this done in under 2 weeks. Now we will see how quickly Florida is able to handle their side of the paperwork - maybe we will get this car registered well before our 45 day temporary tag runs out.
At Visitor Center
We head into City of Rocks to check things out and start tackling some of the many hiking trails they have. Our plan is to tie together a couple different trails to get a 3+ mile loop. We start out on the Geologic Interpretive Trail. We have a handful of EarthCaches on this unique section to help us understand some of the rock formations along the trail.
Entrance to City of Rocks
Start of Geological Trail
It was a beautiful day and the views were pretty incredible as well. This trail intersects the Geo Watt Trail and we continue west. The combination of the evergreen trees and the vibrant yellows of the Aspens make for a very pretty hike.
Pocket of Aspen
We get to a small side trail that leads to “Site 18”. Apparently this is one of the many campsites that you can reserve and hike into. Nobody was occupying the site but it is very secluded and has lots of interesting rock formations. I suppose spending the night out here might be fun.
Chris Finds an Opening
We come back out onto the Geo Watt Trail which intersects the Stripe Rock Trail. It was clear from the rock outcropping with a large stripe running through it where the trail got its name. This is a longer trail that can be used to go further west but we take it to the east to complete our loop back to the car. A very nice hike in the reserve today.
Stripe Rock
Aspens and Stripe Rock
The remoteness of our campground lends to it being a very dark night sky. I headed out one evening to see if I could get some night sky shots.
Milky Way
Night Sky Video
The following day we took the short drive up to Castle Rocks State Park. While it is a little smaller than the national preserve, it has similar rock features and lots of hiking trails. We arrived early in the morning and did some trails around the Castle Rock itself. There is a trail around its perimeter and a few others that branch off of it. There are even a few trails that go into some of the nooks and crannies of the 350 foot peak for those with an adventuresome bent.
Castle Rock
We saw some signs indicating there were some pictographs to see. Unlike petroglyphs that are carved or chipped into the rock, pictographs are painted - think ancient graffiti. We found a sign at the rock explaining where they are but then telling visitors that what remains of the images cannot be seen with the naked eye and needs a special camera to even see them. Kind of disappointing. The views of the nearby mountains and the valley covered with bright yellows and oranges made up for the lackluster pictographs We continue around Castle Rock and heard voices but initially didn’t see anybody until we looked up and saw some rock climbers.
View of Mountains to West
Colorful Valley
Climber on Castle Rock
We work our way around the backside of Castle Rock and pick up the Backyard Boulders Trail. One rock outcropping that stood out was called Three Pools Boulders. At first it wasn’t clear where the name came from but it is possible to climb up onto them and then you can see the 3 small cavities worn into the rock. They were currently dry so they weren’t really pools but it was clear they do hold water at times. I found the large rock next to this to be even more interesting. Let your mind go and you’ll see the bird looking up into the air.
Three Pools Boulders
Bird?
There were lots more odd rock outcroppings along this trail. We likely got in just over 2 miles and headed back to the car for lunch.
Helmet?
Backside of Castle Rock
We drove down to the picnic area near lodge, bunkhouse and glamping yurt. From what we could tell, these buildings can be rented for your overnight stay in the park.
Bunkhouse and Lodge Buildings
After lunch, we headed out for another hike Chris had selected. The Bracksiecks Pillar Loop is listed as a moderate 2.2 mile trail with just under 500 feet of elevation gain. It sounded like a nice enough hike so we headed out. The first half mile is pretty flat and tame. We are approaching a large mountain jutting out of the ground that didn’t seem like a place there would be trails but we continued on. The trail then hits the loop portion and we head to the left to go around in a clockwise fashion which puts the steepest section of the trail on the uphill portion.
Trail is Still Obvious
Heading Up There?
It didn’t take long for the trail to get difficult. There were occasional signs marking intersecting trails and some rock cairns, but we managed to get off the trail and we each bushwhacked up the side of the mountain taking different routes hopefully running into the actual trail again. We finally made it through and out onto more open rock face terrain with some more cairns so we were at least feeling better about not being lost.
Looking Down Where We Came From
The only problem now was the “trail” was going across some very exposed rock sections where there was both a steep ascent as well as a steep side slope. It was one of those hikes where you really need to feel confident in your footing because it’s a long way down if you’re wrong!
Chris Crawls Up
Need to Head That Way
We were able to compare our location to that of the trail within the AllTrails app to get a sense we were on the right path but the actual conditions in person would dictate how closely I tried to follow the “trail” on the phone. I generally went first to survey the situation and make sure I was convinced we were on the intended trail then I would call back to Chris to follow me. As we reached what was the high point of the hike the views over the valley were impressive.
View from High Point of Trail
It was at about this point that I noticed that Chris hadn’t come around the last rock she needed to negotiate to catch up with me. She had made the mistake of looking down and was now frozen in place. I gave her time to recompose herself and after a few minutes, she made it to the overlook. I proceeded to the start of the downhill section and I found myself panic just a bit too. We needed to go down a rather steep, mostly smooth rock surface. It wasn’t clear to me I would be able to overcome my fear of falling and work my way over this obstacle, so how would Chris be able to do it? After surveying the situation, I went back to tell her she wasn’t going to like this next part but we would take it real slow and do it safely. The picture doesn’t really do the situation justice since it doesn’t show over the edge very well.
Our Route Down
With a combination of spider crawling and butt sliding, we made it down past this rock face. There were still some tough sections ahead but none of them would rival this one and it was nice as we started to get lower in elevation and having trees and brush to hang onto if we did slip and fall. We ran into a couple that had rock climbing gear and were heading out for a technical climb on the other side of the hike we did. We commented that that was one of the tougher and scarier hikes we have done. They commented that their teenage son will not go out climbing with them since he has a fear of heights so we didn’t feel so bad. As we came out into the open and could look back we were amazed there is a trail up there and impressed we did it.
Looking Back Up
Our Hike Track
We got back to camp and discovered they had shut off all the water to the park. Even though it hasn’t been getting all that close to freezing, I guess they wanted to be ready for the inevitable. Fortunately we had found out about the plan a day earlier so we had already filled up our fresh water tank.
The wind must have been blowing just right because we managed to get a phone call the next morning from the DMV in Florida. They had received all our paperwork and were starting to process all the forms so we could get the vehicle registered and have a title sent to us. We needed to email another document so Chris drove down to the visitor center to use their Wi-Fi. Ninety minutes later, she was back and everything was taken care of. I was able to remove our temporary Utah tag and put our old plate on the new car. The paperwork would be sent to the main DMV office and we should have a title mailed to us in 2 weeks. It felt good to have all of this taken care of. We may never need to buy another vehicle out of state and register it remotely but if we do, we have the experience under our belts.
Since this task only took part of the morning, we still had plenty of time to head into City of Rocks for more hiking. The goal was to hike the Boxtop and Bumble Trails. We figured this combination should be between 3 and 4 miles long. The trail starts out near one of the primitive campsites just off the main road and drops down into the valley over the first half mile.
Heading Down Boxtop Trail
Many of the rock formations in the park have names. In fact, this trail is named after one called Boxtop. Some of the formations and their names make sense while others leave us scratching our heads. I suppose it’s possible we aren’t looking at them from the proper orientation to be able to “see” how their name came to be. As we were coming upon one of the spires, I was convinced it looked just like a hand with a thumbs up. I haven’t figured out how to submit this to the park staff but I would like it to be called “Thumbs Up Rock”.
Boxtop Rock
"Thumbs Up" Rock
The trail eventually intersects with Striped Rock and Bumble Trails, we take the later which will bring us back around the top of the loop. There are some good colors in the trees along this trail as well. There are also several arches or window formations along the trail.
More Fall Colors
One Side of Window
Better View on Opposite Side
We had the additional support of several EarthCaches along this route to point out some of the various formations including Flaming Rock Window. From the name, I was expecting more but maybe you need to be there around sunrise or sunset instead of mid afternoon. The Bumble Trail can be taken back over to Boxtop to get back to the car but this would require us to repeat some of the hike. We instead continue up the side of the valley. It will lead us up to the road and we can walk back to the car. On the opposite side of the valley, we spot another climber. This is definitely a big climbing destination. I suspect many of the visitors come here specifically to climb but City of Rocks is great to hike or even just view from some of the viewpoints along the road.
Underwhelming Flaming Rock Window
Another Climber
We have been really enjoying our stay here and we still have two full days left before we are to head back to Salt Lake City on Sunday to have the car setup for flat towing the following day. The only problem is that the weather forecast is changing and a rather nasty sounding winter storm is to be coming into the area in a couple of days just in time for our 150 mile drive. We call the business to see if we can delay the install a day or two so we don’t need to drive the motorhome in a snowstorm. Turned out they were still missing one component that was due to come in on Wednesday so our coming into town a day late will be fine.
With one nice day remaining, we head back into the reserve to explore many of the places most people will check out on their first day here. We have driven past the Circle Creek Rock House numerous times but never stopped to investigate the old building. There isn’t much information about the place. Only a few of the walls of the 1904 building remain and it is fenced off so it’s not possible to get a real good look at it.
Circle Creek Rock House
Another View
A bit further along the road is Camp Rock and Kaiser’s Helmet. The former is a spot where emigrants traveling along the California trail would often stop for the night. Many would write their names on the rock with axle grease. The later is the name of a rock formation where the name actually makes a lot of sense. It looks a lot like a World War I German soldier’s helmet including the spike on top.
Names on Camp Rock
Aptly Named Kaiser's Helmet
Continuing down the main park road is a stop for Register Rock. This is another large rock outcropping where emigrants wrote their names. We got out of the car and walked around the large rock. Given most of these names were written nearly 150 years ago, I am somewhat amazed that the names are still legible.
Register Rock
We continue south on the road to check out Twin Sisters. There are a couple of interpretive signs along the way with some nice views of the varied rock outcroppings. Twin Sisters is interesting in that even though the two rocks are side by side, one is 2.5 billion years old while the other is a mere 25 million years old.
Twin Sisters
The next stop on our tour of City of Rocks is Window Arch. This is one of the more popular stops in the park. You can park within a few hundred feet of the arch and the biggest problem is waiting your turn to get some photos.
Window Arch
Other Side of Window Arch
Bath Rock is the next stop. For some reason, this place is a very popular climbing location. We saw at least 3 groups working on different faces of the rock. We stopped to watch one guy. From our vantage point, he appeared to be stuck. The small crevice he was going up didn’t seem to have any spots to place his toes or fingers and expected he would drop down on his rope and try another approach. But just as we thought that, he nearly scampered up the rock to the top. As we came around the corner from him, there appeared to be a way up that even I might be able to climb and reach the same point he achieved but I decided coming back down might be a real challenge so I passed.
Climber on Bath Rock
Bath Rock
We found a spot across the road from Bath Rock to eat our lunch before heading out on the Creekside Towers Trail. We started out on the 1.4 mile loop with a couple of climbers. They were heading to some rock along this trail. Even after a brief talk with them, it wasn’t clear what drives them to climb. This was a pretty trail with both overlooks above the valley and some wooded trails. Again the fall colors were at peak. In the next day or two as the storm passes through, the winds may bring down many of the leaves and it’s not clear how much snow we might see. Our timing was nearly perfect.
View from Creekside Towers Trail
Wooded Section of Trail
We crossed paths with the climbers just as they were starting their climb. We decided to avoid making them nervous by watching them. We extended the loop a bit at Parking Lot Rock by continuing around the north side of it. This one seems to be named based on its proximity to a parking lot as opposed to looking like one! There turned out to be some decent uphill sections and since we are over 6000 feet in elevation, it was somewhat of a workout but still was a beautiful hike.
We had gotten done with this whirlwind tour fairly early in the afternoon. We didn’t hike every single trail in the park but we did a large number of them. I went for a drive by myself in search of geocaches in three other Idaho counties we haven’t been to yet but were not too far from camp. As I was driving thru the town of Rupert, I was noticing many dozens of large trucks carrying some sort of harvest. At first I assumed they were potatoes since we are in Idaho. But I was able to get a better view of the cargo in the dump beds and realized that while they looked like some sort of crop that grows in the ground like a potato, they were not shaped like potatoes. I came to the conclusion I was looking at sugar beets being harvested and heading to processing plants in the area. We have heard of work camping jobs around this time of year working the sugar beet harvest. Most of the jobs I had heard about were in the Dakotas and Minnesota area but it looks like this part of Idaho is a big sugar beet growing area. As I drove by one of the apparent processing plants, there were huge piles of sugar beets all over the place. I suspect the huge amount of activity was to try to harvest as much of the fields as they could before the bad weather comes in and makes the fields too wet to work.
Unusual Artwork
We were originally scheduled to leave on Sunday and drive into Salt Lake City, but the storm started coming thru on Saturday and was expected to get worse on Sunday. SLC had all sort of weather warnings posted for travel on Sunday but by Monday it was supposed to be sunny again. We decided to simply extend our stay in the state park one more night. Earlier in the week the campground had been nearly full. Now, everybody but us and one other hearty soul pulled out early to beat the weather. So keeping our spot wasn’t an issue. It definitely got cold and some snow flakes were flying in camp, but it wasn’t too bad. The nearby mountains had a nice dusting of snow on them after the front went through.
Snow Covered Mountains
City of Rocks National Reserve turned out to be quite a wonderful stop. We were so glad one of the salesmen at the dealership in Brigham City had mentioned this place because we likely wouldn’t have found it on our own. Even our timing wasn’t horrible. Since we needed to wait for parts for the car, we were more or less stuck too far north in late October so whether we waited out the storm in Idaho or Salt Lake City, we were going to need to suffer through it. Plus it looks like the weather was going to improve so we should be able to get the car setup and out of here before we get stuck for the winter!
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