Tuesday, August 12, 2014

We were on the road by 8:15 on this overcast 24 C day, heading for Hagerman, Idaho.
It will be an easy drive, east on Interstate 84......or maybe not so much. Didn't take construction in to account.
By the time we reached Boise at 9:25, it was 30 C (86 F). Thank goodness for A/C.

We have seen fields and fields of corn but no Idaho potatoes.

We made a short stop at a Rest Area, from which we could see a huge wind farm with the turbines turning.

At exit 147, we arrived at High Adventure River Tours and RV Park. After getting set up, we drove across the road to the Malad Gorge State Park with our picnic lunch. It is sunny and 31 C.

The Malad River Canyon is 250 feet deep and 2.5 miles long. At the state park, you can view the canyon and walk along the rim.



Well, we had planned to have a picnic lunch, but found the picnic area flooded!

In search of a dry picnic table, we drove on the park road to the various viewpoints.  The deep basalt canyon was formed by a retreating huge waterfall about 4 million years ago as volcanoes spewed enormous amounts of lava over the area. 

Since the area is very dry, it must be irrigated. Therefore a diversion canal was built, both to produce electricity at the generating station and to irrigate the farmland.

We were fortunate to meet a Park Ranger who explained some of the features of the park and told us that they flood the picnic area on purpose! Families apparently go to wade in the water. It has a comfortable grassy bottom and is shallow.

Of course, we had to check it out and perhaps cool off. 

Then, it was back to the RV Park to cool off in the A/C