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Tuff Cones

Posted on by Josh Packer / Leave a comment

I guess you could say I’ve never been much of an explorer, at least in the traditional sense of the word. I do like to explore new experiences on my own, such as creating a home network, troubleshooting IT issues, or developing new photography techniques through watching YouTube videos and then practicing.

But sadly, even though I’ve lived in Idaho pretty much my entire life, I never really got into being outdoors. Don’t get me wrong—I love the smell of a campfire, or the aroma in the woods after a rainstorm. It’s just that hiking was never fun to me. Before I took up photographing Idaho as a hobby, I actually dreaded hikes, which struck me as tedious. But now I enjoy capturing the beauty of, say, a hike in the Driggs area, or a climb up Menan Buttes. Lately, I’ve come to regard each new outing as another opportunity to explore my home state.

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Too Tight for Comfort

Posted on by The Editors / Leave a comment

OVER THE YEARS at IDAHO magazine, we have been privy to a number of harrowing and sometimes funny tales of driving Highway 95’s old White Bird grade between the towns of White Bird and Grangeville, before the modern highway was completed in 1975. For example, our copy editor and regular contributor Les Tanner wrote a three-part series about his travels on “old 95” (August 2009, September 2009, and April 2011), which included plenty of tales about the dangers of the route. And Nancy Sule Hammon wrote a rollicking account (March 2009) of her first experience with driving the frightening grade at night in 1971. Continue reading →

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Even a Tent, if Necessary

Posted on by Josh Packer / Leave a comment

I’ve lived in Idaho almost all of my life, yet feel like I’ve never really explored it. Don’t get me wrong, I love whitewater rafting down the Snake River and boating at the Ririe Reservoir or Palisades Reservoir, but I have never enjoyed sleeping in a tent.

Only recently did I realize that I could discover some of the hidden gems in my state without having to camp out.

It began when I was searching on the Internet for fun places to go near my home in Ammon, and came across a place called Fall Creek Falls. Looking at amazing pictures of the waterfall, I scolded myself, “You’ve lived in Idaho for almost thirty years and haven’t been to Fall Creek Falls?” I mentioned the place to my brother Brent, who said he had never been there either. We decided to go together.

As it turned out, Brent took an opportunity to visit Fall Creek Falls before me, which meant that he could later show me the way. When he told me that the falls were within about a forty-five-minute drive from my house, we picked Memorial Day for our trip, since I had the day off. We got up early that morning and hit U.S. 26, or the “Old Highway,” as I called it growing up. It’s a scenic drive past wheat fields and along the Snake River to Swan Valley. The morning was dark as we approached the turnoff for Fall Creek Falls, which made it difficult, since there are no signs for the waterfall. Luckily, we found the turnoff and drove a few more miles. Brent had told me the waterfall was literally off the side of the road, but I didn’t believe him until we came down the hill and heard the rushing water right next to us.

We enjoyed the view from up above the falls, but then Brent decided to venture down to get a front-on view of the falls on a little island. Getting to the island is hard to do, and usually is only accessed via boat, but I was unaware of that at the time, so I joined Brent. The river made it difficult for us to get across to the island, but branches from a tree formed a little bridge. I took a big step onto the branches but my leg plunged about three feet into the Snake River, and got stuck between the branches. I had my camera on my shoulder and feared I would ruin it by toppling into river, but the branches immobilized me until I could figure out how to get to the island. Continue reading →

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Coming Home

Posted on by Greta Rybus / Leave a comment

I ask my mom for the keys to her car, the way I did when I was seventeen.

I wake up early, drive out of the foothills and down Boise’s State Street, past my dad’s favorite lumber store, to re-enter the hills from a new angle. Every so often, I need a day like this. It’s just me, a water bottle, my wallet, and my camera. No true plan, just a direction. On this day, it’s north toward Horseshoe Bend. I want to go somewhere new in a place that feels familiar.

I live in Maine now, and on this September day, it has been almost a year since the last time I was in Idaho. I moved away the summer after high school, nearly ten years ago. I like coming back in September, the prettiest time of year almost everywhere in the United States, but especially in Idaho. In that month, Idaho is a romance of golds and browns, hard workers and harsh sunlight, open space and wildness.

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In the Desert

Posted on by Clay Almquist / Leave a comment

My love of Owyhee County started when I was barely two years old. Back then, I frequently stayed with my aunt and uncle in Guffey, where my aunt told me stories of Owyhee County, including tales of Big Foot, the Lost Dutchman Mine, and the ruins of Spanish conquistadors.

Of course, I had no idea at the time of how rich my own family’s history was in the region. Now, at age sixty-seven, I’m deeply engaged in genealogy research our family is conducting in the county. My role is to repair old photographs. I also have explored all the county lands owned by my ancestors, and have traversed the area in all directions from corner to corner, on foot and in my jeep. I have taken hundreds of photographs in communities, and of land formations and wildlife.

My sister, Sharon Job, became interested in genealogy research when she was thirteen years old. This prompted our mother, Virginia Almquist, to ask relatives for information about the history of her family. For decades, they collected wedding invitations, birth announcements, pictures, obituaries, and other materials. Sharon has entered much of this information into a computer program and plans to coauthor a book with relatives in Canada and Pennsylvania. Continue reading →

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Solitude

Posted on by Francisco Lozano / Leave a comment

Two years ago, I once again took up watching the old TV series Little House on the Prairie. When I first saw it as a child in black-and-white, the program spawned fantasies of living in the wilderness.

But I lived in Los Angeles, and remained there for almost thirty years, until my wife and I moved to Garden Valley in 2012. No sooner did I realize we would relocate to the mountains of Idaho than I started watching that old show again, as if it would prepare me mentally for the change of habitat and the cultural shock I was about to experience.

Nowadays, I often find myself going alone into the wilderness, and have learned to cherish this solitude, although I realize it can be dangerous at times. Some places are accessible only by ATV or motorcycle, unless you have a horse, and on those occasions even my dog can’t come along. I now do some of the same things the children on the show did, such as going fishing alone at a creek with a lunch sack and sometimes with the dog. I had never fished in my life and, to my surprise, I caught two trout the first time I tried. Continue reading →

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2014 Cover Photo Contest

Posted on by Kitty Delorey Fleischman / Leave a comment

The results of IDAHO magazine’s annual photo contest are in. The entries were many, the competition stiff, and decisions difficult.

The rules, as usual, were simple. Each photo had to depict an Idaho setting and contain at least one person, although not necessarily as the primary subject. In blind voting, judges selected their five favorite images, in numerical order. The weighted votes were then tallied.

In a future issue, you’ll see the winning shot as the cover of a print edition of IDAHO magazine. In the meantime, here are the winners online for our visitors. You also can view winners from past years on this website, by clicking on the “Contests” tab at the top of the home page. Choose “Photo Contest” from the dropdown menu, and then click “View Gallery” in the sidebar. Continue reading →

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Amidst the Falls

Posted on by Michael Vogt / Leave a comment

On a visit to Ritter Island, Michael Vogt created a photographic portfolio and recorded an interview with Daisy Welch, a knowledgeable volunteer for Thousand Springs State Park, to which Ritter Island belongs. Following is a transcript of Daisy’s story about the site:

In 1914, a real estate couple from Salt Lake City, Lee and Minnie Miller, received this property for back taxes and back payment.
Minnie Miller, who was forty-seven, took one look at the property and she said, “That’s where I want to raise my prize show cattle.” Her husband thought it was kind of a nutty idea, but he deeded the property over to her.

She started putting up all these buildings you see here. She imported her breeding stock from the Isle of Guernsey in the British Isles, and the foundation cows grazed right there. She did a breeding program­­—she was a member of Guernsey Breeding Association and the Idaho Dairy Association —and she built up this whole property. If you visit the barn, you’ll see what was state-of-the-art in the 1920s. It now looks a little old school to us. Continue reading →

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Our Town on the Fourth

Posted on by Conrad Vogel / Leave a comment

For this issue, we asked our more than 20,000 Facebook followers to send in images of the Fourth of July in their hometowns. Some of those shots are on these pages, and Clark Fork resident Conrad Vogel added commentary that deserves publication.

My earliest memory of Clark Fork on the Fourth of July is walking in the parade with my older brother and sister when I was six. I was Johnny Appleseed. The last time I was in the parade, I drove my ‘58 GMC truck. I’m forty-three and have been in Clark Fork most of my life, graduating from Clark Fork High School in 1988. The Fourth hasn’t changed much here over the decades. Continue reading →

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