Day 18-Idaho
We drove to Malad Gorge State Park which has an overlook to the Malad Gorge, interestingly enough. There is a footbridge crossing the gorge so we got a really good look at the volcanic rock lining the gorge, then walked a trail along the gorge to an overlook that showed the falls. There is a huge spring coming out of the rock downstream from the falls, with vegetation growing in the water.
We followed a cryptic map on the brochure to an area a quarter mile up river to the Malad Way Station, where a bridge had been constructed that was used by early Oregon Trail emigrants. We found the bridge abutments that can still be seen but wandered around looking for the wagon ruts. We think we found them, but as we were traversing areas of the state park, at one point I was in the lead and Scott said he thought we had run out of trail and I was following a deer or buffalo trail, so we retraced our steps. Later we researched more on the internet and found a better map which would have been nice to have when we were out hiking in the blistering sun.
We then drove the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway and saw the springs pouring out of the cliffs, although not as much water as when we had been there in the spring. But it’s still a beautiful area.
We also found Niagara Springs State Park which has a beautiful spring, quite large, coming out of the rock face and winding all over. It was so cool there by the spring and so gorgeous with all the vegetation. There’s also a really nice park there.
Day 19-the last day
We came home from a great trip! We traveled a total of 4010 miles and stayed in two countries and three states. So fun and so awesome to have all that time together!
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