Day 14 Monday September 16, 2013

We left the ranch and drove over the mountains to Boise with a stop to see the old mining town of Idaho City.

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We slept like logs in the picturesque mountain retreat that is the ranch. The creek running through the property is like listening to a natural white noise generator. It started to rain after I had made Jill and I our morning cups of tea and I got some funky photos of early morning light and rain falling off the roof of Tim and Glynnis's cabin. Tim made us breakfast after he and Glynnis had completed their morning chores and then we all went for a walk in the upper meadow and visited an old cabin that overlooks the meadow. 

Early morning sun on the hillside mimics fall colors

Rain off the cabin roof

Us at a backwoods cabin

We left the ranch and took the route over the mountains towards Boise and after traversing 2 very interesting and winding passes we arrived in Idaho City, and would have passed it by if Jill had not looked down a side road and seen a very interesting old town and said, “Steve turn back!” We're both glad that we did as we probably spent almost 2 hours walking around what was an old mining town full of interesting buildings and stories. Gold was discovered there in 1862 and by 1869 they estimate that over $300M of gold ($1869) had been mined, more than the combined totals of the Klondike and California Gold Rush!

Schoolhouse dates back to 1891

Masonic Temple, 1865. Idaho's 1st masonic lodge

Judge's house, blacksmith and jail!

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 1867

We then drove onto Boise and although we had had almost enough of stopping at the myriad of Historical Sites along the road we did one final stop and it was a winner! Across the river we could see the tracks left by the Oregon Trail wagons as they descended from the rim rock to the river. It's almost unbelievable that these tracks are still there today as the use of the trail ended around 1869 after the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. They estimate that over 400,000 settlers traveled the Oregon Trail!

We did go into downtown Boise for a meal and it looks like a really nice city, has an Ottawa/Canberra type feel to it!