Posts Tagged With: Soda Springs captive geyser

Soda Springs, ID, Oct. 4

Suddenly it was fall in Idaho. And thankfully so, since several of our planned activities bummed out.

Until now, we have not seen any true fall colors. A little bit here and there, nothing dramatic, and not a lot of it. Then we left Pocatello. We were to spend some time in south east Idaho. We had a short hop down Interstate 15 and thought we saw some nice red colors far off on the mountain slopes. We left the Interstate and headed for our first destination of Paris Idaho. It would take us over Emigration Pass. Thankfully, these were gentle ascents through the mountains, and we finally saw deciduous trees brilliantly adorned in fall colors.

Paris, Idaho had a temple of the Latter Day Saints that was able to be viewed as part of a guided tour. The website indicated tours were offered during the summer, but other locations indicated that data was outdated and tours were still being offered. In any event, we were going to check it out. The town is small, only about 500 people but the temple goes back to 1888 with a Romanesque style. We arrived, saw the outdoor building where the guides would wait for people, but the building was empty, and no tours were offered today. Disappointment number one.

To soothe our disappointment, we went back to a small store that we noticed on the way in. El Camino Donuts. A small shop in a small town but they had wonderful donuts. We talked, of course, with the owner who had moved here two years ago with his artist wife. She has a gallery inside the donut shop. They had moved up here from Albuquerque where he had made donuts before. The style and flavors were excellent. There were soft chairs to sit in, so we had donuts, coffee and milk, and conversation with the owner. As we left, he gave us two free donuts to take with us.

Bear Lake in the south east corner of Idaho extends slightly into Utah and is a well-known, beautiful blue lake with high tourist potential. But we’ve seen it before, so we settled instead for the Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Several varieties of ducks were visible on the ponds in the refuge, and it made for a pleasant diversion after missing out on the Paris Temple.

Montpelier was next. Our main target was the Oregon California Trail Center and Museum. We drove in and parked in the lot just as another car arrived and parked close to the front door. A banner on the building advertised the quilt show which was going to end October 15. Chris was hoping to see some good examples of quilts along with the historical information about the national trails. Or maybe, it was Ed that really wanted to see the historical information. In any event, we got out of our car.

The gentleman left his car and walked to the doorway on the left-hand side of the building. It was locked. He unlocked it and went inside. It was a Forest Ranger Station. We went to the door on the right hand side which was for the Trail Center. It was open. It should not have been. The interior door to the museum was locked and the Ranger was nice enough to tell us he has no idea what their hours are and why they can’t keep it straight. He did encourage us to come into his area where we chatted about the forests in southeast Idaho. The website for the National California-Oregon Trail Center, which we had checked this morning, said the trail center would be open until 3 PM today. Disappointment number two.

Formation Springs

We moved on. It was but a short drive to Soda Springs, where we were to spend the night, although we thought we would arrive later. Two activities for Soda Springs. First, they have a geyser which is attached to a timer and goes off every hour. Second, Formation Springs was to be a natural area where water bubbles out of the ground over travertine rocks. We thought it might be a miniature Mammoth Springs as is in Yellowstone.

Phosphate Processing

On the way to Formation Springs, we passed a huge phosphate mining and processing center. It stands out like a sore thumb on the countryside. 40% of the nations phosphate reserves are found within a 100 mile radius in the highlands of southeast Idaho. We found Formation Springs after driving up a bumpy, rutted road to the parking area. All we could see were one or two springs flowing into streams very nice and clear. The travertine rocks were nowhere in sight for us. Disappointment number three.

But the geyser works! We knew it was not a huge one. We knew it went off on the hour, every hour. So we pulled into Soda Springs at 1:59 p.m. and watched the geyser going off for a full seven minutes. You might argue that a natural geyser would not be attached to a timer and go off on a regular basis. However, in 1937, while looking for a hot water source for a local swimming pool, a well driller accidentally set off the natural geyser. Later they set up the timing feature after the Secretary of the Interior said that this geyser was upsetting Old Faithful‘s flow, many miles away. Who knows. In any event, it’s capped, goes off regularly, and we saw it in the nick of time.

Disappointment number four. Next to the geyser is Eastman’s Drug Store. It was supposed to have an old-fashioned soda fountain serving delicious ice cream. It is the oldest drug store in Idaho and Chris checked the website this morning. Open until 3 pm. After the geyser went off, we walked over and saw that the door said the closing time was “Twoish”. Well it was 2:20 and they were closed. After checking two other restaurants that were closed for various reasons, we did find a place open and had a delicious lunch.

At least our hotel was open for 3 PM check in and we are here for the evening. Tomorrow, off to Yellowstone via back roads. Maybe we’ll see more fall colors.

Ed & Chris, Soda Springs, Idaho, October 4.

Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge