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California Trail

A 30 mile dirt road from Alma, ID took us through the high desert to the Utah border on a section of the old California Trail. We didn’t see a single vehicle, gold miner heading west for fortune or a family with their covered wagon seeking a better life, but we did pick up a new batch of dust and experience the quiet desolation of the high desert these hardy people walked across.

Miles of sage brush in all directions.
The Wee Rover was very excited to place her wheels where covered wagon wheels had rolled before.
The eerie silence of the high desert. Imagine walking across this hour after hour, day after day…hoping the reports of fresh water and shade ahead were accurate.
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Camp Rock

Camp Rock was a big milestone on the California Trail here on the Idaho Utah border. Travelers, including the ill fated Donner Party, used axle grease from their ox carts to mark their passage. Weather and Time has erased most. Hopefully, they found the better life they were walking to!

Camp Rock (and the City of Rocks) was a welcome sight after miles of scrub and sage across the high desert.
Travelers left their mark here, but time and weather have slowly been erasing them away.
Today we would call this graffiti, but really what difference is there? We all want to leave something of ourselves to mark our passage..