Out of the Gray and into the Blue - McCall, Idaho

Truckee, CA
Alpine Meadow CG

Once we decided to make our escape from the wildfire smoke and head to Idaho early, I took a picture on our way out. As we drove through Reno and Winnemucca, the smoke finally cleared.

Horrible Air Quality!

Many old forgotten about buildings and farms along I-80.

We hoped to arrive at our overnight spot before dark.  That didn't happen, but we did get to see a strange looking sunset through what was left of the haze.

Oravada, Nevada

Rest Area NB

This free rest area was a large, simple paved lot about a 1/2 hr. south of the Oregon border.  Easy in/out with a restroom and a couple of picnic tables.  We arrived just after dark and joined a couple of truckers and another RV.  I took this pic in the morning.  This is a new route for us going into Idaho.  Not much different than the others, but we always enjoy different routes.  Decently quiet at night.

Rt. 95N is a nicely paved one lane each way road. Not much traffic.

As we dropped down into Rome, Oregon you pass these colorful sandstone cliffs along the Owyhee River Valley.  There is a Historical Landmark called Pillars of Rome here but we did not want to tow the trailer down the dirt road to get there as it sounded rough.  It would be nice to see that as well as the grave of Sacagawea's son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who is buried just east of Rome in Danner. 

Owyhee River.

Before crossing into Idaho, you hook north at the tiny town of Jordan Valley.  We did stop at the Rock House Cafe to grab a coffee and some cute things for Jaxon.  They had a very nice gift shop for such a small store.  Plenty of coffee, sandwiches and ice cream in this adorable building made of rocks.  They also have a couple of nice historic spots to see but we couldn't see a space for us to pull over in time with the trailer.

As you pass through Parma and Fruitland you see lots of fields of Hops. They were starting to harvest.

Midvale Hill, Idaho

Rest Area/Visitor Center

Later in the day we arrived at our next overnight spot in Midvale, Idaho.  This Rest Area had a visitor center, water and restrooms.  Great cell and very large area.  Decently quiet at night. Free to stay.

Snake River

Uh-oh.  Someone took the turn a bit too sharp.  Yikes!

Conveniently, we stopped at a Sinclair Gas Station on Main St. in New Meadows and dumped our tanks and filled our fresh water tank as we were about 20 minutes from our boondocking spot in McCall, ID.

Our site on Cascade Lake

My first choice was to boondock on Little Payette Lake just outside of McCall.  I did read some new  not-so-great comments on Campendium stating that the area is kind of taken over by squatters.  That did turn out to be the case so we left and went to our Plan B which was 1/2 hour south of McCall to Cascade Lake.

Rainbow Point is a National Forest run campground right on the northwest side of the lake.  It's GORGEOUS!  Very small, maybe 12 sites with a few right on the lake.  I would not take a rig bigger than ours as the road to the sites is narrow with a couple of low branches.  Steve is a pro at getting us into places some would not try.  We did park and walk it first.  

This site #7.  While some sites are pull throughs and some a bit deeper, this one just barely fit us.  It is the best site though.  Nice deep, private site with your own beach and lake access.  $14/$7.50 with our Sr. Pass.  No utilities, plenty of threaded water spigots throughout, a boat ramp and restrooms.  No dump.

This quickly became Steve's favorite spot.  He'd work here and sit and watch the Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Pelicans and Eagles fly about.

The water is very calm up at this end of the lake as well.  It's right next to the river so great area to paddle too!

The weather was clear, sunny and cool with fall color showing.  Only difficulty was keeping our solar charged.  It's pretty forested.  I had to move it a lot.  We used our generator here more than any other campground we've been at.  The days were low 70s and nights low 40s. Perfect Fall weather.

Our beach.

Half way through we had to move to the site next to us as someone had reserved Friday night.  Almost no one was here but us.  Too bad they stayed only one night which made us have to move.  Site #8 was another fantastic site!  Definitely the two best sites.

We spent most of our time just relaxing.  No big plans.  Strangely, not much hiking around here so we had planned to do a lot of paddles.  We drove into the town of Cascade at the far south end of the lake.  If you drive the western route it is a very bumpy dirt/gravel road and takes a long time!  Pretty though and there are many state and a few national forest campgrounds along the way.

As we came into the small town, there was one particular house that all the deer were visiting!  It is hunting season and deer are smart!  They seem to know to stay out of the forest. There were feeders and water set out too.

This guy was very daring to feed this buck.

We popped into Squirrels, which is a fun outdoor store with clothes, supplies, jerky etc.  They also had a great ice cream counter.  Steve had his favorite Huckleberry Ice Cream and I chose several pieces of chocolates.  They even had some nice treats for dogs.

Another evening we drove through Donnelly which is only 20 minutes up and around the north end of the lake and paved.  Cougar Dave's is one place we wanted to eat at.  It was late and everything was closed on Mondays and/or Tuesdays.  We did make it here later in our trip.

We never were able to get to the bakery early enough but it looked great.  Pretty garden all around it.

The Roost was on our list to visit for cocktails and music.  It was also closed.

They had a cute library with a Tee Pee and chickens.  Also closed.

We kept our kayak locked up down by the lake and enjoyed late afternoon paddles when Steve finished work.  The winds were always calm and the water like glass.

Once you go under the bridge you are on the North Fork of the Payette River.

The reflections this late in the day were awesome.  Deep blues.

Very, very shallow for the most part and lots of weeds.  It made fishing difficult and not too successful.

Back in time for a campfire.

The sunsets are incredible here!  I had to stop taking pictures each night.

So far we are loving our time here.  It's everything we hoped for and more!