Graveyard of Old Volcanoes
The first written reports from southern Idaho’s Snake River plain were not complimentary. To the emigrants on the Oregon Trail, this was a desolate place. In time, this pathway of the pioneers came to be known as the world’s longest graveyard. To geologists who have since studied its mysteries, this immense basalt region is indeed a graveyard, a graveyard of dead volcanoes. About 16 million years ago somewhere near the Idaho-Oregon-Nevada border, a plume of hot material worked its way up from maybe 50 miles underground. And as it did so, it melted the rocks closer to the surface. These rocks, which were relatively rich in silicon and aluminum, yielded rhyolite magma, which erupted explosively and spewed across the landscape in massive quantities. We...
Wild, Wild West!
All I can say is …only out West in the old America. So I’m out hunting by myself (about 12 miles out in Payette National Forest)…the snow is coming hard and fast, my regular spot is not working out because too wet…so I move about a 1/4 mile up a road path and find some tracks and bed down in some trees. 28 degrees when I got out there right at sunrise….never stopped snowing and never got up above degrees. After 8 hours I’m done and start to make my way back to the truck. Out of no where (and there were no other hunters out there that I saw) I hear this voice, it’s female….I look up and here is this women with a mostly wolf / husky dog packing out of the forest. The woman’s name was Denise, and the wolf...
Ponderosa State Park – Enforce Leash Laws!
I have lived in McCall for 13 years and i love this community but i do have a complaint… Campers who think their dogs should have the run of Ponderosa Park. I love dogs and have two of my own but i keep mine on a leash in public. Other people are not so responsible. That’s what laws are for, to keep irresponsible people in line. To protect the public. So why doesn’t Ponderosa protect it’s visitors and enforce leash laws? I can count on one hand how many times i have been able to walk through Ponderosa State Park in peace this summer. I have been charged by a German Shepard mix that didn’t even have a collar on (his owner was having a full-on panic attack which didn’t make me feel any safer), a psycho fluffy...
Ghosts of the Reed Ranch
I cannot tell you how many gallons of gas and summer days I have used up chasing ghosts. I think my dad is to blame. When I was a kid in Montana we would finish up ranch chores and then head up into the mountains above the house and poke around the old boom towns. Dad and I walk around the skeletons of homes, mines and dance halls and he would tell me about the people that lived here; the stories that his Dad told him. I remember squeezing his finger a little harder when the goose flesh rose on my arms, but then longing to go back; hoping to hear a door creak shut, a child’s laugh, or the sound of a barroom piano. Back before I knew better, I was stashing treasures in my pockets: medicine bottles, door knobs, dishes and buttons. These days I turn over rocks...
What to Expect on 4th of July in McCall, Idaho
Ok, for those of you who have never been to McCall on the 4th of July you need to be aware of several things. First and foremost McCall ROCKS during the 4th of July festivities! Lots of activities, usually beautiful weather (not too hot and not too cold), time on the lake to jet ski, boat or just soak up the sun and phenomenal fireworks on THE day – always on THE day. If you would like to rent some really nice watercraft see Mile High Marina. Campsites and Hotels fill up really fast, so get your foot in the door at least a week before the fun begins or you’re going to be sleeping in your car. Do not, under any circumstances, go to North Beach on Payette Lake any time around the 4th of July. Especially with children or pets. Have you heard of...
How I Got Here and Why I Stayed
I was moving to Taos… When I left the tiny berg of Willow Creek, Montana in mid December 2010 my sights were set on the desert southwest and a little adobe casita that was within walking distance of the downtown plaza. I was sick of the howling winter wind, the biting snowflakes, the endless days of dreary, gray sky and mornings that were thirty below. I dreamed of longer winter days, of reds and greens and bright blue pottery, Spanish guitar and pow wow dances and food: handmade tortillas, fry bread, fresh salsa and enchiladas sprinkled with chile ardiente. I packed what I could in my big horse trailer and said adios to the gray, desperate northern winter. As I drove through light snow I dreamed of my new home in the southwest and a spring that came...
Welcome CM Anderson!
Discover McCall is pleased to announce the addition of our new blog and writer CM Anderson to our team! CM Anderson will be, well… she says it best, let’s just use her words: Hi. I’m Cindy. You from around here? No? Me either. In fact, I’m pretty new to McCall. Moved here last September, right before winter. I’d never even been to this place before then, but you can read all about that later. My boyfriend, Caleb, loves to show me around. With our two dogs, Katie and Carhartt we go on a lot of adventures in McCall, Valley County and beyond. We’ve met hermits, dug in gold fields, found old grave sites, canoed ever slow stream, biked backroads and skinny dipped and Payette Lake–and that’s just what we do...