Visit to Hagerman…

Hanging around Wendell has it’s advantages. With the amply stocked grocery store, the RV park with a RV repair business right there, the auto repair shops, tire shops, a couple excellent restaurants, etc., etc.. However, there’s not much to do in town. No theater, no golf course nearby, no night life to speak of. The town is pretty small with just a couple places to hang out, nondescript bars that could even be called dull. Tried to pry some history of the area from locals but nobody really knew much other than the story of how Wendell got its name. Well, whatever, while I’m here waiting for RV and car parts to arrive it was an opportunity to drive around the area and check it out. Going east and south of Wendell driving along the farm bordered roads you run into a larger town…Jerome. Jerome has a theater, a WalMart, and several businesses that cater to the RV crowd as far as repairs go. Interesting as I drove around the populated areas close to Jerome how I’d spot many RV type businesses. Diesel repair, body shops, etc.. Most all situated right alongside the freeway.

But today was a day to explore so I drove due west and south of Wendell towards the Snake River. And soon bumped into the Hagerman Wildlife area and Fish Hatchery. Big hatchery place. Larger than the hatcheries I’m use to in the Columbia River Gorge area.

But I came by at the wrong time of year. Have to be here in April to see any fries being released to the waterways. Turns out that this area has abundant fish, enough so that you can fish year round, but there’s still a need for a hatchery of migrating fish types. Big and complex. I’ll have to come back here when there’s fish to see.Back on the road towards Hagerman, I soon was crossing the Snake.The hills look a bit barren in July, but in the spring they green up quite a bit.Off in the distance on the side of that hill is a line running horizontally. That’s the Oregon trail. The marks left by thousands of wagons pulled by oxen (very few were ever pulled by horses – didn’t have the stamina) and carrying thousands of immigrants onward towards the Pacific coast. Stopped at one of the overlooks and there is a foot trail down into a ravine where the remnants of the Oregon trail is, composed of mostly wagon wheel ruts in the soft dirt. But I had worn my sandals this trip and didn’t want to try trudging that path. I’ll come back when I am wearing appropriate footwear.  Back down off the mesas onto the bottom lands near the river. This area was highly prized by local Indians as an excellent camping place for much of the year. Good forage, huge volumes of fish migrating every year, tons of local fish all year round, deer, antelope, berries and fruits, along with grains and tubers. The tribes around here were welcoming to strangers too. Early settlers raved about the abundant fish and wildlife in the area. There was one small tribe that were so happy and friendly, they were soon famous amongst those using the Oregon Trail. So friendly that hundreds decide to quit the Oregon trail and put down roots right here and nearby.So eventually the road took me to Hagerman. And in downtown Hagerman is this National Park Service museum that makes up for it’s diminutive size with the enthusiasm of it’s curators. Almost seemed as though someone had recently complained about the lackadaisical attitude of the curators and they’d been warned by the higher ups. Heh. Although tiny, it had lots of artifacts on display. The most famous of the artifacts is this full skeleton of the oldest 1 toed horse ever found in the Americas. The horse actually evolved here in the US from a medium modern dog size, crossed the land bridge into Asia, but died out here 10,000 years ago. Reintroduced by the Spanish just a few hundred years ago.Notice how the backbone would have been unsuited for riding. Humans bred that out of the species so now it’s nearly flat. This area was once a rich, diverse habitat for many creatures. After that visit to the museum, wandered out for a look at Hagerman. Nice little town.  Great for bike riding.

After that tour of the visitor center, and a quick drive around downtown, it was time to check out the nearby RV park. Hey, very nice. Lots of shade trees. Should be easier to keep my RV cool staying there (if I stay in the area longer). And it’s only $325/mo + electric. Hagerman RV Village.Driving back through Hagerman, I see it’s more interesting than Wendell. Nice restaurants, a coffee shop, couple bars, even a museum in the downtown area. Hmmm. This might be the place to hang out for a month.

Down the road a bit from Hagerman are the Bell Rapids though I admit to not seeing anything remotely like rapids. There’s a couple free RV spots here too. Dry camping though.
See what I mean about the lack of rapids? This is of course, the mighty Snake River. Turns out this is water backed up behind a dam. So that’s why no rapids. Flooded.  Heading back to Hagerman. Nice farm land here. And heading east on US30 towards Twin Falls you pass this developed area along the Snake. Nice little houses all nestled next to the river.

Next time, we’ll visit Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. I’d never been but I’ve known about them forever. I was beginning to enjoy my visit here to southern Idaho. Some interesting stuff here.

Thanks for reading!