2. Let's Get Movin', Says the Wagon Master

The trail heads west up the canyon. Notice the canyon is quiet as you trudge along, except for the noise made by the people you may be with, the creak of the wagons, the bellowing of livestock, and clanking of their chain rigging behind and in front of you.

"I did not realize until today how great was the tide of emigrantion. The [wagon] trains passed our camp like the flow of a river... Some have mules, others horses, but the greatest number have oxen..."

-- Lodisa Frizzel, 1850.

"Here was a moving mass of humanity and dumb brutes, at times mixed in inextricable confusion, a hundred feet wide or more."

-- Ezra Meeker, 1852.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, be sure to follow the trail into the first canyon to the right. Your livestock can't handle extra miles with no water ahead tonight.

You'll begin to notice some distinct layers in the slopes. You might wonder how these layers got here. The Wagon Master says the light colored, continuous layer looks like the volcanic ash that comes from about 300 miles to the northeast. It must have blown here after a volcano erupted. Watch how these layers change as you continue up the canyon.

Surveyors mapped some of the country before your wagon rolled through here. Not only that, they found fossil bones many places in the west. Experts say they can tell a lot about ancient animals from their fossil bones. These scientists say the soil layers here look like they were deposited by repeated floods over hundreds of thousands of years flowing into the ancient Lake Idaho to the west. The Lake eventually drained and helped carve out Hells Canyon to the Columbia River. Hard to figure things that far back; it's tough enough to remember what day it is.

You'll see some areas on the slopes that don't grown any vegetation. You know it's terribly hot, but there are shrubs elsewhere -- how come? It's a complicated story.

Some say that the earth is constantly changing. Rock deep in the earth gets so hot that it melts. This molten "lava" rises with intense heat and seeps out of cracks in the earth's crust to flow across the landscape. It cools into "basalt" that you saw as the dark rocks of the canyon farther back up the Snake River. 'Round here, they call the low, rocky volcanoes "buttes" and there's a bunch of them.

"...A dreary, sandy plain...was of volcanic formation and a solid mass of basalt.

-- Major Osborne Cross, 1849.

One of the school teachers on this wagon train says that one of these lava flows blocked the Snake River and formed what they call McKinney Lake. The waters backed up and left clay deposits called Yahoo (now that's either Ya hoo or Yey hoo, depending on who you listen to) named after the Gulch near last night's camp. The clay holds the water so tightly that plants have a hard time getting their roots to make the soil particles let go of the moisture -- so there isn't much vegetation. There you have your answer.

More recently, the huge Lake Bonneville overflowed its bank, causing a flood that lasted about eight weeks and carved out the deep Snake River Canyon that made it so hard to get water on this journey. The Great Salt Lake is what's left and it's only about twenty percent the size of the original Bonneville.

What about the animals? Bet you haven't seen many critters since you started hiking. Wagons and their noise might scare 'em off, but mostly they only come out at night -- they're nocturnal. In the late summer when it's so hot, some go into a partial hibernation state called estivation to reserve thier body moisture. You probably wish you could rest in the heat of the day too. Better drink some water, you might need it more than you think. When you feel really thirsty, it's too late. If you're startin' to get a headache, you waited much too long. Take it easy on yourself. You have a long way to go.

Birds are probably a bit more plentiful. Hawks and even golden eagles hunt the rodents out here. Burrowing owls live in the ground in some locations. You might see a raven or a magpie. Quail or sage grouse might be about. Song birds are common. Sometimes the migrating waterfowl can be seen flying high above.

http://www.nps.gov/hafo/emiguide2.htm
Last Updated: 24-Jun-1999