Historic Roseberry

Twenty or so miles north of Cascade is the ghost town of Roseberry.  It was a thriving little town in the late 1800's filled with logging and farming families.  The railroad came through but it bypassed the town.  The track went a few miles west of the town so the town of Donnelly thrived while Roseberry failed.   The local historical society has been trying to save the town as a living history museum.  They have actually moved old buildings onto the land that made up the town.  The barn is now a theatre and venue for weddings.  There is an old general store that is open on weekends for ice cream.  This old Episcopal church was moved three times -- the third time back to Roseberry where it started.  There is also an old Finnish farmstead complete with sauna. 

Once a year in the summer they have a little festival here to try and bring awareness to the history of the area.  It is an all volunteer effort which I always find amazing.  When we visited the town there were a group of painters sitting at their easels all around the buildings painting what they saw.  It is a beautiful spot with mountains in the background -- very "picturesque".

Cascade Lake Dam

 

 

The water levels in the lake and the Payette River have fluctuated a lot since we arrived here over a month ago.  When we got here the lake was only 70% full now it is at 98% full.  The river was running very high and then they dropped it practically over night and it went down several feet.  Then it rained and warmed up so there was lots of water draining down from the mountains from snow and rain runoff.  They opened the dam to make room for all the water and ended up filling the reservoir (Cascade Lake) and the river.  They had way more snow last winter than in a very long time and didn't quite anticipate how much water they would have to manage. 

 

We've been lucky at the campground because the river never quite reached any campers or cabins but it did get close.  Downstream in Boise and its suburb Eagle they have had flooding.   Now the river is down to a safe level but the lake remains full.  Of course the tourists aren't happy because the beaches are under water.  The fishing has been hit or miss with the crazy fluctuations.  So far we aren't sorry we didn't bring the boat.  Its just now getting warm -- maybe summer is finally here.  

Payette Lake

We took a scenic drive up through the very touristy town of McCall which borders Payette Lake.  The lake is just a dammed up part of the Payette river but it is very pretty.  I guess its a big deal to have a lake home on this lake.  Half the lakeshore is part of the Payette National Forest and a lot of it is part of a state park so there isn't a lot of lakeshore that can be privately owned.

We headed north of McCall following the lakeshore.  It was a nice paved road with lots of rushing water from the Payette River running alongside the road.  That seems to be the story in the mountains everywhere in Idaho.  They had an unusual amount of snow last winter and its taking a long time for it all to melt.  We saw this road that was still closed because of the snowpack and its mid-June! 

Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway

We took a drive along this scenic byway and followed it until we came to the little town of Lowman.  The drive follows a river that is known for great rafting.  People pay to take guided rafting trips just like the ones you can take in the Grand Canyon.  The rapids are pretty intimidating especially right now with the water so high from snow melt.  The drive is beautiful through the canyon along the river and then goes through a mountain valley that is used for a farming and cattle grazing area.   If you follow the route all the way to Lowman you go through the national forest region that burned recently.  You see burnt pines up and down the mountain sides.  There were landslides over the winter that came down onto the road caused by the loss of trees holding the soil in place.  Road crews were cleaning up the road and putting barriers in place.  I can't imagine driving through here in the winter. 

The campground is almost full now with the folks that stay for the whole summer.  I don't blame them for keeping their RVs here and just driving back and forth.  Most live in the Boise area and down in the "valley" where they live it gets very hot.  Up here in the mountains its at least ten degrees or more cooler.  Plus you don't have to fight the Friday traffic driving your rig up the winding, busy road.  We had lots of late arrivals this past Friday because of heavy traffic and road construction down in the "valley".