Pine Butte Craters: Desert Oasis in Nowhere, Idaho

[Mountain Goat]

Here's a pictorial report from my weekend camping trip with the wife, the Rover, and the dog. The Pine Butte craters are a little-known gem in the heart of the sagebrush, sand dune, and juniper desert which occupies the entire area between Salem and Kilgore ID (both are true nowhere towns). Literally nothing but desert terrain, lava flows, and a few barren craters for miles around, until you pull up to this alpine woodland oasis:

[Mountain Goat]

We drove north across a slightly rocky road between the two conjoined craters to get to a secluded parking spot before descending into the crater. I don't have any pictures of the west crater, we didn't have time to explore that one.

We camped in a nice grassy spot, roasted hot dogs and s'mores on the fire, and curled up for the night. We were expecting an overnight thunderstorm but it never materialized. The first two pictures are from Friday afternoon, the second two are from Saturday morning.

[Mountain Goat]

As you can see, our dog is quite at home in the outdoors. This is only her second camping trip, we're training her to stay near our tent and out of trouble at night so we can take her backpacking soon.

We saw some interesting rock formations on the climb out of the crater. As for wildlife, there was an elk in the crater when we first arrived, we encountered red shafted flickers, wild turkeys, dusky flycatchers, and a few dozen other kinds of birds. We actually got to watch the red shafted flickers excavating a nest in a hollow snag. There was evidence of small mammal activity in the area as well. I think the craters serve as not only a plant oasis, but also an area where multiple prey species can thrive sans predators. Can you tell I'm married to a biologist?

As you can see, the Disco get's pretty with a pair of packs, a large dog kennel, my recovery gear, tool kit, and several gallons of water. When we start having children a full roof rack will be a must!

We made it safely home, the only incident was a failed tensioner pulley on the serpentine belt. Fortunately I was able to make a field repair without too much difficulty. As you can see, there is a fair amount of mud and water on the trail this time of year. Anyone exploring this area should keep in mind that some of the mud can actually be cementitious and you should wash your rig immediately when you are done.

On the way out we also drove through a well-established but overgrown trail, I wish I had taken video. The pine trees were literally pushing in on both sides and the top of the Rover, it was a claustrophobic experience I don't often have when wheeling. Clearly the area sees little use. When I go back to the same area, I'll get pictures or video of that trail section, I didn't think of it this time.

Anyone local send me a PM and we can explore the spot again!