The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-07-14
A Trip Over
the Hill Range
BY MRS. TREGO


Mr.. and Mrs. James Christensen
with their son Nestal and young
daughter Gladys and the writer left
the Christensen ranch near Goshen
at II O'Clock in big seven-passenger
Case. The journey was not unusual
over the foothills to Wolverine can
yon, where lies the new county road
that has been the object of SO much
speculation and has added so much
interest by opening up an auto thoro-
fare thru what is perhaps the most
picturesque mountain scenery in this
section of the state. No one can
describe it to you, the wonderful
cut Nature has made thru those i'm
pregnable hills of granite, nor is it
necessary, since the distance is so
short that all of us can see it in an
outing by a few hours drive.
The Canyon Road
+ While the new road is a good one,
the visitor must not expect boule-
ward, but just good, well-construct-
ed road for comfortable, easy climb
ing over the range. After passing
thru the canyon, the car winds and
climbs and repeats winding and
climbing until the summit is reached
without at any of the way dipping
down and climbing up again. In this
respect the engineering seems to have
been carefully studied. But on the
summit one gets slight shock. Ex-
pecting to move out onto a level
space and be able to look over vast
eXpanse in all directions, there is
the sensation of finding ones self
on pinnacle and the road swithc-
In fact, the turn is so short that the
big car has to back some to get
headed down right, for the road at
the summit is not finished but mere
ly opened so the driver can nego-
tate passage.
The descent into the Willow creek
valley is rapidly and easily made,
the driver killing his engine and
running Ion compression" much of
the time. The mountain passes are
full of interest as those on the west
ern slope, and the delight of those
long ghdes is mingled with the con-
seriousness that we are in the range
country, where the way leads over
hills and thru draws Astounding in
springs bubbling with the best of
mountain waters. Willow creek is
easily discernab BILE by the dense thick
ct of willows stretching away into
the crooks and turns where the
stream disappears behind the con-
tour of the hills. Approaching clos
er to the stream one sees multitude
of beaver dams with a reservoir
above each one. This is Natures
way of storing water at a thousand
places along each stream. First the
snow lodges deep on the leeward
slopes of the mountain, and lies
there in the shady side protected
from the warm wind and the direct
rays of the sun. Pine trees grow
and much underbrush, to increase
the shelter for the snow, and when
it finally melts and runs away, it is
caught and held in one beaver pond
after another and is thus delayed for
weeks and months in it's race to the
level plains where it is used in mid
summer for irrigation. One settler
who lives near the Christensen ranch
said he wanted to reduce the size
of one beaver pond near him, and he
tore out one end of the dam, nearly
draining the, reservoir. There was
not beaver in sight, and he thought
he had removed the pond for keeps,
but the next morning the dam was
rebuilt better than ever, and the res
ervoir was filled again to it's old
level. They build their houses in
some central part of the pond, and by
the engineering department" of
their tribe, they change the course
of the stream at will.
Returning to the subject of our
trip, we reached the Christensen
ranch at the end of a three-hour
drive, and delicious meal was soon
spread in the new log house.
The Evening Camp Fire
When evening came it was such
a reckless pleasure to pile on the
fire all the wood one chose without
giving a thought to the cost or ex-