Lakeside Dry Camping on the Idaho/Wyoming Border

If we don’t spend at least one night within a state’s borders in our RV, then we can’t add it to our state map. That’s our rule. So while we traveled through Idaho in 2016, we didn’t get to claim it as conquered. No matter what it took, that was going to change this year.

It wasn’t much of an inconvenience. We left Jordanelle State Park after work on Friday of Memorial Day weekend and drove a beautiful 227 miles to Indian Creek. This dry camping area in Caribou-Targhee National Forest is free, with a 5-day stay limit.

We chose to get as close to the water–Palisades Reservoir on the Snake River–as we could. The road towards the water has some unpleasant potholes, but the distance isn’t long. We turned off on the last path to the right, and pulled onto the grass just off the road.

We (read: Eric) were nervous about sinking into the ground because our diesel pusher weighs about 30,000 pounds. But we checked the forecast–no rain–and purposely parked on the highest ground in the area. In the morning, we had no problems and pulled right out.

Our Internet signal was low. Verizon was better than AT&T. Browsing the Internet was slow, but Netflix was usable because of its buffering. We didn’t turn on our weBoost because it was a Friday and we didn’t have a lot of work to accomplish.

The view of the river and mountains was stunning. We stayed outside as long as we could before the mosquitos swept in. Before I went to sleep, I opened the curtain of our bedroom. When I opened my eyes the next morning, the first thing I saw was the glassy water.

-B