Day 3, Leslie Gulch to Burns
After an EXCELLENT night's sleep at the "Shell Motel" we headed out in search of a car wash. Rosita was covered in a THICK layer of road dust that only driving well over 150 miles on gravel roads can provide, 1/4" + in places. Jordan Valley car wash?, nope OH well maybe in Burns... but first Leslie Gulch. Named after a local rancher, Hiram E. Leslie, who was hit by lightning here in 1882, it was previously called "Dugout Gulch. SO we went up the highway and ... wait for it... 35 miles of gravel roads to get down to and into the gulch and 35 to get back out. Good thing we didn't find a car wash. Leslie Gulch was like if Smith Rock and Painted Hills had a baby, a REALLY big baby. We intended on hiking 3 of the 5 gulches but the rocks were so hot by 10am and the hiking was so dusty and sweltering that we bagged it after the first hike... sad. But hey, it was really really hot. The drive through the gulch and the hike were amazing though, I want to go back in fall and stay in the campground... Succor Creek. Red, black, yellow, purple, every color of massive crazy eroded rock you can think of. This whole valley was carved from volcanic ash and minerals that filled up this whole area and then got carved out by water. That was the highlight of the day, afterwards we drove to up and through Homedale ID and washed the car (Rosita needed it BAD) and then down into Burns for the night. On the way to Burns we stopped in the town of Juntura at the Oasis Cafe for a couple of killer sandwiches and an amazing milkshake, and some more locals conversation. People in this part of the state are really NOT into bringing in more tourism... weird. And in Burns we did NOT stay at a gas station this time, which was nice.