USA Archives - The Humble Walker

WOW – Traveling on the Oregon Trail thru Idaho

Posted on May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 by mewalsh1

The Oregon Trail is a 2170 mile trail that connected the Missouri River to Oregon City,Oregon. Most of the western part of the trail was mapped by Lewis and Clark between 1804 and 1806. In 1843 ,an estimated 700 – 1000 emigrants left for Oregon in wagon trains. This mass exodus across the west was called “the Wagon Train”or the “Great Migration”. We followed the trail almost all day after leaving Salt Lake City. At a couple stops we even saw the original ruts made by the wagon train wheels. I can’t traveling all that way in a bumpy wagon.

Our first stop was Twin Falls Idaho on the Snake River. We pulled into a campground that was free of charge on the north side of the Snake River. We decided to leave the trailer there for a few hours while we checked out the canyon without worrying about parking with the camper. The terrain is so flat there we couldn’t imagine where the canyon was. We drove out of the campground and as we crossed the bridge into town we were amazed to see the very deep canyon with the Snake River at the bottom. We parked the truck and headed to the edge to check things out

Free campsite at Ricketts RV Camp at snake River Park.

View of Snake River Canyon under the bridge

We were amazed at how deep the canyon was (500 feet). . I felt like it could have been a National Park. Apparently this was the area where Evil Knievel attempted to jump across the canyon in his rocket-powered motorcycle in 1977 but didn’t make it. I remember seeing this on TV but didn’t really know where it took place. Luckily his parachute deployed and he wasn’t hurt.

Next we headed to Shoshone park and the Shoshone Falls. They are often referred to as the “Niagara of the West” as they are 45feet taller than Niagara Falls. We drove to the park which is at the bottom of the cannon. Apparently spring is the best time to see the falls as water is diverted for irrigation in summer. This year was a low snowfall and we were told they are usually even more thunderous this time of year.

We debated spending the night at our free campsite but decided to drive another hour or so. We stopped at the Y Knot Winery RV Park for the night and decided to check out the wine tasting and restaurant. We later found it there was a state park just down the road called Three Island Crossing State Park that had camping. This was the site where emigrants on the Oregon Trail would attempt to cross the Snake River across three sand bars. Apparently there were many casualties. We headed over there to check it out after dinner. It was a beautiful and very peaceful campground with a large Oregon Trail interpretation center. We would definitely stay there if we are out this way again.

WOW (Wanderlust on Wheels) – Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Posted on May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 by mewalsh1

We left West Virginia and headed south thru a bit of Virginia and into Johnston City, Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited park in the country and when I revised my trip Deep Creek Campground was the only campground in the park I was able to book. It is located in the southern part of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, in Bryson City, NC. It turned out to be a good choice. It is much less busy than other parts of the park. There was a trail to 3 different waterfalls from the campground. My daughter, Adriana and her partner Micah met us at the campground and set their tent up next to our camper. We had a great visit.

Deep Creek Campground opened for the season the day we arrived. While we were setting up camp, we met a wonderful couple a little older than us from Vermont. They told us they had been in a motel in Gatlinburg for a few days while recovering from an illness and that it was very crowded and commercialized. They were very happy to be in this part of the Smokies. We had a lot of fun talking with them multiple times during our stay and even exchanged addresses the day we left. We met another young guy who told us about a great campsite in Olympic National Park we should check out and a WW II D-Day alumni veteran who told us how he used to come to the campground all the time with his wife who had recently passed away. We enjoy meeting other campers. Most folks are friendly and they are always impressed that we love in Maine 😊🌲

On one of the days there, we took a ride up to Newcomb Gap and hiked a bit of the Appalachian Trail on the border of Tennessee. The views were amazing.

Appalachian Trail in NC – only 1972 miles till Katahdin!

Newfound Gap – border of NC and Tennessee

Great country folk duo with baby (and Sasquatch)

Fun times with family in the Smoky Mountains

Exploring New River Gorge: Our Adventure in West Virginia

Posted on May 11, 2026May 11, 2026 by mewalsh1

Our plan was to leave Maryland and drive to Watoka State Park in West Virginia to ride our bikes on the Greenbriar Rail Trail which is supposed to be awesome. However, we woke up to pouring rain and as we looked at our route saw there were a lot of mountains and a two lane windy road to travel on in the driving rain. With at least 12 hours of rain in the forecast, we revised our plans and decided to drive directly to the New River Gorge National Park on the interstate. We will come back someday to do the Greenbriar Rail Trail.

Rainy Day in West Virginia with terrible visibilty –

There are only backcountry campsites at the national park so we decided to camp at a private campground adjacent to the park. The Outpost at New River Gorge Campground did not disappoint. It was a great campgound, with trails directly into the park. It is run by some really nice young guys who also have cabins for rent and weekly bluegrass music throughout the summer. While it wasn’t completely wooded and our site was in a field (well landscaped), the bathrooms were very impressive – I would even call them spa like. :). We would definately return to The Outpost at NRG campground and recommend it to others.

The Outpost was in the town of Fayetteville, WV (also known as the “coolest small town”) which is in the northern part of New River Gorge National Park – in walking distance to the impressive bridge over the New River. The bridge spans the 876 foot deep New River Gorge and was built in 1977. It is the longest steel arch span in the western hemisphere and the third highest bridge in the US. The first morning we were there,the sun came out and we took a walk from the campground to the bottom of the bridge. It was a bit steeper and longer than we had planned but we took plenty of breaks. We met a guy on the trail whose company had supplied the steel for the bridge. For those who enjoy heights, you can walk across a cat walk just undernearth the top of the bridge that is 2 feet wide (for $80 ). They attach harnesses and cables for safety. The guy we met on the trail and his wife walked across the day before. While John wanted to walk across, we decided to pass. My palms were sweating as they were talking about it.

Look closely and you can see a group of walkers under the bridge

We checked out the Visitor Center later that day and drove down a small one way road to the bottom of the gorge, over the old restored bridge, and up the other side where we ended up back at the campground. It is hard to believe before 1977, this was the only way to get across the gorge.

A bit of Maine at the bottom of the New River Bridge!

We feel so small next to this giant RV – but we like ours better 🙂

We really liked our time in West Virginia and hope to be back. There are so many natural resources there to explore!