China Cup

 In the fall of 2019 I was on an airplane from Houston to Seattle. It was one of those rare times when the plane is about half full and you get some room to move. I moved from my normally booked aisle seat to the window since I had the whole row. As I sat bent-necked for basically the entire flight, I made sketches in my notebook to try to go back later and identify the landmarks with Google Earth. 

I identified the Denver airport and Blackfoot Reservoir among others. And then, there was this page:

Though I had been to eastern Idaho many times, I had never looked close enough at the geography to note that it was a large plain. With the Snake River running through it. (I mean, I would have called it the Snake River Plain, too.) I also never knew about all the interesting geological formations to be found there. 

This sketch features the Big Southern Butte and a tiny little donut in the plain that turned out to be China Cup. From that moment I knew I had to visit it. They are about nine miles apart, but from an airplane at 30,000 feet, that looks pretty close. Here's a topo of the area. 

The Big Southern Butte visible at the top of the map. China Cup occupies the small square just left of center at the bottom of the map.  

And here's a detail of China Cup itself. 

At the time of the flight in question, I was already actively seeking employment in the Idaho Falls area, so it caught my attention in a way it might not have otherwise. Only a few months later in February 2020 me and the fam pulled up stakes and headed east towards Rexburg, and now in Idaho Falls. Ever since we got here this has been on my to-do list. 

After a year and a half the day finally arrived. I planned a day to drive from Blackfoot out to China Cup. As I studied Google Maps I could see that it was not that much farther to Arco and I thought it would be fun to make it a through drive, so I set that as an alternate. 

My route planning included some printed screenshots of Google Maps, review of available 2 meter repeaters in the area (more on that later), and GPS waypoints. The area is pretty remote out there and the roads criss-cross that desert all day long. I was worried about getting turned around since it was my first time out there. There is cell service for some of the time, so relying on Google Maps via my phone was a non-starter. My trusty highway GPS is also frequently not-so-trusty on these backroads. For instance, about halfway through my trip I tried navigating to Arco which was only about 20 miles away. despite being close via BLM roads, the GPS still wanted to route me all the way back to Blackfoot and around on highways to Arco. It was annoying. 

Here is an overall Google Maps view of my trip. 

A little over 200 miles in around six hours. It ended up being about eight hours total including walking around time and an extra little jaunt to the north. 

I figured I would always be in reach of the ham radio repeaters. The area is pretty flat and within a triangle formed by the three repeaters: Kinport Peak in Pocatello, Howe Peak near Arco, and the Idaho Falls landfill repeater. (I also find the Relay Ridge repeater to be pretty consistent, but that one was outside of the area.) Well, I was wrong. I think I need a taller antenna since I'm only putting 5W out of my handheld radio. Someday soon I'll be able to put a mobile radio in that can put out 25W to 30W, if not more.

So without further yakking, here are some pictures from the outing. Arriving at China Cup it was bigger than I expected. This first picture doesn't do it justice. It fills the windshield. 

The rim curved away into the fog

It is close to Hougland Well out there in the desert.

These are The Fins, and this is where the little spur trip to the north comes in. Another destination that has been on my list for a long time is Howe Peak, just to the west of the INL reservation. If you read the section on the repeaters you would notice that is one of the repeaters. Well, I was so close that the temptation to explore it a little was irresistible. Unfortunately, it was late in the day and I had other things on the schedule so I only made it about three miles up Eight Mile Canyon. That road was pretty rough and it was something I didn't want to rush. I may return in the spring with the RZR to explore that area rather than going in the truck, but we'll see what I do.  

The Eight Mile canyon road was very steep. It overlooks the INL reservation. I'm sure that only a few more miles along and I would have been treated to a really nice panoramic view, but that will have to keep me going until next time. 

Here is Big Southern Butte from the north. This shows the nice layer of fog that covered most of my drive for the day. When I was about 10 miles or so from Arco, the sky cleared up and you could see for miles in the sunshine.  

Well, thanks for reading. Go ahead and check out the route and wander in the desert for a while. Maybe we'll meet out there.