Pocatello to Jackpot Nevada in the snow

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Early on Sunday morning the wind whirled and snorted around like a bull in a china shop, it was gusting to over 30mph and blowing horizontal snow around like cotton. We were getting ready for our over night trip to Jackpot Nevada which as the crow flies is around 160 miles from Pocatello. I-15 is the interstate we needed to travel on parallels the Snake River and comes in close proximity to the American Falls Reservoir for several miles. This then creates the “lake effect“ so many weathermen talk about. I might add that, until this trip, I had never experienced, nor do I ever want to again, this weather phenomenon. We had a brief period of wind only and foolishly thought that the worst was behind us as we loaded up the rented Jeep for the trip.

All included, it was my two sons and Kia, my sons retired K-9, and myself and the assorted luggage, dog bowls, blanket and your usual road snacks. Stacked, nestled and ready to go we piled in. Now this particular Jeep has an unusual back seat. It sits about 8-10 inches higher that the front seats. Strange feeling at first but once you got used to sitting above your fellow travelers it afforded you an excellent view of the road ahead, perhaps even better than the driver has. So off we went down the road until we reached the interstate, heading west we got up to about 65 mph and for the first 2 or 3 miles it was not bad however, the wind picked up just outside of the local airport and starting pushing us around like a piece of paper. We slowed down and hoped for a respite, but alas none was forthcoming.

Soon the wind started picking up the snow from the nearby mountains and we had horizontal snow blowing across the road dropping visibility down to about 60%. Strong gusts started swirling the snow around the highway in front of us like a troupe of dervish dancers. Picking up in intensity as we neared American Falls and the reservoir, we soon had blinding snow slamming into the Jeep as the wind tried feverously to push us off the road. Now reasonable people would have sought the first exit, which if you have ever driven this part of the I-15 are far and few between and some do not have return ramps. So on we drove in hopes of a clearing once the body of water was behind us, and for a time it appeared our prayers were answered.

The Snake River is usually a quarter to a half mile or so from the interstate, but in some places it almost follows the contour of the interstate no more than a hundred feet away. This is where we encountered the most horrific wind and ice this part of our trip. Once you are in this area the nearest off ramp with a return is about 5-6 miles up the road and being of sound mind you do not want to pull off and sit on the side of the road. Many vehicle fatalities occur from just such scenarios, blinding snow or dust cause many others to veer off the road and strike parked cars.

So you keep going in hopes of a clear spot up ahead, many times my son expressed his concern and the fact we should not be up on the road, but being we were not able to immediately turn around we kept on going. Blinding snow, wind-tunnel force winds accompanied us for another 5-6 miles. Every once in a while it would let up just enough to ease the pressure and let your nerves relax, but as soon as it stopped it came back with a vengeance. I state this because once we reached Massacre Rocks exit the wind and snow seemed to be easing up and we elected to proceed which looking back was perhaps the biggest mistake we could have made. From this point on the exits are many, many miles apart and you have open territory on both sides of the interstate, flat ground with nothing to shield you from the wind. The snow swirls in a blinding state.

We dropped our speed down to about 40 and forged ahead all the while telling ourselves that we were going to be okay. Animals are very intuitive and Kia is a highly intelligent K-9 and she too had an expression of doom. She was sitting up, alert, not laying down. She looked at us and not out of the window, she had a slight tremor, sensing our uneasiness. When we had reached the ultimate end of our sanity someone lifted a curtain of white and not a speck of snow around us. We still had strong wind but not the gusts of our previous miles. We had reached the Burley Rupert area and all seemed to be alright, we were going to make it after all.

We all sighed and congratulated each other and mostly thanked Ron, my eldest son, for his driving skills and proceeded on towards the Twin Falls exit. The sun popped out from behind the clouds. Blue skies welcomed us along with 49 degree weather. Wow! We made it. Or had we? You exit the interstate and cross over the Snake River Gorge, which is worth a blog all to itself, and enter the Twin Falls downtown area. Most of the people we saw were walking around with light jackets and some in shorts so we figured that the worst was behind us.

Once you travel through downtown you turn slightly northeast until you reach Highway 93, a lovely little two lane country road that takes you through farm country. The road is dotted with small farm houses, miles and miles of land in the process of being worked for the first time this spring and you steadily climb towards the border. There were pockets of snow scattered around as if placed there for a Christmas morning snap shot. Gray clouds hung overhead and the wind was okay, not as much as before so smooth sailing to our destination.


If you have ever slammed you finger in a door, dropped a can of soup on your foot or had a tree branch slap you in the face what was to come would make these feel real swell. Mother Nature roared up and gave us a taste of a blizzard with a complete white out. Like slamming a door in ones face from out of no where snow was all around us, blinding snow being hurled at us in such intensity the Jeep seemed to scream in terror and I think we did too. Instantly your foot drops from the gas pedal and the urge to slam on your breaks is hard to resist, thankfully the snow had piled up so fast on the road that it acted as breaks and our Jeep decelerated rapidly down to almost a standstill.

Remember I mentioned this was a charming two lane road, well it also is the only truck route from Elko Wells Nevada into Idaho and so it is heavily traveled by semis. This is the thought lingering in your mind and you hope they do not cross into your lane. I had mentioned earlier about the back seat in the Jeep giving the backseat passenger a nice view of the road, this proved to come in very handy in deed. The snow bounced off the hood of the Jeep and stuck to windows like glue, the wipers on full could hardly keep the windshield clear enough to see. But sitting up higher I was afforded a view of the road ahead and could just make out the tire tracks that had not been completely filled in by the cars before us. Keeping my son driving in a straight line and all the while straining my eyes to see if a large dark shadow was approaching from the other side of the road we preceded at a crawl for about a ¼ mile. Voila it cleared as magically as the door had slammed on us it opened to very little or no snow and almost dry roads.

Now this rambling two lane country road also winds up and down valley hills and over the next hill just as our crested, hello another white out. Now the first happened on flat land, this one was on the down side of a hill, thrilling is not quite the word I am searching for. Just as before, visibility zero and wind and snow creating an almost vacuum affect you crawl along being guided only by a chance sighting of a tire rut up ahead. And again magically as before it stopped and we had open roads and clear sailing.

So as not to bore you with yet another white out story, it happened again two more times before cresting the hill and passing the border into Nevada. Here we were met with winds and horizontal snow but could see the road and our hotel.
We pulled into Cactus Pete’s Casino to register for our hotel, but were staying across the street in a dog friendly casino. During the off season this casino does not keep open their little registration building due to the cold.

This casino is built on the side of a hill and what you would figure as the ground floor is not, of course you go up a flight of stairs and your on the 1st floor and so on, except if your entering from the back, and of course you go down to 1st which made for some fun in trying to find your way around. Once settled into the room we opened the curtains and found yet another mother nature best, another whiteout. You could not see across the road and almost could not see directly below to our parked car. This lasted for about 30 minutes and then eased up a bit to at least afford driving safely back to Cactus Pete’s.

Here we had reservations at the Plateau and enjoyed some delicious food. Please see my food blog at PattieSuefoodreview to see my comments. We had a great deal of fun trying our hand at Keno, blackjack and craps, of course the casino got to keep most of our money but if you go thinking your going to win big, you might as well stay home. We go for the fun, the sounds and the people and just to get out of town.

The following day we awoke to the SUN and partly cloudy skies with some wind but not as intense as yesterdays. After we packed up we started off town the road bidding farewell to Jackpot and anxious to get home. We found many testaments to yesterday‘s storm, an overturned 5th wheel to our left, an SUV off the road to our right. Numerous gouged tire tracks on the median and sides of the road. We all said our prayers and thanked God for a safe passage to and from our weekend sojourn. I do know that the next time we plan an adventure I will be going to the weather station and making sure we do not delight in another of mother nature’s little tricks.

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