Friday, May 11.
We headed out early this morning.We drove around the area to get a better feel for things. I
think we were the only people in entire 2,000+ acre BLM Milner Historic
Recreation Area. This area has joined our Top Ten list.
We took the scenic US 30 route into Twin Falls
rather then hoping in I-84. Before noon time we had filled up with
propane, done the laundry, eaten apple fritters, dumped the tanks,
topped off the water and finished our shopping at Fred Meyers.
Twin Falls has a free city dump station
and water fill. It's right here: 42.55919 -114.47990.
After that we went to the Shoshone
Falls. The local PR people call it the “Niagara of the West”. The
falls are 212' high making them 50' higher then Niagara Falls. There
is a nice paved trail through the area so the three of us were able
to take a walk together.
Then we went to the Centennial Park
which is at the bottom of Snake River canyon. The road going down to
the park is a narrow, two lane road with a 10% grade, per the sign.
There is a very nice visitor center
(42.59816 -114.45524) that accesses the Canyon Rim Trail System. It's
right next to the Perrine Bridge that is 486' above the river. This
bridge is a popular destination for BASE (Buildings, Antenna, Span,
Earth) jumpers because such use is legal here and requires no
permits. At any given time, twenty, or so, guys were hanging around
getting ready to jump. Gopher and I watched a few of them. They land
on the bank of the river about ½ mile from the bridge.
There is a city RV park, Rock Creek
Park, if you're so inclined. We're “camped”for the night in the
Visitor Center parking lot watching the BASE jumpers and enjoying the
Canyon Rim Trail.
The Snake River Canyon
About a million years ago, a gigantic ancient lake called Lake Bonneville covered a large part of Northern Utah and parts of Southern Idaho and eastern Nevada; an estimated 20,000 square miles. Some 13,000 to 15,000 years ago the lake broke through south of Pocatello, ID to create one of the greatest floods known in the history of the world. The flood lasted for six weeks before the majority of the water had drained from the lake. In the above picture appears a light band of rock near the bridge supports. That was the level of the Snake River before the flood. The flood waters eroded away over 250' of the original river bottom.
On September 8, 1974, Evel Knievel made
an unsuccessful attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls.
The site he used is on private property; not that we would have
wasted the gas to see the memorial anyway.
Twin Falls also has all the big box and
chain stores imaginable so most anything a person would need is here.
Including a COSTCO.
Next time we're in the area, we'll come
back.
Saturday:
Gopher and I were up early enough to
see a group of BASE jumpers getting ready. We watched a handful of
them jump.
About 8am we continued west along US 30
with no particular destination in mind. We came across the Hagerman
Wildlife Management Area(WMA) and Idaho State Fish Hatchery which is
just south of Hagerman. The hatchery raises trout and salmon to
stock the rivers in Southern Idaho. In addition, they has a pubic
viewing area with huge catfish, sturgeon, bass, and several other
species. The WMA area has several lakes that are stocked and very
popular with local families. Saturday morning especially.
An interesting Oregon Trail sign we came across.
At Barnes and Nobel in Twin Falls,I
bought a Benchmark Road and Recreation Atlas for ID. I have these
detailed maps for every state we plan on traveling extensively in.
Just a little west of the hatchery, the map showed the Bell Rapids
Sportsman’s Access(42.79299 -114.93674) so we decided to take a
look. When we were in Northern Idaho in 2008, we discovered these
access sites. As a general rule, free camping is permitted. Here the
sign says there is a ten day camping limit. There are two tents
pitched in a wooded area. This is where we'll be camping tonight.
We're parked by the boat ramp watching the guys launching their boats
for a days fishing. Most of the boats are the water powered jet boats.
A perfect place to spend a bright and
sunny day.
 | ||||||
| Tonights campsite |
He came strolling through the area. Bet he knows it's not hunting season!!
1 comment:
We really enjoyed Twin Falls when we went through there a few years ago. Shoshone Falls didn't have nearly as much water then as they do in your photos! Nice! Great photo of that ringed neck pheasant. We had a couple of them living in the field next to where we were camped in Pendleton, but never could get a picture. They sure were afraid of the lightening storm, judging from all the cackling they did.
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