Beautiful Idaho
6/20/2016
The little corner of Nevada we passed through leaves no doubt in my mind that I could never live there. I always try to see beauty in the lands we pass through but Nevada? Ok, it was mostly brown, brown hills, brown rocks, mostly brown valleys. What green there was, was in the valleys and I admit coming over the tops of the hills the valleys looked verdant and lush. Up close, they were mostly sagebrush. Then we top one hill and there it was a beautiful snow capped mountain shining in the sun. Oh, Nevada I forgive you for being so brown!
60 miles west of the Utah/Nevada state line we turned north on US 93 towards Twin Falls Idaho. Our destination was Banbury Springs RV park in Buhl. After passing through Jackpot, NA, a town that consisted mostly of casinos, the terrain changed from rock and sagebrush to fields of hay and dairy farms. Hooray! The farms here are either dairy cows or beef. The dairy farms are the biggest I have ever seen, the corrals, usually several of them per farm, must hold a thousand cow. In addition to cows, they grow corn and wheat.
Before I forget we have seen, for the first time, animal bridges across the highways. For those who have never heard of them, they are wide bridges covered in a natural habitat that provides a safe path for migrating animals such as deer or elk. Brilliant!
We checked into a small rather dated park near Twin Falls, ID, Banbury Hot Springs. The location was beautiful right on the banks of the Snake River with the high cliffs rising across from us, however, the park needs a lot of updating and repairs. After doing all of the must does, we went for a swim in the hot (about 100 degrees) swimming pool then slept a dreamless sleep. The time changes have been difficult on our old brains from Eastern to Central, to Mountain, to Pacific and back to Mountain, we were both a bit sleep deprived.
A few months ago the Motorhome magazine ran an article on the Sawtooth Mountains Scenic Highway. Starting north of Twin Falls, ID and going North about 100 miles to Red Fish the highway cut through Sun Valley Ski Resort. We were hooked and this was the major reason to come to Twin Falls. Tuesday Morning we packed the doggies, a few sandwiches, and plenty of water in the little truck and went North. Beginning in the almost desert-like area around Shoshone the land morphed into fields of black rock (lava rock), then to verdant pastures and fields of corn and wheat. Coming over a rise we saw a snow-dappled peak in the distance, our first sight of the Sawtooth Range. We passed through Hailey then Ketchum in the heart of Sun Valley. Quaint towns revolving around outdoor sports such as skiing, biking, and hiking. Towering over them were the snowy peaks cut with ski runs. Further to the north, we began to climb the Galena Pass topping out at 8600+ feet. Below us, the Salmon River rose from the foothills to flow northward to join the Snake and then the Columbia. We followed the Salmon across the valley of huge ranches as it grew in size, continuing down the valley to the little town of Stanley where we had to turn around. We arrived back at the RV tired and ready to sleep.
Wednesday morning had to be devoted to finding a place to park over the 4th of July. Because we did not want to be on a schedule we had not pre-booked any RV parks. So now it is June 22 and we need to make some decisions. After playing around with the dates we decided on the area around Burns, OR for the 4th. I was lucky to find a nice park that could accommodate us for the whole weekend without moving.
In the afternoon we went to Twin Falls to see the Perrine Bridge across the Snake River Gorge. Some of you older readers might remember the attempt by Evil Kenvil to jump the gorge on a motorcycle. The ramp he used is still visible.
The bridge and the gorge are stupendous. So beautiful, more than I expected.
Slideshow
While we were at the bridge two young men BASE jumped from the bridge. It was very exciting to watch, my pictures do to do their jumps justice.
Slideshow
The Shoshone Falls, the Niagara of the West, are just as breathtaking. Cascading over several tiers they are stunning. The City of Twin Falls has developed a beautiful park for visitors to enjoy, there was a $3.00 fee to enter but it was waived with our National Parks Senior Pass.
Slideshow Shoshone Falls
June 26th, 2016