August 25, 2013

We left our hotel around 8:45 this morning and headed out for a day of travel and touring. Our first stop was the Bruneau Dunes State Park in Mountain Home, Idaho. When we first pulled up, we couldn't see the dunes and then when we did see them, they seemed to blend in the background with the mountains, unlike the dunes at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Alamosa. 

When we started climbing the big dune (470 feet+), though, it was impressive. Somehow we got off track so we had walked a while before we actually started going up. We had our "Colorado moment" when we saw a DOG walking like it was the easiest thing in the world up on the ridge (that reminded me of a spine of a horse); we just needed to see the woman with the baby on her back that we did on our hike in Jefferson County. After an hour of walking we were higher than the little dune but nowhere near the top (the guide in the visitor's center said it would take 30-45 minutes, and "5 minutes" to climb up the little dune) so we decided to try our luck there. On the way down, we met the couple with the dog (Maggie) that we had seen earlier. We found out they had gone up a different way which was not as straight up as the way we were trying. We also learned that the guy, Eli, was a rafting guide in McCall, where we were headed to on Wednesday. 


On the little dune, we passed a dad and daughter using their snowboards to get down the sand dune. It felt good to make it to the top, even though it wasn't as tall as the other dune. 

Next we headed to the Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, which was one of the spots on one of my favorite computer games of all time, Oregon Trail. 

I was expecting to have to make a decision about whether to caulk the wagon or hire a Native American guide for three sets of clothes. 

This spot was also a surprise to me because I hadn't put it together that we'd be visiting Oregon Trail sites on this trip. When I think Oregon Trail, I think Oregon, but of course you have to go through Oregon to get there. 
 
We were delighted to learn our $5 entrance fee from the sand dunes also let us in here, since we were visiting another state park on the same day. Our first stop was a replica of a wagon that was used to retrace the journey back to Pennsylvania some years back. We also learned that although Conestoga wagons are what you typically imagine, they were usually a lot smaller, and that to carry all their stuff, they had to walk alongside. No wonder that a grueling pace tended to lead to deaths and they wouldn't let you carry all the buffalo you'd shot, even when you figured out the trick of the game and were always successful with your shots.

There was a great free museum on site and we found out that we could not only access original wagon ruts a few miles away, but if we drove 20 minutes, we could see what the settlers saw when they arrived (one of the three islands was obscured from the museum). Now THAT was cool. (We missed the annual event they do the second week of August where they re-enact those crossings.)

Colleen straddling Oregon Trail wagon ruts

The weird thing we saw as we pulled up to the wagon ruts. Anyone know what this is? Let us know!

The view the settlers saw of the three islands

Our next stop was to check in to our hotel, the Comfort Inn and Suites in Jerome, which was on our way to our next stop, Shoshone Falls in adjacent Twin Falls.

We saw these hay bales on the way to Shoshone Falls - a picture for mom, who stopped to take pictures of hay bales on her first trip to Colorado!

Billed as "The Niagara of the West," it was pretty impressive, particularly since were visiting at a time when the water levels were lower than they are in the spring.

Before we went down to the falls, I inquired about the walk to the Evel Knievel jump site. (The guy at the entrance booth said "attempt" so we assumed he didn't make it, which a Wikipedia search right now confirms.)

"After his recovery, he continued to make high profile and lucrative jumps, and began lobbying the government for permission to jump the Grand Canyon. Unable to obtain permission, he settled on a jump over the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho, which he attempted on September 8, 1974 in the X-2 Skycycle. The parachute deployed immediately after launch and the vehicle crashed just a few feet away from the river's edge."

Map showing the distance from the falls to the jump site

Somehow I missed the fact it was 1.5 miles ... straight up. I mean, I figured it must be higher than the falls overlook but this was a hard walk. When we finally got close enough to see the sandpit looking jump thing the guy at the entrance had said we'd see and we'd be walking an hour we decided we were close enough.

That mound on the right is the Evel Knievel jump site

After we got back down to the falls overlook we drove over to Dierkes Lake, also on the site. The water was too cool for me but Jon went in and took advantage of this diveboard like thing in the middle.

We then plugged Garmin back in to find the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, a popular base jumping site. We were surprised to find this was the same bridge we had driven over from our hotel, which offered a just OK view of what looked like a puny river and golf courses. What a difference another perspective made!

Perrine Bridge - no bridge jumpers today!

We didn't see anyone base jumping so took a walk to the right, and saw our Evel Knievel "site" ... and it looked we could have walked there ... on a flat surface!

The Evel Knievel jump site is in the right-middle of the photo

But we were hungry, and a place in the AAA book sounded like it would be close by as it said it offered views of the Snake River and golf courses. The Canyon Crest Dining & Event Center provided the best meal I had on the trip - elk burger (half off the regular price as part of a special), clam chowder, and raspberry cheesecake.  

Then it was back to the hotel for the hot tub (not as hot as the one in Boise so we could be in there longer) and to get ready for a relatively early morning (we had to leave by 8:45 to make it to the Shoshone Indian Ice Caves in time for the 10 a.m. tour.)

-- POSTED BY COLLEEN