Undaunted by the smoke, we went north to a scenic drive along the Henry's Fork River in the Snake River Valley. We should have been able to see the Teton Mountains from the first stop, but the smoke was too much. Our next stop, Lower Mesa Falls, is listed as 85 feet with a first major drop of 20 feet to a pool that runs over a 45 foot drop. When I saw a kayak running the lower drop, I scrambled back to the car for a long lens to record any added boaters going over. I was just set up when I saw what appeared to be a bright yellow raft. (Kayak groups often include a raft for support on big rivers.)
Looking closely, I could see that it was not a raft, but essentially a large air mattress - not very rugged. There are two helmeted men behind the float, and a women below is beginning to go down the falls.
The two men scramble onto the float, not quite getting squared up for the drop.
Off they go down the chute!
There was seriously no way they would stay on the float without any sidewalls, and away they tumbled.
Well, this makes me glad they are not my children. I'd rather have one of them taking up something sane like rock climbing. Really! I later learned that they had to hike down a trail from the Upper Mesa Falls to reach the put-in, and float another 6 miles to the intersection with the Warm River to take out.
We went on to see Upper Mesa Falls; it is 110 feet. Looking it over, I surmised that no one could survive a drop over it. It is quite beautiful.
So, our first day got off to a good start. The next day, with some hope for showers to wash the smoke out of the sky, we headed south to the City of Rocks National Reserve operated by the National Park Service. In 1852, over 52,000 people traveled the emigrant trail to the California gold fields. They branched off the Oregon Trail near here. It is named for the soaring granitic rock formations that jut up through the sagebrush country.
I believe this spire is called Chicken Rock with the idea that the top resembles the comb on a rooster. Well, it sort of does.
Today, the road carved by the wagons in 1852 can still be seen as it approaches the granite pillows. We went further into the park for lunch and a view of kids playing on top of one of the formations.
I soon wished we had more than a day to explore this. Most of the campsites were occupied either with family campers or rock climbers. There was so much to discover. We soon found a nice granite arch.
And, there was a really cool couple of granite spires for the serious climbers to work up (and down again).
There is one climber about a third of the way up the center crack, and another sitting atop a smaller spire to the right (in red and yellow). Yes, I'd rather my child was doing this than dropping over a 45 foot falls on an air mattress.
I want to close with a rock formation that appeared like the huge gaping mouth of a Grouper fish.
The Grouper rests on the ocean floor and when its prey gets too close, its huge mouth snaps open to suck the meal in. Well, that is what I see. Maybe you see it differently. The chicken rock was a stretch for me.
We left City of Rocks reluctantly because we needed to pick up our rental car. We left our friends in Pocatello to continue our travel north to Yellowstone National Park. Some spotty rain did come in as we left to everyone's relief.
Yellowstone was wonderful, and I've got some excellent photos, mostly of elk, bison and moose with a few geothermal spots included. I'll send them along in a day or so.
Paul
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