The weather was far different a couple weeks ago than it is today (it's snow in SLC today), it was in the 80's and not a cloud in the sky, I also had Friday the 5th off because of my birthday, so I figured I'd head out for some exploring to the states north of me. This was roughly the route I took:
I'd always wanted to see Craters of the Moon and figured I'd make a long weekend out of it by stopping at some other places along the way. The Tetons were a last minute add on when I realized I had more time than I thought and that Teton Pass was open allowing me to cross over the mountains into Jackson.
My first stop though was City of Rocks National Reserve and City of Rocks State Park near Almo, ID. It was kind of a cool to see, although the melting snow made it a little muddy in some areas and I wasn't really properly equipped to go hiking through muck.
From there I went to Twin Falls because I wanted to see the twin falls Twin Falls gets its name from, apparently it's just one giant waterfall that is larger than Niagara Falls by like 50 feet. Shoshone Falls was really flowing fast too due to all the melt that was going on, so that made it kind of neat to see too. I also checked out Snake River Canyon because I wanted to see where Evel Knievel failed his rocket jump at. During my stay in Twin Falls, I also went up to check out the Hagerman Fossil Beds, but I don't have any picture of it.
The Perrine Bridge was kind of neat too, apparently it's one of the few places in the US where it's legal to BASE jump off of. There were a handful of guys packing chutes getting ready to jump as soon as the wind died down.
I back tracked back to Burley, ID to spend the night in a road side motel and it was on the perfect road.
The next morning I was up early for a run up to Craters of the Moon. It's amazing how desolate Idaho is at times and at one point I was a little concerned about fuel (bad planning on my part). But I made it without issue and Craters of the Moon was awesome, it looks like an alien landscape and since I was there so early the park was very quiet and peaceful.
I also came across a Land Cruiser from Switzerland which was kind of neat too. Maybe someone recognizes them?
After leaving Craters of the Moon I looked over a map and decided that I could easily make the Grand Tetons, especially since roads were open. So I set my GPS to take me there via Idaho Falls and off I went. I was really hoping to stop at EGR-1, the world's first nuclear reactor, but apparently it wasn't opening until Memorial Day so that was a tad disappointing. It would have broke up the long, uneventful drive through Idaho National Labs property. I did see some coyotes though along with a few snakes, so that at least provided some excitement.
When I made it to the Tetons, my intention was to drive all the way up to Yellowstone, but the road was closed at the John D. Rockefeller Parkway due to snow. Never-the-less the Tetons were beautiful and it was really weird standing on a snowy beach overlooking a frozen lake when it was in the 70s.
On the way back into Jackson, I came across a heard of bison too. We have heards here in Utah, but they are out on Antelope Island and it was kind of neat to see, what I assume, were more free range bison.
On my way back home on Sunday, I passed through Fossil Butte National Monument, but most of it was still closed due to snow. I ended up talking to the ranger for a little bit about the area, but there wasn't much else to see. I did take a detour through Evanston,WY and ended up finding the southwest corner of Wyoming at Utah's "notch". I love checking out "unusual" borders so it's was kind of cool.
Overall it was a fun way to spend 3 days and I checked a few things off that I've always wanted to see. I also expanded my patch collection, which is always fun!
I'd always wanted to see Craters of the Moon and figured I'd make a long weekend out of it by stopping at some other places along the way. The Tetons were a last minute add on when I realized I had more time than I thought and that Teton Pass was open allowing me to cross over the mountains into Jackson.
My first stop though was City of Rocks National Reserve and City of Rocks State Park near Almo, ID. It was kind of a cool to see, although the melting snow made it a little muddy in some areas and I wasn't really properly equipped to go hiking through muck.
From there I went to Twin Falls because I wanted to see the twin falls Twin Falls gets its name from, apparently it's just one giant waterfall that is larger than Niagara Falls by like 50 feet. Shoshone Falls was really flowing fast too due to all the melt that was going on, so that made it kind of neat to see too. I also checked out Snake River Canyon because I wanted to see where Evel Knievel failed his rocket jump at. During my stay in Twin Falls, I also went up to check out the Hagerman Fossil Beds, but I don't have any picture of it.
The Perrine Bridge was kind of neat too, apparently it's one of the few places in the US where it's legal to BASE jump off of. There were a handful of guys packing chutes getting ready to jump as soon as the wind died down.
I back tracked back to Burley, ID to spend the night in a road side motel and it was on the perfect road.
The next morning I was up early for a run up to Craters of the Moon. It's amazing how desolate Idaho is at times and at one point I was a little concerned about fuel (bad planning on my part). But I made it without issue and Craters of the Moon was awesome, it looks like an alien landscape and since I was there so early the park was very quiet and peaceful.
I also came across a Land Cruiser from Switzerland which was kind of neat too. Maybe someone recognizes them?
After leaving Craters of the Moon I looked over a map and decided that I could easily make the Grand Tetons, especially since roads were open. So I set my GPS to take me there via Idaho Falls and off I went. I was really hoping to stop at EGR-1, the world's first nuclear reactor, but apparently it wasn't opening until Memorial Day so that was a tad disappointing. It would have broke up the long, uneventful drive through Idaho National Labs property. I did see some coyotes though along with a few snakes, so that at least provided some excitement.
When I made it to the Tetons, my intention was to drive all the way up to Yellowstone, but the road was closed at the John D. Rockefeller Parkway due to snow. Never-the-less the Tetons were beautiful and it was really weird standing on a snowy beach overlooking a frozen lake when it was in the 70s.
On the way back into Jackson, I came across a heard of bison too. We have heards here in Utah, but they are out on Antelope Island and it was kind of neat to see, what I assume, were more free range bison.
On my way back home on Sunday, I passed through Fossil Butte National Monument, but most of it was still closed due to snow. I ended up talking to the ranger for a little bit about the area, but there wasn't much else to see. I did take a detour through Evanston,WY and ended up finding the southwest corner of Wyoming at Utah's "notch". I love checking out "unusual" borders so it's was kind of cool.
Overall it was a fun way to spend 3 days and I checked a few things off that I've always wanted to see. I also expanded my patch collection, which is always fun!
