Well, let’s see. When I was last on here, we were just about to exit the Sawtooth National Forest on Idaho 75 near Sun Valley and Ketchum.
We were just settled in on the road, when Hailey had to stop, check her mail, and send a few postcards!
After leaving the national forest, the scenery got a little more mundane, with the exception of some great black fields of black lava strewn across the countryside.
So it was quite a surprise upon entering Twin Falls to find that it has a grand canyon all of its own.
But fortunately, unlike the Grand Canyon, there is a bridge here. A very impressive bridge. And I watched as a fellow threw himself off the middle of it – some 400 feet above the water below!
In this photo, the guy is just about to jump off the middle of the bridge! I don’t know what he was thinking …
After a couple of seconds (I didn’t hear any screams) …
his parachute deployed…
and he floated gently down over the water …
Before landing gently on the bank – near the target on the ground! What did you think was happening?
Three more of his friends followed him shortly. I guess they had a ‘pact’ or something, lol!
Moving right along … in southern Idaho.
We encountered a couple of cattle drives. Beef on the hoof.
At the Nevada state line, I was lucky that I was not using my phone’s camera to take this photo!
The scenery gradually improved while southbound on 93 into Nevada, but the camping opportunities were limited – unless you want ‘casino camping’, which I was not in the mood for. Side road 232 south of Wells looked promising, but turned out to be all ranches and private land. That left us with a wilderness version of Walmart overnighting. At least it was quiet, and scenic.
Carrying on southward the next day, there was an inviting looking turnoff to the Ruby Lake National Wildlife refuge. It didn’t say how far, but I guessed 3-4 miles at least. Turns out it was about 40 miles – after the pavement ended! The map showed the road continuing on south, eventually coming out near Ely, and it was in pretty good shape for a non-paved road – and very scenic too. So what the heck, I am retired again after all. And, there must be a lake!
I stopped at the refuge HQ to inquire about road conditions, and was disappointed to learn that the road got a lot worse, with plenty of tire-eating sharp rock, and about 70 miles of n-o-t-h-i-n-g ahead. Not to be deterred, we found a spot in the nearby South Ruby campground to consider the options.
The ‘lake’ turned out to be a mostly dry series of sloughs, but the waterfowl were quite happy with it, and there was surprisingly (to me), a fish hatchery as well!
I saw a grey tabby ‘tree tiger’ in a pine tree.
That’s it. You were expecting more …?
Good post! This spring I had a great drive along the Columbia River when I spied a hang glider sail off of a cliff and soar back and forth along the river. (It was amazing that I didn't drive into the river!!) I'm sure you were so much safer driving with your camera in hand rather than the camera known as a cell phone. lol
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous poster about safer driving with camera in hand rather than the cell phone thing. Got yourself into some fine looking scenery again.
ReplyDeletelooks like a good place for the night. That was just plain good luck running into those gliders.
ReplyDeleteI hope you un-hooked and took the road all the way to the top....Very nice and quiet. Something swell to see.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Good day. I have been following your blog for a while now and love that you have Hailey along with you. (Keep the pics coming, please) Have you ever had a problem with Hailey wandering off while you camped? I prefer to boondock and I would be concerned my Mojo would wander off if I let her out in an unfamiliar spot.
ReplyDeleteBarrie