We spent the entire day in the Twin Falls area. Like yesterday, there were a couple of unexpected twists to today. It’s probably good we didn’t have a real set agenda. We would have had to throw it out.
We drove down to Centennial Park by the Snake River, which sits in the shadow of the bridge. We found out that the park is not much more than a boat launch so we didn’t stay long. On the way out we had to have the kayaks inspected as mussels are becoming a problem here. The inspection station was not busy at all so we ended up talking to the woman there for a good half hour. She is a lifelong resident of Twin Falls and gave us a few pointers on what to do and see. Interesting conversation on what Idahoans think of people from Utah and California and the influx of people into this area.
We parked the RV at the visitor center on the rim of the gorge and walked across the Perrine Bridge. BASE jumping is big here and severe guys were packing their parachutes to jump off the bridge. As we walked across the bridge, we were able to see, close up, two guys climb over the hand railing of the bridge and throw themselves into the abyss below. It takes about 30 seconds from the jump to touchdown on the land beside the river.
Apparently, this is the only bridge where you can do this any time of the year without a permit.
We took a bike ride down the Canyon Rim Trail. About 6 miles of trail follow the very edge of the gorge. Great bike ride, great scenery. On a tip from our kayak inspector, we parked the bikes and took the trail down to Pillar Falls, a drop in elevation of nearly 500 feet for a just over half-mile hike. It was super steep. And part of the trail was through dust that was a good inch deep.
The bottom was like an oasis. No real falls here, more of a series of small cascades, but it was cool and shady and level. We enjoyed this for a while before beginning the arduous climb back up.
This bike trail also passes the location of Evel Knievel’s attempted motorcycle jump across the canyon in 1974. Not much left but the earth mound used for the jump, but he was an inspiration to a whole generation of motorcycle dare devils. I’m old enough to remember this.
The trail ends at Shoshone Falls, which is described as the Niagara Falls of Idaho. In the Fall, however, most of the water is diverted for irrigation, so the falls is just a trickle.
We stopped at an overlook point and a guy asked me if I was from Texas. I was wearing a shirt from Texas Baptist Camp. I told him, no I’m from Michigan and we started talking to him and his wife. Turns out they lived here and were former dairy farmers from California. At this point, the game of Dutch Bingo began, and we figured out they know people from the Yakima Valley, from Michigan, and she attended Calvin for a year.
They were Dutch CRC people, so we immediately had several common grounds and understood each other in many ways. As the conversation progressed, they invited us over to their place for dinner and an hour or so later, we found ourselves at a beautiful home right on the edge of the Snake River Canyon, enjoying the view and the conversation with these new friends of ours. This also solved the daily problem of a place to park the RV for the evening as we are now parked on their property for the evening.
Totally unexpected, totally chance meeting on a bike trail and we’ve made some new friends. How cool is that?
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