Circle Tour - To Twin Falls, Sun Valley, Stanley & Challis

 

Home Sweet Home
It's really nice having a roof over our 5'er.

 

We took a two day, overnight, circle trip, Thursday (6/11) and Friday. First we headed southwest to the Twin Falls area. Friday we continued north through Sun Valley and into the Sawtooth Recreation Area and the mountain town of Stanley before turning back toward home through the Lost River Valley and right past Idaho's tallest Peak, Mt. Borah (el. 12,662).

 

Our first stop was a picnic lunch at Malad Gorge State Park. People pass by on the Interstate in a blink of an eye never suspecting this 250 foot deep gorge close by.

Our next stop was at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. The major attraction here is the remains of over 200 species of plants and animals that have been found in the park, including complete skeletons of the Hagerman Horse, a zebra-like ancestor of today's horse. There are also deep wagon ruts left behind from the Oregon and Emigrant Wagon Trails.

Driving Highway US 30 East
Traveling the Niagara Springs State Park Trail,
where a thousand falls flow out of the cliff face.

Delicious homemade ice cream at the Clover Leaf
Creamery in Buhl, Idaho.

The Perrine Bridge at Twin Falls, Idaho, is a truss arch four-lane bridge that carries US 93 over the Snake River Canyon. Perrine Bridge is 1,500 long and 486 feet above the Snake River. The bridge is a popular, and legal, BASE jumping site. We watched a number of jumpers dive over the edge. This section of the Snake River is also famous for the dirt ramp, still visible, where Evil Knievil unsuccessfully attempted to jump the Snake River in 1974. While in Twin Falls we also visited the Shoshone Falls and the Twin Falls, for which the town was named.

The Beautiful Town of Sun Valley

Sawtooth Scenic Route

Frank Church Scenic Overlook
near Galena Peak

Redfish Lake, south of Stanley

Salmon River Gorge at Sunbeam Hot Springs

Our last stop was unplanned but very interesting. In October, 1983, a 7.3 earthquake formed a 21 mile long scarp near the base of Borah Peak. The movement of the rupture was up and down and is called a "high angle dip slip fault." This is clearly visible in the foreground of the picture with snow covered Borah Peak in the background. This earthquake dropped the valley 7 1/2 feet, raised the mountain over a foot and caused new springs and craters to develop. More than 400 billion gallons of water gushed from the ground. The quake did over $15,000,000 of damage to roads and the surrounding towns.