How I Spent My Summer, 2012 Part III--Travelogue: Lower Mesa Falls

Brink of the falls, Lower Mesa Falls

On June 16th, 2012, Chimene and I went to a retirement party for one of my colleagues up in West Yellowstone, Montana.  We decided to leave early and take the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway.  We had been to Mesa Falls many times, but this time we noticed a trail to the brink of Lower Mesa Falls.  In some of the travel literature we have, I saw a close up picture of the Lower Falls and we decided we had to hike it.  I couldn't find much literature on hiking trails in the area, but I did find a link that talked about scrambling down the talus slope to the river and a great view of the falls.  That's the route I decided to take.

Talus Slope at Lower Mesa Falls

Our party included Chimene (my wife), my sons Haydn and Garrett and me.  On the way, we stopped at one of the scenic overlooks to view the Teton range.  At many places in the snake river plain the Teton mountains are visible.  This is a beautiful spot to see them from.  While we were there, we came across several different species of wildflowers, some of which we had never seen before.

The Teton Range from the scenic overlook

Wild Sweet Pea

Fireweed

Possibly Payette Beardtongue

When we got to the Lower Falls, Chimene discovered that she had not brought along her hiking shoes and only had sandals.  So the overlook for Lower Mesa Falls was as far as she went.  The rest of the time she spent reading in the car while Haydn, Garrett and I scrambled down the scree slope.

Chimene's only pic of the day

The hike consisted of a scramble down about 500 feet of boulders with a few stands of trees in the middle.  It was tough going.  Some of the boulders weighed in excess of a ton.  The pitch was up to 60 degrees in some places but settled to around 45 degrees in others.  By the time we got to the bottom, I decided I was going to find a different way up.  All the way down and back up, Garrett and I feasted upon wild raspberries that we found in the canyon.  They tasted like raspberries, but were slightly more tart than the domesticated ones.

Haydn and Garrett on the scree to show scale.  Note the pitch at around 40 degrees

Looking up the scree pile.  Daunting

Life will always find a way

A grove of trees in the middle of the scree pile

Wild raspberries

After we exited from the small grove, we came upon our first view of the Lower Mesa Falls.  It was magnificent.  There is a basalt tower that is a remnant of an earlier falls at the location.  The falls are steadily moving upstream.  We saw evidence of at least two other falls systems while we were on the trail. 

Haydn and Garrett wanted to go all the way to the river's edge and I felt it would be more practical to skirt alongside the talus at the level of the falls until we got to the brink.  They visited the river and I cut a trail to the falls through the boulders.  We met up about a hundred yards from the falls where we picked up a real trail.  When we got to the falls, they did not disappoint.  The Upper Falls is wide and a single sheer drop and is impressive in it's own way.  The lower falls, however is a tiered waterfall that shoots through a narrow canyon over three distinct levels.  The Lower Falls drops about 65 feet in total.  The trail went right to the brink of the falls.  It was magnificent and the sheer power of it was incredible.

Our first view of the falls after exiting the grove.  Note the sun shining through the mist from the falls

Haydn and Garrett at the river

Another view of the falls with the basalt tower visible

The basalt tower from the trail

The falls from the trail

The first tier of the falls

A deep hole I would not want to kayak through

Pretty little grotto on the side of the falls

Possibly my favorite picture of the day.  Complimentary colors of yellow and purple with Goldenrod and Fireweed at the edge of the waterfall

None of us wanted to climb out the way we had come down the canyon so I opted for another trail.  We skirted along the columnar jointed basalt until we found a notch we could climb up the cliff.  There was a plateau there that gave another view of the falls but more interestingly it showed at least two previos extint channels the falls used to follow.  I found a jeep/horse trail that gave access to a few backcountry camping spots and we followed it for awhile.  It became clear to me that it exited at the Upper Falls campground which was a mile away from where we wanted to be.  What I learned though was it is an easier trail than the one we went down and the one we went up.

We backtracked and cut across the plateau to a much gentler incline up the scree pile than the one we came down and made our way up to the top.  We emerged right in front of our car in the parking area.  This was a rigorous hike across the boulder field, and one that I'd like to do again, but when I'm in a little better shape.  The boys liked it and we had a fun time together.  This was well worth it.  I recommend this hike.

The boys climbing out

The falls from the plateau, also showing the ancient course of the river and waterfall

The river valley from the plateau on the way out of the canyon

How I Spent My Summer, 2012 Part II--Travelogue: Sheep Falls

The Hot Chick and my two youngest sons at the trailhead to Sheep Falls

On July 7th, we only had a few hours for an excursion so we decided to visit Sheep Falls, Idaho.  My youngest son, Garrett was just a baby when we visited here last.  This time we brought the camera.  The falls aren't very large, more of a cascade really.  But the canyon and gorge are impressive.  Kayakers can navigate the falls with little problem.  I imagine there is a certain degree of difficulty but I wouldn't know about that.

To get to the falls from Rexburg, head north on Highway 20.  Go past Ashton and up the Ashton Hill, which is really just the rim of an ancient caldera.  Once over the rim of the caldera, watch for milepost 369 as the northbound sign for Sheep Falls is currently missing.  After the milepost, take the first right.  The road will pass two small roadcuts before the turn.  Once on this road, head east for a few miles.  I'm sorry that I didn't take better note of the mileage.  There are a couple of turnoffs, but don't take them.  Only turn north on the road marked "Sheep Falls".  The road goes down about a hundred yards to a turnaround where you can park.  It's been noted in some literature I read not to take a car down this road, that it's little better than a jeep trail.  My Chrysler Town & Country navigated it just fine.  When we got to the parking area, one of the first things I saw was a Sego Lily.

Parking area

Sego Lily

The trail to the canyon bottom follows a gentle slope with a couple of switchbacks to make it a very easy hike.  I think the trail is only .7 miles from the parking area to the brink of the falls.  Along the trail we saw several varieties of wildflowers, some of which I can identify, some of which I cannot.

Wild Rose

Paintbrush, formerly called "Indian Paintbrush"

Unknown white wildflower

Wild Geranium

As we approached the bottom of the canyon, we began to see evidence of ancient river channels, and in fact most of the trail at the bottom of the canyon wound it's way through and around the ancient stream bed and long dry waterfalls.  The lava rock was scoured smooth in these areas and I learned by watching just how the falls had come to be.  The lava in this canyon follows a columnar jointing pattern, much like the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.  As the water eroded the softer rhyolite, it coursed over the jointed basalt and peeled off the leading edge of it one stone at a time, one layer at a time.  It was very interesting to me, but then again, I'm a geology groupie.

First vantage point of the falls from the trail

Upstream from the same vantage point

Wall of ancient river channel

Ancient river channel

On top of the ancient falls, now at the brink of the current falls.  Note the columnar jointing habit of the lava rock

Sheep Falls on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River

View downstream from the same vantage point as the photo above

Water scour over basalt in ancient streambed

We followed the river downstream for another two hundred yards or so to get to the end of the rapids through the gorge.  The last time we came down this canyon we only ventured to the falls.  This time we went further and were not disappointed.  Once again the trail followed the ancient riverbeds through the ancient gorge.  We headed back up the trail once we reached the end of the rapids and I found a place where we could rock climb down to the river.  The boys were all over that.  Chimene complained that I was only taking pictures of things and not people, so I took some pictures of her and the kids.  Once I did that, she took the camera away from me.

Ancient streambed showing columnar jointing habit

Rapids from the trail

Cliff face of columnar jointed basalt

The Hot Chick and the boys

She took the camera away from me after this shot

The boys and I walking back through the ancient gorge and riverbed

The boys standing at the brink of an ancient, extinct waterfall

Chimene took this of me at the falls on the way out of the canyon

This was not a difficult hike, more of a walk really, but the scenery was magnificent.  The trail was shaded almost all the way down until we got to the river, then the water insulated against the heat of the day.  The geology was very interesting to me and of course we all enjoyed the rock climbing.  We were warned of bears, and this is grizzly country, but we didn't see any and we didn't see any bear sign (that's the polite way to say bear poop).  We all enjoyed this hike and we will do it again.