How I Spent My Spring--Travelogue: Part V Mesa Falls

Me and the Hot Chick overlooking Lower Mesa Falls

On June 16th, the theatre department held a retirement party for Susan Whitfield up in West Yellowstone, Montana.  Susan has been the costume designer and a faculty member at Ricks College and Brigham Young University-Idaho for forty-one years.  She has been a mentor, a friend, a colleague and an inspiration to me.  We honored her with an exhibit in the Spori Gallery this semester.  I blogged about it and you can read about it Here.

Chimene and I decided to leave a little early and take the scenic route up to West Yellowstone, via the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway.  Mesa Falls is a two waterfall system on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.  They are both very beautiful and well worth the visit.  The byway begins in the town of Ashton, Idaho and winds it's way down past Warm River and up the side of the Island Park Caldera.  Along the way there are a few stops that offer beautiful vistas over deep canyons and views of the distant Teton Range.

The Teton Range in the background

Bear Gulch scenic overlook

Along the way, there are several trails that we didn't have time to take, but made note of them for a future excursion.  The next major stop was Lower Mesa Falls.  Lower Mesa Falls drops 65 feet over several tiers through a narrow gorge.  Even from the rim of the canyon, you can hear the thunder of the falls.  Along the canyon wall, there is an area of talus that should be navigable if one wished to climb down.  I may some day to reach the base of the falls trail.

Lower Mesa Falls from the observation area

Talus slope

About a mile upstream from the lower falls is Upper Mesa Falls.  At this parking lot, there is a five dollar day use fee.  Cheap at twice the price.  Five dollars is well worth the price of admission here.  From the parking area there is a paved trail that descends to the brink of the falls and at some point becomes boardwalk.  There are several flights of stairs along this path.  Thick green vegetation is abundant on both sides of the trail and it almost has the feel of a rainforest.

Vegetation along the canyon trail

More vegetation

As you descend into the canyon, every now and then you can see glimpses of the falls.  Upper Mesa Falls drops 114 feet and is 200 feet wide.  This is an impressive falls and not an insignificant amount of water flows over it.  Upper Mesa Falls is also the only major falls on the Snake River that hasn't been co-opted for hydroelectric power or irrigation.  It is pristine and beautiful.

The boardwalk takes you to the brink of the falls, then continues downstream along the canyon wall with frequent overlooks to give entirely different views of the magnificent falls.  The spray from this falls has created a micro climate on the far wall of the canyon, which is very much like a rainforest.

Brink of the falls from the canyon trail

The brink of the falls from the first overlook

Mesa Falls from the second overlook

The Hot Chick at the second overlook

Eroded rock pillar in the canyon, downstream of the falls

Micro climate on the far side of the canyon

Layers of columnar jointed basalt on the canyon wall

There is an historic lodge near the parking lot that is over a hundred years old and has been restored.  It is now a museum and visitor's center.  One of the exhibits is a very unique petting zoo.  They have pelts of many of the animals from the area that were trapped and hunted during the fur trade and they encourage patrons to touch.  It's quite interesting.

The historic lodge

A very odd petting zoo

What could be better than a wall of skulls?

"Y'all come back now, y'hear?"

We ate at an ethnic Spanish restaurant in West Yellowstone.  I can't remember the name, but it is now my favorite restaurant there.  The food was very flavorful and many of the menu items were naturally gluten free.  Not only that, but the price was right.  Very reasonable, affordable in a town that is neither reasonable nor affordable in most cases.  After dinner, we caught a show at The Playmill Theatre, my Dad's old business.  We saw  "The Drowsy Chaperone."  It was a good show and very enjoyable. 

The Playmill Theatre

My Dad often said, "The secret to a happy life is to create beautiful memories."  This was one of those.

How I Spent My Spring--Travelogue: Part III Fishing With Bruce

My brother Bruce and my two youngest sons

I've never really been much of a fisherman.  Fishing wasn't much fun when I was a kid.  To me, fishing was going to Fan Creek with my Dad, being put on a rock in the middle of the stream that I couldn't get off of, getting dehydrated and sunburned while Dad fished for three hours.

I've often thought I should learn how to do it and learn to like it because I have children who would probably like to be fishermen.  Last week, my brother, Bruce made the decision for me and invited my two youngest sons to go fishing with him.  They accepted the invitation and when I took them to his house on Saturday, he asked why I wasn't coming.  I tried to make some excuse, but he said I didn't have to fish, I should just come and take pictures of my sons fishing.  I finally agreed to go and now I'm glad I did.  We had a wonderful time fishing.  I could even see myself learning to like it.

We drove out to Warm River near Ashton, Idaho and walked in to the fishing hole which is in the campground.  It was a little chilly and when we first arrived it was drizzling.  We went to the river and the boys started fishing right away.  A man across the river started shouting at us and warned us of the skunk that was approching.  I did something really stupid, I tried to get close enough to get a good picture, but the skunk was wise and moved away from us quite rapidly, choosing to stay under cover.  I did not get a good pic and I did not get sprayed.  It wasn't for a lack of trying though.  He did raise his tail at us a couple of times, but we didn't corner him and he thought it best to leave us alone as well.

Warm River, Idaho

Bruce taught the boys how to spin cast and Rhys, my 12 year old caught a rainbow trout almost immediately.  He was really excited.  He hooked a couple more during the day and Bruce hooked one and let him fight it in, but that was the only one he caught from start to finish.  He felt like it was enough, though.  He had a great time and said he wanted to go back and fish again.

Bruce teaching the boys to fish

Rhys and his first fish

Garrett's day started out slower.  Bruce set Rhys up in a pretty good hole, but Garrett wasn't having much luck where he was so Bruce took him to a couple more spots.  Bruce had to help Rhys with something and I was with Garrett and the skunk.  We decided to go where Rhys was and on a whim, Garrett cast off the wooden bridge in the campground and immediately hooked a fish.  He was thrilled. 

Garrett and his fish

Then it started to rain.  Rhys and Garrett were getting cold and opted to sit in the car for awhile.  Bruce took his pole under a concrete bridge and started fishing.  The rain stopped for a few minutes and the sun came out from behind a cloud and Bruce started catching fish.  I hollered at the boys and they came over and watched him catch a bunch.  In less than ten minutes, Bruce had caught his limit.  They wanted to start fishing again but by that time, the sun had gone back behind a cloud and it started to rain again. 

We packed up and started for home.  There is a place on Warm River where for a hundred yards there is no fishing allowed.  It's a kind of fish preserve and the trout grow to be huge.  Some of them are eight to ten pounds and nearly 20 inches long.  There is a vending machine there with Purina Trout Chow in it and you can get a handful for a quarter.  Some people brought bags of dry cat food and fed the fish with that.  It was neat to see the water boiling with big fish trying to feed on the cat food.  My Dad took me there when I was a boy.  I'd forgotten how much fun it was to do that.

Big trout in the water

Big ole rainbow trout

Another big fish

On our way out of the canyon, Bruce pointed out an old stone bridge.  It's not really used much anymore and it's all overgrown, but it looked like it ought to be in Vermont or someplace back east.  I had to photograph it.

Very old stone bridge

When we got home, Bruce taught us all how to filet the fish so you didn't have to gut them.  Pretty ingenious.  Basically you just slice the meat off the bones and leave the head, tail and gut cavity intact.  Lots easier than the old way.  This was a great day.  I'm glad my big brother Bruce convinced me to go.  We had a really nice time with him.  I think he may have convinced me to give fishing another shot and I may end up buying a license and a fishing pole. 

Our haul