Snake River in Idaho

...thought we'd dropped off the face of the earth? Nope, just spending time in Idaho while our house is being planned and built. We've been here since June 17th. Thought it would be nice to post some terrific Idaho photos.

This one is all about the scenic Snake River Gorge just south of Boise. We drove about 45 minutes south from our RV site, parked the car and walked about 1/4 mile to the edge. This is what you see at first as you approach.....asking "what's the big deal"?

 

Then, you look over the edge of the wall....whoaaaaa!

Looking south upriver

Looking north downriver

The Snake River goes into the Columbia River, which ends up in the Pacific Ocean...just past Portland, Oregon.

Then, we went a bit further and descended down to the river level to an old power station (Swan Falls Dam) that was built for the silver mines way back. Swan Falls Dam is on the Snake River about 40 miles south of Boise. It was built in 1901 to provide electricity to nearby mines. Swan Falls is the oldest hydroelectric generating site on the Snake River. Idaho Power built a new power plant in the mid-1990s. The old plant is now a museum. Unfortunately, we were not there when it was open.

This is the road down to the canyon floor

From up above

Getting closer

Nice park down at the river's level

Having to take the vegetation off the screens is an ongoing process.

From the water's edge.

Here's what it used to look like...notice there's no land bridge across the structure to the other side. That came later.

This river park is a LONG way from Boise....but people came out here to frolic.

Now comes the most interesting part...

Read this...

Here's where the ice dam broke

What it might've looked like with the water rushing through

This is an artist's rendition...

You can see the light colored flood layer almost at the top

Another view of the flood layer looking across the river.

Then, we drove out up that steep road and took a few more photos before heading home....

Amazing views !

Imagine that wall of water rushing through here?

Of course, no blog entry would be complete with some Katie photos...take a look at her new look !!

Isn't she adorable !!??

Her favorite spot during dinner.

She's got me well trained...every morning she naps on my lap for an hour.

Awwwww

That's an awfully big doggie...

Well, hope you enjoyed this one....we'll be posting a few more of Idaho before starting our house construction blog.

steve/kim/katie