Idaho Falls, Idaho is the closest metropolitan destination to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. It’s just an easy two-hour drive to the park’s west entrance and the small city of West Yellowstone.
Jo had seen pictures of the town of Idaho Falls’ famous waterfall and suggested that we overnight there and spend some time in the morning doing photography before heading for Yellowstone.
The Snake River winds its way through the centre of Idaho Falls and there are eight kilometres of waterfront that have been made into a riverside walk. Idaho Falls is famous for that waterfall, which is more than 20 feet high and over 600 feet long. Interestingly, the scenic waterfall is not natural but is a large hydroelectric generator that powers most of the town. The town’s website says “Before the dam was created, this was just a bunch of small rapids. Now, the Snake River makes a drop of about 20 feet or so over a width of 1,200 feet.” It was that long waterfall that Jo was so excited to photograph.
It was a cool, damp, 7 C morning with a light wind that greeted us as we left our hotel to go to the falls. Gosh, what an unexpected change from the more than 100 F we had experienced the day before in Salt Lake City.
Tripods and cameras in hand, we walked down to one of the many neat little river parks that allowed for a view of the long curving falls. I’ll say that I have never seen a river waterfall like that. The wide river looked as if a concrete fence was stuck in the middle of it. The water was not only rushing past but was also pouring over the fence.
Jo took off down one of the many tree-covered paths along the river and I walked across a large footbridge. There were so many locations on both sides of the river that had been made for viewing the falls. I was shooting with a 16-35mm, and I think Jo was using a 28-300mm.
There were so many great places to take pictures from. I would have liked to spend the morning there, and could also see how neat the river would be as the sun went down in the evening. But if we wanted to have the day in Yellowstone Park and then Mammoth Hot Springs before dark we would need to leave soon.
It would be fun to return to Idaho someday. Since our trip, I have read that there are many easy-to-reach scenic waterfalls in Idaho. Gosh, that would be such an adventure. But for this time, we forced ourselves to walk away from the falls and I pointed my car northeast to drive to the town of West Yellowstone and the entrance to Yellowstone Park.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
