July 23 - Mesa Falls

Saturday, Bill and I drove up north a ways to see the Mesa Falls.

 Pretty farmland colors.  Not sure what kind of crop this one is with the tiny blue flowers...??

 Along the way, we stopped at the Warm River, where there was a fish-feeding stand!  I thought the food was for birds, but no!  It was to keep these giant trout (circled things) happy!  And yes, there were people tossing in their own bread scraps, and these fish were going for it!

I tried to take pictures of them, but really, you had to be there!

Next stop was the lower falls.  Here is a picture showing the overall view of the Henry's Fork of the Snake River with the lower falls on the right.  The primary source of water is the Big Springs (one of the largest freshwater springs in N. America, gushing out 120 million gallons - or much more, depending on what you read! - of water per day!!!), so this river flows constantly, not freezing in winter.  It is also considered prime trout territory and is very popular with fly fishermen.

The lower falls (sorry, not a very good photo - would've been better with a cloudy day, I think).

 Here is the Big Falls Inn.  Originally built by a company planning to harness the river for power, its ownership passed to various entities when that energy dream never materialized, with the building being used in every which way (lodging, restaurant, dancehall, etc.).  Now owned by the forest service, it serves as an interpretive center above the upper falls.

 After investigating the falls (accomplished a lot faster when done without a camera!), Bill rests in the shade of the inn's wonderful porch.  Unfortunately, he's not alone - tons of giant flies (horse flies?  moose flies?!  bear flies?!!!) keep him company (and me too when I joined him).  They extracted their pound of flesh, literally, but the ground around us was also littered with their black, lifeless bodies!  Ah, sweet revenge!

 The upper falls.  Sorry, no rainbow.  Darn.  I think maybe it was just the wrong time of day...? 

 The great walkway that allows you to get right out there to REALLY see and experience the falls!

 Henry's Fork of the Snake.

 A quick stop at Island Park, which claims to have the longest main street (33 miles or so).  Personally, I wasn't impressed.  Just looked like bits and pieces of tourism to me!

 The view of our sweet valley spreads out before us at an overlook stop, with the whole Teton range in view.

Beautiful, isn't it?!!