On the way to Nampa, I passed an interstate sign for Hell's Canyon. I've seen pictures of this area and it's beautiful. It's in both Idaho and Oregon, along the Snake River. I decided to go west again on I-84 to see if I could briefly visit the area. Unfortunately, once I got off the interstate, a sign indicated it was 79 miles north. I decided to turn around and go back. The timing just wouldn't work out because I also wanted to see a state park that day. Additionally, I was going to swap out my rental vehicle in Boise, the state capital.
When I got to the Boise Airport, I noticed the lot for the rental company I chose was practically empty. They did have a few SUVs there. But I don't want to deal with the high fuel costs or the parking limitations of an SUV. The lot attendant suggested I come back the next day (a Friday) because he suspected there would be many returns on that day. I would be further east by that point. I decided to try again when I was further along. I still had a few hundred more miles before the vehicle really needed to be swapped.
My plan for the day was to visit the Bruneau Dunes State Park. I have wanted to see large sand dunes for a while when I learned about a park in southern Colorado that featured sand dunes.
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On the way to the park, I saw part of the Snake River. It's absolutely beautiful. I decided to stop there and take some pictures. The first place I stopped was a bad choice. It was filled with large bushes and no clear path to the river. Foolishly, I decided to go ahead anyway. There were a number of dead bushes. I was wearing shorts and my legs got scratched quite a bit. There were spider webs connecting all of the bushes, and some very large spiders. I got a number of the webs all over me, though I carefully checked to be sure there were no large spiders where I went through. I noticed a number of animal skulls and bones on the ground. Obviously, this wasn't a pleasant sight. But, it was typical of what would be seen in western movies. See the photos.
After getting back to the car, I looked around and found an easy spot to go right up to the river. If only I had just looked a little further before getting scratched up. Once I saw the river close up, it was slimy and not as pretty as it looked from the road.
I drove on to the dunes. When I first saw the area, I felt it was a bit of a letdown. My original reaction was "I gave up Hell's Canyon for this?" I was not initially impressed. My father is a trucker and used to be in the dumptruck business. I had been to plenty of gravel pits while growing up. At first I felt this was not much different other than the fact that it was natural instead of manmade. But, as I got closer and realized the photographic opportunities, I changed my mind. I was glad to have gone there. See the photos.
I wore my hat because the sun was quite strong and I didn't want it beating down on my head. People are allowed to climb the dunes, so naturally I did. As I got higher and higher, the wind became stronger. My hat was taken away. I expected that would be the end of it. But, it simply got tossed way down the other side of the dune. I raced down before it could be taken further and dropped in the pond. I didn't make it up to the top of the dune at that point.
After getting my hat, I started examining the pond by the dunes. There were much bigger dunes on the opposite side of the pond. I waded in the water a bit. It was quite shallow. I considered going across the water and climbing the much larger dunes on the other side. But, if I happened to fall, I'd be right in the water. If I didn't drown, my camera would at least be destroyed (and of course, I couldn't possibly go up there without the ability to take pictures).
After getting bored of wading in the water, I went back to the beach. Then I noticed a sign indicating a possible risk of swimmer's itch. I of course had just been scratched up by the bushes near the Snake River. So, any kind of bacteria in the water could have entered through an opening in my skin. The only thing I had with me was hand sanitizer. I liberally applied that all over my legs. It stung a bit with the scratches. The effects of Swimmer's Itch do not always show up until 48 hours later. So, I had to wait and see what might happen. Thankfully, two days later, nothing happened.
I went back and climbed the medium-sized dune from the front. It was slow because my feet kept sinking in the sand. When I got up there, the wind was quite strong. Sand was blowing all over. I took a number of pictures but became concerned about sand getting into the camera. It was starting to get in my eyes. I closed up the camera. The top of the dune comes to a thin angle. I sat right on the angle for a little while, then began to climb down. Going down was a lot easier. My feet hardly ever sank and I was propelled down. For part of the way, I tried sliding down.
The GPS indicated there was a canyon lookout point about fourteen miles away. It was close enough to try. When I asked for directions, the GPS indicated it would take almost two hours to get there. This was only fourteen miles away! I figured the GPS had to be wrong. When I got out on the main road, I got behind a tractor. Although passing was allowed, I could not see beyond the tractor to pass it. I was going at 5mph for a while. I knew the GPS wasn't giving that calculation just because there could be farm equipment on the road. Finally, I the tractor moved over and I was able to pass it. It was down to seven miles remaining.
I had to turn on an unpaved road called "Pothole Road." This had ZERO potholes but had stone and a speed limit of 25. I don't even think I could do 25 without seriously jarring the car. I now began to realize why there was a prediction of almost two hours. I had to turn off Pothole Road shortly but there were more twisting roads like it that I had to drive. I did not feel like going all the way up there and then have to drive that back. I turned around. I had seen the dunes and that was the highlight of the day. See Pothole Road photos.
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I decided since I did have time, I could try to see another state park. There was a park in Glenn's Ferry, ID called Three Island Crossing. It was a difficult crossing point along the Snake River for those traveling the Oregon Trail. There were a number of scenic places in Glenn's Ferry that I photographed. By the time I got to Three Island Crossing Park, I realized I'd only be there for a few minutes. I didn't feel like paying the entrance fee for just a couple of minutes. So, I turned around and had dinner in town. See photos of Glenn's Ferry, ID.
After Glenn's Ferry, I headed to Twin Falls, ID, for my next hotel. The hotel was very nice. They provided milk and cookies at night for customers.
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