Three Island Crossing State Park - Glenns Ferry, ID #1

On Monday, June 28th we left Lake Walcott State Park near Rupert, Idaho and traveled a little over 110 miles west on I-84 to Three Island Crossing State Park near Glenns Ferry, Idaho. Three Island Crossing was another major landmark and hurdle for the emigrants on the Oregon Trail. This state park got its name from the three islands that are close to each other in the Snake River. The pioneers encountered the Snake River near present day Pocatello, ID and followed the valley west on the south side of the river to this place. Here, most of the emigrants made a crossing of the river because, due to the lay of the land, the travel conditions were better on the north side of the river. Later they would have to cross the river again as it makes its turn to the north nearer the Oregon border.



There is a family of California Quail around the campground - we have seen them several times.





We took a couple of days of rest from the “tourist mode” on Tuesday & Wednesday, but today we went for some sightseeing. The town of Twin Falls is back east on I-84 a little over 50 miles and is on a section of the Snake River where there is a monster of a gorge that the river has cut over the eons and the river runs through it for several miles. The gorge is relatively narrow, and is around 500 feet deep (maybe more in some areas). The world famous I.B. Perrine Bridge crosses the river over the gorge as 4-lane Hwy 93 comes into Twin Falls.





This bridge is one of the few places in the country where they allow BASE Jumping (parachute jumping off of a fixed base) and we were lucky enough today to see some folks doing it (idiots!) BASE is an acronym having to do with the 4 kinds of fixed places folks jump from - Buildings, Antennas, Spans (i.e. a bridge), and Earth (i.e. a cliff). Since the height isn’t really that much (for a parachute), the jumpers pull the rip cord as soon as they go off the bridge railing and then land on a cleared strip of land by the river. Must be fun, but not something I would want to do.

Here is one jumper!







Here's another





This is also the place where Evel Knevel attempted to jump the Snake River back in 1974 on his rocket powered motorcycle. He didn’t make it and had to pull his parachute, and the best I remember, it banged him up a pretty good bit - a few broken bones, etc. Way up the river from the bridge you can still see the dirt ramp where he made his jump (idiot!).



Another attraction near Twin Falls that we went to today is Shoshone Falls. There is a park there with picnicking, concessions, etc. Even though the falls themselves are pretty awesome, they did not live up to the billing as being rival to Niagara Falls. Shoshone Falls isn’t nearly as wide as Niagara and this time of the year there isn’t nearly as much water as in the wetter seasons of April & May. Still, with the views of the Snake River and the gorge, it was a pretty spectacular place.





We’re here at Three Island Crossing State Park through the upcoming 4th of July weekend, so I’ll probably make another update from here later.