Falling for the Snake

September 25, 2021

Jerome to Twin Falls loop

It was another cool, fall morning so as we waited for it to warm up a bit, we drove over to a farmer's market that was being held a couple of miles from the KOA.

The market was a small one with mostly craft booths and canned foods like jams and pickles. But it did have one good produce booth that had an interesting variety of items at cheap prices.

The seller said the items were from her aunt's garden and we filled up a couple of bags - honey crisp apples, golden raspberries, peppers, eggplant, and squash. It would be great to have my own honey crisp tree!

At another booth we bought some fresh eggs that I'll boil up to put on salads. We had hoped someone would be selling locally made cheese but that was a no go. So we settled for some Portuguese cheese that sounded good.

I had seen that there was a farm in the area that sold huckleberry cheddar cheese. Now THAT sounded tasty! But I couldn't find any retail stores around that sold it, although you can order any of their cheeses on-line and they'll ship it to you. I might do that when we get back to Denver.

By noon it had warmed up into the 60's so we headed out to ride. This time we went south along Highway 93 to the Perrine Bridge which crossed the Snake River. There was a pedestrian walk-way on both sides of the bridge, although we had to walk one part because of the many people stopping to admire the view.

On the south side we turned west along the Canyon Rim trail where we continued to have views of the spectacular canyon. That trail didn't last long which is too bad, but it did kick us out onto some pleasant country roads.

We rode for a few more miles, then turned around to retrace our steps back to the bridge where we continued east on the trail along the other side. This section wasn't all that flat and we had a couple humpers that we had to walk up.

As I trudged along behind Don on one climb, I grumbled at a group of obese women riding e-bikes that zoomed by us - not pedaling at all. Especially when one commented that it was a steep hill, wasn't it? Yeah, you cheater, at least I'm getting exercise! Get onto a regular bike and maybe you'll lose some of that weight!

We rode all the way to Shoshone Falls which were just a few trickles due to the low water flow. At this point we turned around and headed back to the bridge.

Other than the falls and more spectacular views, there wasn't much to see other than the take-off ramp that Evel Knievel used in his attempt to cross the river (he failed). That was one crazy man!

When we got back to the bridge, we crossed over and then explored a road that went east along the east side of the canyon. It went through some BLM and state lands with more arid, desert views rather than the canyon.

We saw a few RV's camped here since they allowed dispersed camping. Don commented that we ought to look into "Boondocking" here the next time we visit the area. That might be interesting to do if we could get the trailer over to the canyon edge on a road that wasn't so rutted.

To truly boondock, you have to be prepared to have no services. That means plenty of fresh water which you ration, use of solar panels (we have 4 on the roof of Tango), good batteries (we've already upgraded to lithium) and basically conserve your water and waste water. Also run a generator - we have 2 that run on propane. Hmmm......maybe for a few days.

When the road deadended, we turned around and returned to the campgound on Highway 93. It was hot now - in the 80's and I really felt the sun beating down on us as this last part of the ride was slightly uphill for several miles.

I wish I had had the forethought to fill the stainless bottles today as the ice had long ago melted in the plastic bottles. At least I still had cold water in my Camelbak. I continually squirted water on my thighs and lower legs to help cool them as these are perfect conditions for developing the heat rash on my legs. I did have some.

I told Don the climbing seemed to be easier than I thought it would be, but he said the highway was so busy and noisy that he just wanted to get off of it so was ramping up his speed. 93 was certainly doable with its wide shoulder, but it's not a pleasant road to ride.

By the time we got back home we both collapsed in the shade with some cold drinks trying to rehydrate. It had been our longest ride yet and on one of the hotter days we've seen in a while, but it was still enjoyable.

I don't know yet what we'll be doing tomorrow. Maybe ride, maybe kayak on the river or just take it easy.

PS: sorry for the dot on some of the pictures. I had a smudge on the camera lens.