Along the Snake River

As we drove between Twin Falls and Boise, ID, we decided to visit the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. Our hope was to see lots of birds of prey but, alas, we only saw this one Red Tailed Hawk. On the other hand. she was on her nest and that was pretty cool.

In addition, we got to drive into the Snake River canyon and see some pretty amazing scenery. Below us is the Swan Dam and a swathe of land operated by the Bureau of Land Management.

This canyon must have been a real barrier to the pioneers that came here in their wagons.

Even the modern road into the canyon is a steep one. I can't imagine trying to navigate this hill with a horse drawn wagon.

Once at the river's edge we saw people out fishing.

And there is more evidence of volcanic action here with these large boulders.

From their dark red color you can see that there is lots of iron trapped here (although probably not enough to make mining feasible).

The river is a beautiful blue and green. It is not named the snake river for its color. It is thought that the name comes from explorers interpreting the "S" symbol the Shoshone would make when referring to the river as "snake" when they really meant the swimming salmon they caught in the river.