Sunday, September 4, 2016

Into the Sawtooth Range
Heavy clouds with light rain leaving Jackpot.  Temps dropping from days of 105 degrees to mid 50's.  Open plains turn to green fields of new hay.  Bugs splattering my windshield.  Feels good to breathe in the cool air.
At Twin Falls HWY 93 meets the Snake River Canyon.  Completed in 1976, the I.B. Perrine Bridge spans the Snake River for 1500 ft.  The bridge rises 486 ft above the canyon floor.  A perfect location for BASE jumpers.
How do you pack your parachute for jumping off a bridge?  They say very carefully with a smile and a prayer.
The ride down is a smooth glide followed with a long hike back up.  Think staying on the blacktop might be smoother.
Several miles east of the bridge along the river is a massive ramp of dirt.  September 8, 1974 was the day Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon in his  rocket-powered Harley-Davidson sky cycle.  Unfortunately, one of his parachutes deployed on takeoff.  He gently floated down into the canyon.  As Evel would say..."Where there is little risk, there is little reward."
Volcanic outcropping beging to appear along the road.  Craters of the Moon National Monument encompasses three major lava fields and about 400 square miles of sagebrush.  The lava fields are examples of open rift cracks.  They include some of the deepest known on earth at over 800 feet deep.  Speaking of sagebrush...a four foot high tumbleweed is gently moving toward the road ahead.  Back off the throttle, the weed slows, roll on the throttle, the weed speeds up. You know the rest of the story.  More small pieces of tumbleweed covering the bike that you can count.
Six days on the road.  Looking' for a washing machine and dryer tonight in Arco, ID.  Rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

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