What else? The Snake River.
And now for something completely different: the Snake River. Oh, right. Now for something completely the same: the Snake River.
This time we are at Swan Falls (which is actually a dam, not a falls) near Boise in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Wildlife Management Area. The SRBOPNWMA is mostly not-very-scenic desert. I have camped there numerous times but never taken a single picture because there is basically nothing to photograph except military vehicles conducting training exercises on dusty roads going nowhere. You probably aren’t supposed to photograph them anyway. I didn’t want to get my camera confiscated. This actually almost happened to me once when I was taking pictures of birds flying around outside one of the gates of the Pentagon a number of years ago. They didn’t take my camera, but they went through my photos and made me delete all the ones taken near the Pentagon, even though they were looking away from the Pentagon at large birds in the air. I didn’t have any interest in photographing the Pentagon, but they take no chances at the Pentagon. Just in case a reflection of the Pentagon might show up in the photo, I guess, they made me delete the photos. Perhaps one of the birds might be carrying a dental mirror? Not being an expert, the sky and birds looked no different to me than skies and birds at many other locations nowhere near the Pentagon, but that might just be my ignorance talking. Besides, if the skies and birds all look the same, why do I need to photograph them outside the Pentagon? Good question. They just happened to be there, and I just happened to be there, so I leaped at the opportunity.
Anyway, I’m wandering off the point. The point is that Swan Falls is by far the nicest camping spot I have ever seen at SRBOPNWMA, and I highly recommend it. There were no military vehicles, but many boaters and campers. On the downside, there were also plenty of biting flies, which really sucked. It was hot and I wanted to sit outside, but I don’t like biting flies.
By the dam, which you must pass on the way to these campsites, there is a lovely park (do not ride your bike on the lawn…I was busted for this) with lots of interesting historical information about the dam, which was built in 1901.
View up the Snake from Swan Falls campsite