2013--St. Anthony, Idaho: River Walk

The Henry's Fork of the Snake River

St. Anthony, Idaho is just thirteen miles from our home.  For several years we have noticed a riverwalk as we have driven by.  We have said, "Someday we will go there."  Last Monday, for Family Night, was someday.

Our two oldest girls are grown and live away, our oldest son is on a mission for our church in Arizona and our next boy is working at a scout camp in the Tetons.  That left the Hot Chick and I and our two youngest sons to hike the mile and a half (or thereabouts) trail along the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.  With the four older kids out of the house, our home has gotten a lot quieter.  When the two younger boys are off playing with their friends, it almost seems like we are empty nesters.  I think this is the early training for that.  Good thing the Hot Chick and I like each other.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we took the riverwalk.  I knew it was a paved trail and I knew that a friend of mine from St. Anthony who is a mountain man aficionado, raised money for a bronze statue of the mountain man Major Andrew Henry that so many things around here are named after.  I knew it had a paved trail, and that at one time it had been a bird refuge for the Great Blue Heron, but really I knew nothing more than that.

At first I was a little disappointed with the lack of interpretive materials along the trail, but I soon overcame the disappointment and began interpreting the landscape for myself.

The trail goes over exposed bedrock which is a thick basalt flow which has at one time or another been scoured by the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.  The trail skirts across an ancient river bed along side the newer, deeper channel currently being cut. 

The trail is a collection of opposites.  On one side is a sagebrush steppe and on the other is the river and everything that goes along with it.  It was interesting to see wetland plants such as cattails, willows and cottonwoods juxtaposed with their desert cousins, juniper, sagebrush and rabbitbrush.

We were about a month too late for a lot of wildflowers, but there were a few scattered along the trail.  I found one that was really interesting.  It had small, very bright purple flowers with five spear shaped petals that turned back on themselves and a bright yellow cone shaped stamen in the middle of each bloom.  I thought they were pretty and took several pictures of them and when I returned home I researched them for identification.  Turns out for a guy who likes Hallowe'en as much as I do, I had stumbled upon Deadly Nightshade!  Awesome.

Enough talk.  Let's see the pictures!

River Shots

The Henry's Fork of the Snake River

Another view of the Henry's Fork

Idyllic little fork of the river

The boys at the river

The Hot Chick at the river

Not sure if this is a mini-waterfall or rapids.  Cool though.

I thought this was pretty

Every now and then the trail breaks out on a peaceful view of the river

Late afternoon

One of the last shots of the day

Steppe Shots

The sagebrush steppe which is typical terrain for the Snake River Plain in Idaho

Juxtaposition of river plants and steppe plants

The Hot Chick and the boys on one of the park benches along the trail

Basalt scoured by the river in an ancient river bed

Lichen on a boulder.  The building blocks of the great soil in the upper valley

More lichen

Lichen and moss

Along the trail are several wetland, marshy areas nestled in the steppe.  An oasis of sorts

Another oasis

And another oasis

Major Andrew Henry

Major Andrew Henry

Me and the Hot Chick at the base of the sculpture

Major Andrew Henry

The Flora

Common Arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia

More Common Arrowhead.  I discovered this adjacent to the river.  Some were growing to the side of the river and some were growing in the water.

The Hot Chick and the boys next to cattails taller than they are

Gnarly cottonwood bark

I have no idea what this is, but it was cool.  I'll identify it later

Scottish Thistle was abundant

No idea what this is either.  I'll identify it at a later date

Idyllic scene on a side trail along the river

Deadly Nightshade!

Broken robin egg

Ruined nest next to the egg

Small cacti was everywhere.  I don't believe this was prickly pear, however because the shapes were wrong.  If we had come two or three weeks earlier, we would have seen all the cacti in bloom.  Mark that for next year.

Leaflets three,
Poisonous tree.
Berries white,
Poisonous sight

Rabbitbrush

Pretty purple flowers.  Might be lavender

Stray wheat at the end of the trail

This was an enjoyable little walk.  The trail is intended as a walking path for people to exercise more than an interpretive trail.  It was beautiful in it's own right though.  Next year I'd like to visit at the end of June or beginning of July to see the wildflowers and particularly the cacti in bloom.

Time spent being a family, though is always worthwhile.

WIldflowers #1

Wildflowers in Darby Canyon

Over the last few years, as our family has gone adventuring in the Idaho, Montana and Wyoming wilderness, we have been amazed at the wealth of different types of wildflowers there are here in the northern Rockies.  Last year I purchased a fieldguide called Rocky Mountain Wildflowers by Marlene Borneman and James Ells, Ph.D.  In addition to the book, we finally acquired a decent camera and I decided to start photographing wildflowers.  I've posted wildflower pictures on several entries and will continue to post them as I see them.

Half the fun of seeing new wildflowers is identifying them.  As I post a picture of a wildflower, I will identify it and state where and when we saw it.

Columbian Monkshood
Aconitum columbianum

Columbian Monkshood

Columbian Monkshood

I viewed the Columbian Monkshood on a hiking trip I took with my son Rhys, on July 25, 2012.  We hiked up to the Wind Caves in Darby Canyon near Driggs, Idaho.  I believe I saw more different types of wildflowers on this hike than any other I have ever been on.  It was stunning.

I viewed the Columbian Monkshood in the valley under the tree canopy.  The location I saw them in didn't seem to receive any direct sunlight throughout the day.  Always in partial shade.  The plants seemed to be about 4 feet tall with these blooms up near the top.

Parry's Primrose
Primula parryi

Parry's Primrose

Parry's Primrose

We viewed the Parry's Primrose on the same trip to Darby Canyon in 2012.  These plants were seen at the base of the waterfall after the water exited the Wind Caves.  The ground around the flowers was a little muddy and the mist from the falls was cool and refreshing on a hot summer day.  Parry's Primrose is most often found near water.

Parry's (Mountain) Gentian
Gentiana (Pneumonanthe) parryi

Parry's  Gentian

Parry's Gentian bud

Parry's Gentian cluster

The Parry's (Mountain) Gentian was observed on the same trip to Darby Canyon.  I viewed it on the switchbacks after the monument and before the trail terminated at the Wind Cave.  The plants were low lying and in partial sun.  These plants clung close on the steep hillside as we summited.

Tall (Chiming) Fringed Bluebells
Mertensia ciliate

Tall  Fringed Bluebells

These were spotted on the same trip through Darby Canyon in several places along the trail.  These were in full sun for most of the day, I believe. 

Tufted Fleabane
Erigeron caespitosus

Tufted Fleabane

This is a wildflower I see almost every time I go on a trip.  I rarely photograph it anymore because it is so plentiful.  Still, it is pretty.  I photographed this in the morning at the trailhead to the Wind Caves in Darby Canyon.

Bladder (White) Campion
Silene latifolia (scouleri) alba

Bladder Campion

I photographed this at about seven in the morning at the trailhead to the Wind Caves.  Darby Canyon was absolutely full of wildflowers last year.  A virtual paradise!

Seep (Yellow) Monkeyflower
Mimulus guttatas

Seep  Monkeyflower

I saw the Monkeyflowers in the Treasure Mountain Boy Scout Camp after the hike into Darby Canyon.  As I recall, they were in a marshy area.

Lewis (Prairie, Blue) Flax
Linum (Adenolinum) lewisii

Lewis Flax

Lewis Flax

Lewis Flax is a very common wildflower in the northern Rockies.  I see it on most hikes in the three states.  These were found at approximately 8000 feet above sea level on the Darby Canyon trail.  They were out in an open meadow with full sun most of the day.


Rocky Mountain Columbine
Aquilegia coerulea

Rocky Mountain Columbine

Rocky Mountain Columbine

Rocky Mountain Columbine

I found the white variety of the Colorado or Rocky Mountain Columbine at about 8000 feet.  Some were in full sun, some were in shade.  They grew where they were planted.

I had not intended this post to be all about Darby Canyon, I had intended it to be about wildflowers all over the northern Rockies.  Darby Canyon was so rich in wildflowers, however, I decided to split the wildflower post into several.  Wildflowers #1 is all about Darby Canyon, but the others will be about multiple trips because nowhere yet in my travels have I found the variety and abundance of wildflowers more than I did in Darby Canyon, hiking to the Wind Caves.  This was only a portion of the wildflowers I found in Darby Canyon.  But it will have to suffice for this blog post.