For this one, it’s more wind shear and ice cleavage/hot expansion that does most of the erosion from what I understand. Everything in the area is mostly sandstone or similar so it erodes relatively easy. Some layers are ‘softer’ than others so in the case of this one the lower area eroded easier than the upper boulder, leading to what you have now. At one point it would have been much larger and over time pieces have broken off to where you are just left with this.

Slot canyons are formed by water flow closer to what you’re talking about though, and could also lead to a similar outcome as this, but it would likely be surrounded more closely by other rock walls, as well as probably being smoother.

For arches it could go either way; a small cavity develops which just keeps eroding until you are left with two large bases connected by a bridge. You could also have water cutting its way down to form a slit canyon but there was a tougher layer toward the top that didn’t fully erode before the flow got too low to hit it and kept carving beneath.

This was from a trip I took down there in December 2023, which had had very little snow at that point in the season. In one of the hikes coming up when I get to Great Basin National Park, I was at 10,000 ft on December 30th and in open areas there was only patches of snow, which was not typical at all. I believe right when I left at the start of the year a big snowstorm came through

Haha, dual (hiking) boots

It doesn’t seem to be all that well advertised for such a massive waterfall; although I guess since the town is named Twin Falls that’s all the advertising you really need.

A night show sounds awesome. Yeah, this was the only time I’ve personally been there but would love to see it when its actually flowing. Most of the times I’ve passed close by I’m headed towards Montana and get off of 84 at Mountain Home. This trip was when I was headed to Utah so I stayed on longer. I think I may come back west that route in the spring and will definitely swing by then if that’s the route I go. Good to know about a night show, will try to plan for that as well.

Oh wow, I wasn’t aware of that. 1,000 goats at one point is a crazy number for up there and must’ve been really damaging.

That’s true, I forgot about the hill leading up to it. Although, and I may be mistaken, I believe that they offer a shuttle for people with disabilities that will go around the hill and drop you off at the top.

Haven’t been to that one, but I’m always a fan. Portland also has a Chinese garden that is pretty nice closer to the waterfront, but is smaller. Has a great tea house.

I think one of my favorite things about that garden is the climate really encourages mosses and the like to grow which really adds to the atmosphere of it. Downside is sometimes you’ll get bad weather for it. Yeah, there are some really great photos of that maple out there. Gets kind of intimidating when all the photographers are all jockeying for spots there haha.

Haha, I wasn’t aware you could see them there, that’s awesome… I remember the first time I saw a sign warning about the pee-mad mountain goats while hiking the Heart Lake Trail in the sawtooth mountains of Idaho.

It isn’t a term used to describe them, was a total brain fart on my end. Meant to say side by side.

One good thing about a lot of waterfalls is some of the best one’s provide pretty easy access for people with mobility issues. They will often times have paved paths of 1/4 mile or less from the parking area. If you’re in the us or canada, let me know your region and I may have a few ideas for places they could enjoy.

I meant that it was two outflows side by side. Edited.

If you survived going to hell together you can survive anything haha, it’s definitely a fun one!

The diversity of terrains out west is just unreal, and anything near volcanic sites just completely throws you for a loop when you see it… One really good spot to see some otherworldly terrain is Craters of the Moon National Monument out in Idaho. It’s all on top of a bunch of lava tubes and flows; was where the original moon mission trained to get used to the terrain. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere though, I usually hit it up going from Oregon to the Grand Tetons as its not too far of a detour. At some point I’ll have some posts on the trails there, I’d post a preview now but I’m kind of going through all of my photos as I go along.

I believe it is bum-pass, but I absolutely read it as bump-ass.

It’s crazy how different the two seem, especially since this one has more time since it happened. I’d imagine it’s a combination of the more arid environment and the crazy high winds they get out here.

I’ll probably be doing a little bit of jumping around as I switch between 2023 and 2024 (and probably some older ones as well) as I think I’m going to go through all of the fall/winter photos before looping around to spring/summer hikes after that as its more seasonally relevant for now. It’ll still be kind of grouped together though so its not just back and forth everyday.

Yeah, the first time I ever saw it I was just looking for a quick bathroom break while headed south. Was a great surprise!

Yeah, it’s a great quick stop like 100 yards off 101, picnic tables at the small park as well and no park pass required.

Haha, as soon as I get back there I’ll have a big bowl of it in your honor!