40 IDAHO FALLS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019
n ROAD TRIP | The Golden Hour
The scene is empty of traffic and
full of color. The flicker of foliage and the
ripple of river are the only sounds. And the
smell? It's fantastic. It's not movie theater
popcorn for this show. It's better. Breathe
deep. Smell that? That's a potpourri of
water, wind and earth. This is where the
three meet to drop the curtain on another
growing season of wild.
That's why now is the time to drive, or
float, the South Fork of the Snake River.
It's spectacular during its season of shim-
mer. The season when those of us who fight
winter's solitude and share summer's abun-
dance have our watershed to ourselves. Fall
is for us, the ones who don't migrate. The
ones who know this wet ribbon hydrates
desert life bordering its banks.
And the color on those banks? Stunning.
Gold is tumbling in piles. The West's larg-
est cottonwood gallery is at its finest in
fall with its yellows leaves falling on green
seams. We're lucky enough to see this. So
are the eagles. The ospreys left with the
tourists, but the eagles, bald and golden,
stay with the locals. Feathers of the former
and feet of the latter convene riverside to
bask in one last water run, the fall before
the freeze.
IF
Lighting up
the fade of fall
BY KRIS MILLGATE
The
Golden
Hour
LESLIE WELLS PHOTO
KRIS MILLGATE PHOTO
STEVE SMEDE PHOTO
KRIS MILLGATE PHOTO