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Outdoors by Gregg Losinski Location, Location, Location steve smede photo Modern Idaho Falls owes its existence to a geological quirk that created a steep, but slim basalt canyon for the Snake River to flow through. This narrow spot was the ideal location for an early entrepreneur to build a toll bridge across. Hence Taylor's Crossing, and vilification of the old real estate adage, "Location, location, location." Accidents and fate can have an impact on development, but plain old location still can make all the difference, and from a geophysical standpoint, Idaho Falls is pretty darn good real estate. So far this year I have been fortunate to travel a good chunk of the globe and I am always amazed at how humans can both take advantage of the positive attributes of a location and ignore or try to engineer around the negative points. Sometimes the fixes work, sometimes they don't. Fairly recent history concerning the Teton Dam reminds us how the awesome power of nature doesn't always respect our efforts to alter the natural system to fit our needs. Idaho Falls may not be the Mile High City like Denver, but as a US city situated at 4,705 feet above sea level we have something to be proud of, sure there are bigger cities out there, but most are far lower. It would be honest to say that we in I.F. breathe a rarified air. In addition to our altitude, our latitude plays a major factor in our lives. Situated nearly halfway to the pole, as the planet wobbles on its axis, like a spinning top about to topple, we are more affected by the tilting of the earth than many other places. We move through the year losing and gaining daylight, but not to the same extremes as those living closer to the poles. For people that like to experience a little bit of everything that nature has to offer, I.F. is the perfect place. On a really clear day you can sit in Idaho Falls and look out in nearly every direction and see hills, buttes or mountains. The heights are all around us and we often head towards them for all sorts of outdoor fun. No matter the season, going out and up symbolizes enjoyment and rebirth, but little do we realize the heights we reside in daily and what impact it has on so many facets of our lives. Humans are amazing creatures. Despite being relatively puny, our tenacity, combined with our intellect, has allowed us to lord over the other beasts. Part of our success has been due to making good decisions about where live. Unfortunately even good locations can be ruined if we fail to control the impacts we have on a site. The number one pollutant in waterways in America is still sediment and locally we have places where groundwater is being contaminated by nitrates to the point that consumption by 78 Idaho Falls Magazine September/October 2013 pregnant women is not recommended. As the fall colors slowly gain steam, the concept of geographic location plays out. While the deciduous forests of the east explode in a show of colors, the leaves all soon die, leaving drab gray skeletons for nearly half the year. Contrastingly the lush forests of the tropics and conifer forests of the far north offer a lovely green color, but remain year-round and become either monotonous or taken for granted. Here in Idaho Falls our parks like Tautphaus, Freeman and Kate Curlie offer a continuously changing palate of colors. Even our high lava desert changes colors. The harsh environment means that plants can't be as conspicuous or flashy. With a backdrop of black it only takes a little color to catch the eye of a pollinating insect, anything too big would lose precious moisture through exposure to wind and sun. Speaking of moisture, our climatic and geographic factors come together to create a setting that is downright pleasant. We seldom suffer from smothering humidity thanks to our nearly constant breezes and pollution doesn't entomb us in the winter like Boise. During my recent travels, I've even had the chance to visit Shangri-La and while Idaho Falls may not be the paradise described in Hilton's Lost Horizon, it's pretty darn nice!