Caribou–Targhee National Forest

Transcription

I love the Mesa Falls area. The comments about the falls are just many. People say they've seen falls all over the world, but they come here and see this falls and are just amazed by it, saying it is more fabulous than any of the other falls they have seen. Of course I agree. I tell them that this is the most beautiful falls in America. People are pretty happy, people come here and they have a good time. A lot of picnic tables and things to do like that. So over the lunch times and weekends, we have people picnicking everywhere, so it's fun. So this is the North Fork or Henry's Fork of the Snake River. Water from this river starts way up in Island Park up in Big Springs, comes down and is joined by several tributaries and a lot of springs along the way too that feed into this waterway. The river of course is named after Andrew Henry who is one of the first white explorers in this area. Because he worked for the Missouri Fur company and came out just after Lewis and Clark actually. A lot of points of interest along in this country are named after him. Yes, when people visit our visitor center, and the surrounding area here, we do have facilities. We have drinking water, we have restroom facilities. We have information inside the lodge. When people come to visit here at Mesa Falls, they ask what is there to see? What is there to do? And ask about hiking trails and so on. Of course we have all these paved trails. And also the nature trail going down to the lower falls. So, people get plenty of walking here. Yes, the loop starting from the parking lot here, the loop going down and around to the falls, is oh, I tell people that it's only like a city block from the parking lot to the falls. And then of course going around depending on how fast people want to walk takes ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. Now inside we have the fur room in the back which is a real hit because it is really unique in that we say yes, touch the furs. A lot of places that you visit they say don't. That you can't touch. But we, we're different that way. We let the people actually feel the furs, the difference in textures and such. And we have them labeled by numbers so people can tell what each one is. Where we give programs and we explain the history of the area. And programs in the fur room where we talk about the different animals, some of their characteristics, habits, what they eat, that type of thing. And so we have everything like I say from the muskrat on down to the lynx. We even have the wild and dangerous wolverine, they are very illusive, you rarely see them. They are pretty much nocturnal. However, I have seen them during the day and I've spent almost every day of my life out in the woods. Being raised in this area. I've only seen two. And if you see them and you happen to be hiking, give them a clear path. Because they go around with a chip on their shoulder pretty much all the time. Any of the animals that you see here in this on this display or in this room, are local to this area, they are native to the area. So you could see them any day just hiking in the woods. One of the things that's a real hit with folks that come here is, even if they come year after year, is that we have a telescope set up on our porch. Where you can look across the canyon and view the osprey nest. The parents raise chicks in that nest every year. It takes some time for the babies to get large enough so you can see theirlittle heads coming up out of the nest, because the osprey nest is really quite deep. That telescope on that porch is a very busy spot. I love to teach. And to tell them the importance of taking good care of our wonderful things that we have here. To preserve them for the young people coming up, to take good care of them so they will be here for generations to come.