We have for the last dozen years or so been making a nearly annual pilgrimage to Yosemite to see the famous moonbows in Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls. We have long thought that moonbows might occur in other waterfalls, but that few others have thought to look for them there.
With that in mind, we headed to Twin Falls, Idaho to visit the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls, east of the city along the Snake River. We got special permission to spend the night there on the night of Saturday, July 1st, two days before the night of the full moon.
Much to our delight, we did see a moonbow in the mist of the gushing waterfalls that is Shoshone Falls. It first appeared in the far left end of the mist cloud just before midnight and progressed to the right as the moon climbed higher in the sky. When we left at 2 AM, the moonbow seemingly had pressed itself against the cliff to the left of the waterfall in this view and had shortened to just a stub.
But that means that a waterfall that wasn't known for producing a moonbow, not only produced one for us, but that it lasted for some two hours two nights before the full moon night.
Thanks to Wendy Davis of the City of Twin Falls Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us the opportunity to photograph and videograph the moonbow in Shoshone Falls. Check out our YouTube timelapse video of this event in our Nature Observations playlist.
Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.
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