<< Day 59: Yellowstone (Mammoth Springs) to the Grand Tetons | Day 61: Park City to California Border >>
Grand Tetons To Park City, Utah
We were awakened last night by a thunder and lightning storm, which whisked away the haze and left the morning air crisp and clear.
Our view of the Grand Tetons:
The smells of the cottonwood trees and other plant life were more intense after the rain, just as Ranger Michael had said two days ago.
Our plan for today was to drive to Park City, Utah, using backroads as much as possible. It would be a long day on the road, almost 7 hours of driving.
Before leaving, Genevieve and Sebastian set off on a small hike around the campground.
Heading out, we saw buffalo grazing in the nearby fields:
A dainty-looking pronghorn was mixed in with the stout bison figures.
Some last views of the Grand Teton range:
As we drove south toward Jackson, we passed the National Museum of Wildlife Art. We didn’t have time to visit, but we enjoyed the outdoor sculptures, as well as the architecture of the building (which blended in beautifully with the hill behind it).
Jackson is a popular ski town in the winter, and we could identify the ski runs from the tree patterns around the town.
The downtown area had many rafting-trip businesses, small hotels, restaurants and shops:
We saw two different arches made from antlers. Here is one of them:
Beyond Jackson were many small farms and lots of horses.
The hillsides were covered in aspen trees, which have white bark. When we first saw the aspen trees, they contrasted so greatly with the surrounding fir trees that we thought they were pine trees infested with bark beetles (like we had seen in Yellowstone).
Our road ran along the Snake River, which we crossed and re-crossed countless times.
The Boy Scout High Adventure Camp was located next to the road, and had what appeared to be a challenging obstacle course.
Here was a narrow bridge that obviously was not designed for our tall and wide RV.
We passed numerous rafting groups. Here are some rafts on a calm stretch of the river:
As the canyon walls got steeper, the river narrowed, creating more white water.
Views through the canyon:
This lake was at the top of a wide flat valley.
The valley had many farms.
The double-flag barn:
This house spoke to me of solitude.
A simple fence design:
In the town of Afton, Wyoming, we drove under the “World’s Largest ElkHorn Arch”:
We laughed at this playful bear (too much to drink, perhaps?):
We passed through Bridger National Forest.
After cresting a mountain pass, at 7500 feet, our road descended through an area with pale red soil and much fewer trees.
Welcome to Idaho!
The wind was pretty ferocious in this valley, full of farms.
Some of the homes:
We climbed a mountain with a very steep grade, through hills covered in sagebrush. The road downhill was freshly paved and wound through Montpelier Canyon, which is part of the Caribou National Forest.
This was definitely not a landscape where one “can’t see the forest for the trees.” (Whisper: There aren't many trees. And where is the forest?)
The road-builders had cut through large sections of rock:
In the town of Montpelier, Idaho, we happened upon the National Oregon/California Trail Center.
We stopped to have lunch and see the exhibits inside the Center.
In the mid-to-late 1800’s more than 200,000 men, women and children traveled 2000 miles across the western United States on the Oregon/California Trail, most seeking new homes or a way to make their fortune. The journey took five months by wagon, often pulled by oxen.
Montpelier was settled by Mormons in 1864 and provided a resting stop for travelers along the way. When wagon trains reached Montpelier, they had already gone about 1000 miles, and they still had to cross many more miles of tough terrain to reach Oregon or California.
One of the challenges for the travelers after leaving Montpelier was to cross a high mountain known as “Big Hill.” The descent was so steep that many wagons had to be tied to trees with rope, and let down slowly. A monument to the Big Hill lies outside the Center, and we all had fun "helping" this wagon get down the hill:
We were welcomed into the museum by Dave:
The museum offers a “living history” tour, but we simply didn’t have the time to linger and enjoy it. We did, however, browse through many of the museum exhibits.
There were many paintings that represented various aspects of the Trail. Here is one by Gary Stone, showing the difficulty of crossing a rock-strewn area:
The journey involved many hardships, and approximately 20,000 people died on the Trail.
Other exhibits in the museum focused on the founding of Montpelier.
We also learned that when the railroad finally connected Portland with the Midwest in 1884, steam trains quickly replaced wagon trains as the means for western migration.
The museum contained an old Thomas Edison cylinder phonograph machine, the Amberola. Linda (a museum worker) demonstrated the Amberola for Genevieve and Sebastian. The song played was “I’m Sorry I made You Cry.”
Linda also demonstrated the use of an old cash register that had been used in a Monpelier store.
We were very grateful for Linda’s attention, as she pointed out things that we might have overlooked on our own. For example, she showed us this wooden grave marker with an “all seeing eye” and a Mason compass carved on it.
The marker had been placed on the grave of a man named Hugh Sommers, who had died in 1920 while passing through the valley. The grave marker had been created by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization. (The wooden marker had fallen over in the cemetary, and a new stone marker now stands in its place.)
The museum also had a display about the Native Americans who used to live in the valley before being driven out by European-Americans.
Near the Center was a park with a small playground that the children enjoyed before we continued our drive.
Sebastian, the monkey:
The roads leading out of town were sparsely populated and didn’t have many signs.
We were supposed to be on a road that would wind south beside a long body of water, Bear Lake. When we had traveled for 20 minutes without seeing a lake, I knew that we had missed a turn somewhere.
I looked on the map and discovered that we were on a road heading east, not south. Plan “B” was quickly created, with a route that would link our current road with one that would get us heading south again.
We crossed vast, open stretches of terrain.
There weren’t a lot of trees. This homebuilder had used the natural slope of earth to create some privacy:
The sky entertained us with its constantly changing cloud formations:
In the distance, we could see rain.
And even more rain.
Welcome to Utah!
Our road zig-zagged between Utah and Wyoming, crossing the state-line several times this afternoon.
Here are some of the homes we saw.
This small group of houses had a water tower, but the name of the town or community was not painted on the side.
The school in the tiny town of Woodruff:
We all smiled back at this barn:
Four large trucks passed us in the opposite direction, carrying huge concrete beams. Here are the first two:
The Bear River Lumber Mill had big stacks of sawed wood, as well as a large area with tree logs ready to be processed.
Our narrow road connected with Interstate 80 for the last hour into Park City.
We passed a train hauling many UPS truck trailers:
The train from the other direction. I waved, and the engineer waved back.
Some people were fishing on Echo Reservoir:
We stayed in a small RV park on the outskirts of Park City.
We said our goodbyes to Chris—she would be staying a few days in Park City with some good friends. She had been a fabulous addition to our group during the past week—the perfect house guest, really. We were so glad that she could join us.
Genevieve and Sebastian were thrilled to find a rock climbing wall at the RV park. They both shimmied to the top multiple times.
It was wonderful to see their self-confidence building with each climb!
The sun and clouds overhead appeared to have formed the entrance to another dimension.
We enjoyed some delicious sushi tonight at a nearby restaurant. After dinner, we topped the evening off with a relaxing swim in the pool.
<< Day 59: Yellowstone (Mammoth Springs) to the Grand Tetons | Day 61: Park City to California Border >>
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