Veggie Voyagers

Couple travelled 30 states and 3 Canadian provinces between 7/07 and 5/08 running their 1987 Ford truck on straight veggie oil. The blog continues with a focus on the natural world and energy politics from a personal perspective

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Bear Lake to Jackson

 We traveled from Bear Lake's flank in Utah around to the Idaho north end of the lake and to the Bear Lake Hotsprings. The lake was brilliant blue and following that it was bluesy gray when a squall came through... Amazing and beautiful changes in a very brief time.
We spoke to some drinking men and one was Cherokee and a guide. He told about the original springs and we learned about the Shoshone and their relocation. 'Guess the white folks didn't want to share the lake. The treaty lasted seven years before the people were sent to the Wind River area of Wyoming. Another trail of tears..
It was really quite amazing to see the ostentatious homes on this remote lake. Almost all are vacation homes.. lived in by white ghosts of an economy I can't even begin to fathom.
 We tootled on up the 89 corridor to a reservoir where we stopped for the night, still in Idaho--photo below. As we crossed into Wyoming and headed down into the Salt River basin the land became less desert and more diverse and we also started seeing pine beetle damage.... really inspiring to be able to see the changes in the environment within a 20 mile span of highway but a good reminder why California should not be clear-cutting its way through the forests--where we don't have the infestation, yet... there is so much destruction here. Intact forests are really endangered.
 And then... then we were in Jackson, Wyoming. Did I mention ostentatious wealth in regards to homes around Bear Lake? Well, you'd have to see the stores in this town... nothing too expensive for these shoppers. We did our own little consumer loop-- the mountaineering and water sports stores, the health food store, propane.... then headed out before nightfall since the running lights aren't working.
 We parked on the north end of what is called an elk reserve.. an elk slaughter ground is more like it. I'm glad we weren't here for that part of the year. No sign of elk and well may they be in their high country in the Gros Ventre. This was the view out the VV hatch this morning. The rosy fingered dawn toying with the Tetons. (Click on it for the big WOW.)

1 Comments:

At September 17, 2013 at 5:03 PM , Blogger Allan Stellar said...

Amazing how much devastation the pine beetle caused in such a short amount of time. Same thing is happening with the white bark pine, which lives at higher elevations and is a stable for the grizzly bear. We probably will have more bear/human encounters as a result of this real consequence of climate change. Thanks for writing the blog; it is almost like taking the trip with you.

 

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