Heading north, to Montana

We followed hwy. 80 out of Park City, then hwy. 89 north to Bear Lake for a quick stop-over. The afternoon light was just perfect to show off the beautiful bright blue water. the color is due to a high calcite content, they say. An afternoon thunderstorm cooled things off, and also diminished the intensity of the color in the lake.

Walking Shiner around the campground I noticed a strange plant, low to the ground, mostly dead and going to seed.
The pods are furry little white things that inspired me to make up a story about bunny rabbit eggs. The plant is actually astragalus purshii, otherwise known as wooly pod locoweed. Not very attractive this time of year, but it is unusual.

This is not a particularly dog-friendly park. No dogs allowed near the water, and there are no trails to speak of. The spaces are generous though, and water and electric are available.

Steve spent some time here planning the next leg of the trip. Poking around on the Internet he discovered Bannack Days, held in Bannack State Park, which happens to be right on our route, and there was one camping site left so he grabbed a reservation.  He went back to the website about an hour later and discovered the park had been closed and the event canceled due to a flash flood that had happened just about the time he was making the reservation! Bummer!... We were really looking forward to the event, and it's really sad for all the folks who were ready to perform as reenactors and who are vendors. Hopefully the town didn't suffer too much damage. See the news article and photos.

Leaving Bear Lake, not knowing what we'd do next since that event was canceled, we traveled west and north around Bear Lake, passing historic cabins like this one in Randolph, UT.

This was one of the early homes of Wilford Woodruff, an early president of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Quite modest compared to many of the other houses he lived in. Here's a bit of history on him.   Historic barns and sheds also dot the landscape, but there's also a lot of residential development in this rural area.

Lander Cutoff viewpoint

We were really surprised at not only the number of residences, but the fact that most of them seem new and are really large homes, not what one would classify as a weekend cabin.

Continuing on, our route took us through the edge of Wyoming, where we paused for a breathtaking view of the historic Lander Cutoff,  through the picturesque antler arch in Afton, then swinging back west into Idaho.

Antler arch in Afton, WY

We had considered stopping at Palisade Lake for the night, but we soon discovered all the nice sites with river views were designated as "double sites", and were only available at full price, twice the regular site price, and were told the golden age pass discount didn't apply to them (though the golden age pass applies to single sites). It's no surprise those sites were all sitting empty.  We were irritated at this gimmick to raise prices without actually saying that's what they're doing so decided to forge on ahead to our alternative location.

We stopped at a pull-out along the highway for lunch and had a great view of the river (far better than any of those campsites had!) This part of the country has such beautiful scenery!

We arrived at Beaver Dick Park, in Madison County, Idaho, in the early afternoon. (No, the name isn't a joke, it's historic!)  In the next post we'll tell you all about it.