Today's drive was long and slow. I knew it was going to get hot fast, so once it was light and warm enough, I pulled over for a hike. US191 south of Bozeman snakes along the Gallatin River south to Yellowstone National Park. Speedlimit is 50mph but that's being cautious. Everyone wanted to get to the park and was in a hurry. And once I got to West Yellowstone, it was congestion all through town, just as I remembered from my 2009 visit. I gave up getting coffee in town.
I took US20 in a southwesterly direction from West Yellowstone, stopping at the Mesa Scenic Byway that took me on a geologic feast. While the Upper Mesa Falls was a fee area, I parked off a small day-use area with a trail along the rim. I took this rim with the intent of going two miles one way. This trail followed the rim and took us through meadows of varied fragrant wildflowers but no water, and I didn't want to stress the dogs. The Rim trail runs nine miles, from the Upper Mesa Falls to the Bear Gulch trailhead. Most people stop at a scenic overlook halfway through this trail off the road and go no farther. Bear Gulch was once a ski lodge in the 1940s but shut down in the 1970s and went back to nature. One can still see where the trees had been cleared for the ski lanes.
The Scenic byway comes out at Ashton in the south. This farming community had a city swimming pool but I would have had to wait 45 minutes for it to open. I just wanted to get going. A recycling center near the pool allowed me to drop off the old dog food cans and then I was off, now on ID32 to Tetonia, ID33 to Victor, and then ID31 to Swan Valley. This was agricultural land of flaxseed and other blooming flowers. These small towns were all nestled in the Teton foothills. Driggs was a decent tourist town with upscale diners. The drive on ID31 was a hilly drive to Swan valley, where I stopped last year and ate at the Snake River Road House. I stopped here again and the service was just as mediocre as it was a year ago. It was now getting hot outside.
Most of the drive in extreme western Wyoming on US26 to Alpine, then US89 to Border, then US3 0/ WY89 to Evanston was similar to the drive I did a year ago, with abandoned cabins along the way and bald mountains off the road. There is a lot of wealth hidden in these vallies.
The pretty part of today's drive was at the end and I was running out of daylight. This was the stretch along WY/UT 150 which crawls uphill into the Uinta National Forests with several peaks over 10,000 feet tall. There were many dead trees among the conifers, making this range prime victim for a forest fire.I had to be careful with the deer as they sprinted right on the road several times and I braked fast at least four times. There were several dead deer off the road, with one that looked fresh. There were many chances here to pull off the road and camp, but I knew I'd have a cold night at this altitude. I do, however, want to come back here someday and hike some of these peaks.
I made Heber City my destination for the night. One can see I-80 as UT150 descends into town. The town has all the amenities a traveler needs.
505.9 miles
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