Casual Idaho/Wyoming driving

 

Feeling old? Visit the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls in the Caribou-Targhee Forest. The tumultuous roar of the falls on the Snake River are more than a million years old.  We did not hike down to feel the spray on our faces, as we have experienced at Niagara Falls, but the shuddering of ground beneath our footfalls assured us that these Upper Falls were, as advertised, shattering over the remains of the volcanic conflict of a very long, long time ago.  

Stopping at the overlook a mile south we watched the foamy, billowing foam cascading down the Lower Falls as it continued down to the base of the Snake River. 

The valley floor was markedly green with forests of lodgepole pine, spruce, and fir. Paint-brushed in hues of yellows and oranges are glorious stands of quaking Aspen.  Along the winding roadways the valleys are covered with different grasses and the bluish-gray seas of sagebrush.

 

As we traveled from Driggs north on 33/22 towards the western edge of the Teton Range, we drove along the valley floor amazed at the jagged panorama of the mountain range on our eastern side and the vast valley floor of the Teton Range on our west. The basin is the agricultural mecca for potato farmers and grain producers. With the buttes miles away, we were surrounded by thousands of acres of freshly tilled soil, just harvested of potato and wheat and barley grains.

We have been traveling these past few days through small, rural communities where patriotism is displayed, and majestic scenery can be seen from a rocking chair from a front porch or riding horseback through a meadow.

  Populations stand from the mid-700s to a booming 1,200.  Most of the elevation we have been traveling is between 6-7,000 feet; and the altitude is a challenge for having lived at sea level just a few years ago. One of the smallest communities we have visited is Felt, Idaho. Standing at an elevation of 6,486 feet, this wide place in the road has a population of 20; unfortunately, they no longer have a post office, but they do have a zip code.  A few of the roads traveled have seasonal postings of snowplowing between certain hours and road barricades for the inevitable snowfall.  We learned today the average snowfall is 150-175 inches in the Teton Valley and over 500 inches in the mountains above 9K feet.

 After exchanging an un-user-friendly vehicle at Jackson Hole Airport for a more comfortable Ford Explorer, we visited Jackson Hole Wyoming.  Well-known as a winter resort escape for the rich n powerful, we found a friendly, casual stroll along Main Street, in delightful Fall weather and azure-blue skies.  We lunched at the historic Jackson Drug where Dave ordered a juicy bison burger and I had the ubiquitous salad. 

In the days to come we will be discovering Yellowstone National Park. On an average there are 3-4 million visitors per year. We will be counting ourselves as two of those many many visitors to standing in awe and wonderment... Join us soon.. vicariously....