Teton National Park to Picabo, Idaho

No, we didn’t stop here because of the name of the town. We’re actually camped outside Picabo on a little river. It’s a forestry service type campsite. Very basic. I think it’s mostly used by fly fisherman who are likely at work mid-week. And, it appears to be free. There’s only one other camper ... a couple in a RV.

But the day began in Teton National Park in Wyoming. The haze of smoke from forest fires hadn’t cleared during the night. The best we got was this:

And that’s with a little tweeking of the contrast on the original photo file. We headed south out of the park through Jackson, Wyoming. It seems a fine little town but the traffic was horrendous. All those folks heading to Yellowstone, I guess.

We headed up Highway 22 which goes over Teton Pass. Immediately the grade was very steep (10% however that’s calculated). As there were no passing lanes we soon had a long lineup of cars behind us. I’m sure Helmut would have made it to the top in second gear but there might have been quite a bit of road rage going on behind us, so we abandoned the uphill climb and chose route B.

It turned out that the ride down Hwy 89 followed the Snake River much of it a wide canyon. Most of the traffic from the north disappeared and we could even stop and sit gazing over the edge without a dozen other cars stopping to see what was so interesting. And we ended up far enough south that most of the forest fire smoke disappeared.

At approximately the Idaho/Wyoming border the Snake River does a 180 and turns north. And the road follows it. The countryside is gentler and the valley gets much wider with lots of agriculture.

On we went through Idaho Falls where we stopped for lunch. Then continuing west on Highway 20. West of Idaho Falls is a whole lot of flat arid country that I’m sure is filled with rattlesnakes. But the road is good and goes in a straight line for miles and miles.

 

We stopped in the town of Alco, Idaho for gas and groceries. Gas was found but nothing resembling groceries was for sale. Dinner tonight was a can of beans and crackers and a pear for dessert. Sadly the Golden West Cafe appeared to be closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 30 minutes past Alco is Craters of the Moon National Monument. In the centre of Idaho there’s a huge lava field the remainders of volcanic activity some of which occurred only 2,000 years ago. It’s odd to be driving through cowboy desert when quite quickly it turns to a landscape more reminiscent of Hawaii.