Warmer this morning. We left Wolf Den and Star Valley driving north to Alpine WY in Swan Valley and then turning west into Idaho. For almost 30 miles we had the Palisades Reservoir to our left. Beautiful vistas on a narrow road with no turnoffs is not a happy combo.
135 miles of our travel today was along State Highway 28, Sacajawea Historic Byway. With mountains in the distance on both sides the valley is best described as high mountain desert plains. It is heavily farmed - almost exclusively animal feed with a few fields of rape seed and potatoes thrown in for good measure. It was a startling reminder of the importance of water.
Irrigated
Not irrigated
It was a beautiful summer day and farmers were taking advantage. They were baling hay as fast as they could. We saw thousands and thousands of these huge hay bales. It’s amazing how much agricultural land is dedicated to animal pasture and production of animal feed.
For several miles we followed the Lemhi River. We stopped at the overlook.
And I met a new friend.
More agriculture. More unirrigated desert plains. And finally Salmon ID. We visited Sacajawea Interpretive Center, a 71 acre park dedicated to Sacajawea and her role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
A quick grocery store stop, motel check-in and a walk downtown. Salmon has a very small, but vibrant downtown, a nice mix of tourist and local venues. Surprisingly, we saw very little art. No galleries and only one shop selling hand crafted jewelry. Perhaps there was more farther down the street.
We stopped by the Salmon River and a woman walking by insisted on taking our picture.
I snapped this one of Stanley with a bit more river in the background.
We wrapped up the day with a dinner of fried rice, sweet and sour pork and orange chicken with a serving of green salad. I could get used to eating out of a deli.
¡Buenas noches!
