Zeattle Caravan to 10YOC Third Day
Burley, ID to Pagaditch, UT
We didn't realize yesterday how the terrain and vegetation had changed, after we came into the Snake River Valley. We started seeing a whole lot of nothing. It became the trip mantra, in a way.
The vistas were still stunning, but the vegetation was very sparse most of the time, and we stayed at a high altitude for most of the rest of the trip. We joked about "passing Denver" often, as the altitude on the GPS showed us going thru 5200 feet. The high steppes of the American West must have been terribly intimidating to the Corps of Discovery, and Oregon Trail users.
Our first stop for the day was at the Golden Spike Natl. Historic Site.
Again, a whole lotta nothing!. We did see some wildlife, out by the tracks. A jackrabbit with nest material!
The site wasn't crowded at all that day, we were the only tourists there. Standing out on the tracks it was hard to visualize how terribly important the event that it commemorated was for the United States, and how many items of history it affected. Indian Wars, Buffalo decimation, the opening of the West, all due to a large golden spike, driven into a timber.
Leaving the site, we drove on some old railroad bed overlooking the northern fringes of the Great Salt Lake. Coming back to the highway, we took a quick spin thru the Morton Thiokol solid rocket plant parking lot. It had actually been a surprise earlier, when we came across the plant, but it really is in an ideal location. Nothing is around it if it goes BOOM!
Next stop was lunch, and the Mormon Temple. The flowers were blooming, and the square was all spiffy. It started to drizzle, so that stop had to be cut short.
We played hide & seek with the weather as we cruised down I-15, and US 89. We passed a beautiful outcropping called "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Very colorful! The lighting didn't do it justice!
We came out of the mountain valleys and up into flat prairie again as we neared Panguitch, where we spent the night.