Part 2 of 2: Potatoes, dead fish and no cell phone reception

It’s 36-degrees and sunny when I say farewell to West Yellowstone.  I drive south on Highway 20 and further still on Interstate 15, but I don’t get very far.  I have my sights set on Salt Lake City, but I see a sign along the freeway that reads, “Potato Museum next exit” so I exit. 

The Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho was built in 1913 and originally a railroad depot.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.  However, in 1984 the Union Pacific closed the depot leaving the building abandoned.  It became the Potato Museum a few years later in 1988.

I’m not expecting much but I am pleasantly surprised. 

The museum is small, but full of potato paraphernalia as well as a few pieces of machinery used in harvesting.  I never thought much about potatoes, but the history and trivia are interesting.  Did you know the largest potato ever grown was 7 pounds, 1 ounce?

Welcome to Utah!  

A night of rest in Brigham City and then a short drive the next morning to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  The refuge contains nearly 80,000 acres of marsh, open waters, uplands, and alkali mudflats.  It lies along the edges of both the Pacific Flyway and the Central Flyway, making it an important area for birds.  More than 250 bird species use the refuge.  It is my first time here and I am excited to do some birding.

Right away I see a Ringed-necked pheasant.  I get some decent shots and that makes for a promising day.  In the Bear River Channel, there are ducks and a few American White Pelicans, but then I see something that isn’t familiar.

It swims along the water’s surface and then lumbers briefly onto shore.  It’s a beaver! A big, brown blob and all I see is its butt.  Then it’s back in the water and swims away.  This is the first beaver I have ever seen in the wild!

I follow the auto tour route along a dirt road through the refuge.  The road and channel parallel one another, but then the water level gets extremely low.  The main channel has taken a turn and, I think, this shallow pool is overflow.  I’m not sure, but it is full of dying carp.

They flounder and float on their sides while seagull’s peck at them.  It is a carp graveyard with fish carcasses in varying degrees of decay and bones scattered along the shoreline.  The carp are an invasive species, so I’m not saddened at their demise.  Plus, I know their death is a benefit to other wildlife in the area that will feed on them.

It stinks and the seagulls squawk loudly.  As disgusting as it is, I am very fascinated and get out of my truck to take a closer look.  However, I am suddenly attacked by large flies that bite my back and shoulders through my shirt.  It hurts! 

I jump back into my truck to escape the flies, but the interior is now infested with mosquitos.  I have left the windows open!  The mosquitos cover the inside roof like a carpet.  I turn the air on super blast, but it does little to dispel them. 

I take a few quick photos of the seagull-carp carnage and quickly drive away.  The flies follow me, however.  I roll up the windows, but they keep pace with me.  They are so big that I can see them flying next to my window and when I stop, they land on the windows and hood to let me know they are still there.  It’s as if they are stalking me!

I grab a can of bug spray from my camping gear and attempt to spray both the inside of my truck, which is still covered with mosquitos, and myself.  However, the nozzle is broken, and it doesn’t spray properly, just bubbles, but I’m able to get enough on my skin to keep the bugs away.  

The flies quickly lose interest, but the mosquitos remain.  I squish a few, but they leave tiny blood stains on the fabric of the roof.  Since they are not biting me, I leave them alone. 

The bugs are horrendous and it’s scorching hot.  Apparently, the entire western half of the United States is in a massive heat wave.  I have picked the wrong time of year to visit, but the birding is good, so I see the positives in that.

Sandhill Cranes with a colt, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Cliff Swallows, egrets, herons, coots, ibises, baby geese, and Black-necked Stilts…I am getting some great photos, but my favorite are the Western Grebes with chicks riding on their backs.  Adorable!

I exit the refuge 5 hours later with a card full of great photos and go to Salt Lake City in search of a laundromat.  Some of the mosquitos are still hitching a ride with me and I continue squishing them for the next several miles until they are all gone.

The next day, I meet my friend Christy at the Radisson SLC Airport.  She has flown in from Denver to help me look at apartments in the Salt Lake City area.  We spend the next three days driving from one side of town to the other touring apartments and stopping every so often for ice cream because it is over a 100-degrees every single day. 

We also take time to eat delicious Mexican food at Red Iguana, which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri.  The food is good, and the waiter is a cutie.  He charms us two old ladies with his smile and customer-service flirtations.  It works.  We leave him a big tip.

At the Capitol building, we take a self-guided tour.  I ask Christy if it is illegal to have a gun in the building.  She responds with an expletive.  I tell her I’m asking for a friend.  I don’t know what the statue of limitations is, so I will neither confirm nor deny anything remotely associated with anyone possessing or not possessing a firearm inside or outside of a federal building or any building for that matter.

Our stay at the Radisson SLC Airport is only three nights, but unfortunately, they are not good ones.  From mold and a persistent musty smell in the bathroom to highly incompetent staff, our time there flat out sucked.  Plus, the cleaning staff threw away our personal toiletries that we had in the bathroom.  Including my purple soap box that I’ve had for, like, 20 years!

My numerous complaints are met with half-hearted apologies, and not once did they offer to replace any of the items they had thrown away.  Not even with cheap hotel soap!  I give them one star in my Yelp review only because I couldn’t rate them a zero.

After saying our goodbyes, Christy heads east and I head west on Interstate 80 towards Great Salt Lake State Park.

Great Salt Lake is one of the major tourist destinations in Utah.  It is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere at 75 miles long and 35 miles wide.  It is too saline to support fish and most other aquatic species.  The only living things in the lake are algae, bacteria, brine shrimp and brine flies. 

It is also a popular spot for birding as it provides a habitat for millions of native and migratory birds.  However, I am disappointed when I arrive.   There are no birds, no shade, and the visitor’s center isn’t open yet.  I walk around in the 85-degree heat for about 45 minutes waiting for the visitor center to open only to discover that I am at the wrong part of the lake. 

I am at the boat marina. 

If I want to see birds and other wildlife, I should have gone to Antelope Island State Park, but that is an hour away and back the way I came.  It’s a disappointment, but all part of my journey.  There will always be highlights and lowlights to my trip and this just happens to be a lowlight, but at least I can say I saw the Great Salt Lake. 

With a pocket full of caramel candies I bought at the visitor center, I continue west on Interstate 80.  Past the Bonneville Speedway where many speed records have been set, the first being in 1935 by Sir Malcolm Campbell and where I wish I would have stopped. At West Wendover, I turn south on the 93 towards Ely and spend a quiet night at La Quinta planning my next stop.

I have my America the Beautiful park pass ready, but Great Basin National Park does not have an entry fee.  It’s a beautiful morning, sunny with wispy clouds, but at 8:30am it is already 80-degrees.  At Lehman Caves Visitor Center, I am met with another disappointment.  Reservations are required to tour the caves and I haven’t made any.  The next available time slot is a month out! 

Great Basin National Park was established in 1986 and is just over 120 square miles in size.  It’s known for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines and the Lehman Caves at the base of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, as well as Wheeler Peak Glacier.   

From the visitor center, I drive Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive.  The road twists and turns as it snakes up the mountain, however there are very few turnouts for me enjoy the views, and no vast meadows where I can view wildlife.  I stop when I can to take pictures and then the road ends at a parking lot. 

There is a kiosk showing the many trails branching out from the parking lot.  I’m not dressed for hiking, I’m wearing jeans, but I stuff several waters and a first aid kit into a backpack and wander off down the trail. 

The high elevation is making breathing difficult, and I stop frequently to catch my breath, but I don’t want to turn back.  It’s quiet, beautiful, and I want to push myself, but then I start thinking about bears.  I have left my bear spray in the car and I am hiking alone.  I wonder if I should turn around for safety reasons, but I think, “oh well” and keep hiking. 

I am hot and sweaty in my jeans and it feels like I’ve been hiking for days, but it’s been less than a hour and I’ve gone only ¾ of a mile. The trail has steadily gained in elevation and for a moment I think I might vomit, but just up ahead I see an opening and a sign that reads, “Teresa Lake, Elevation 10,230 feet.” 

I’ve made it and I’ve done so without hurling my breakfast.

Teresa Lake is a small, glacial lake near Wheeler Peak along the park’s Alpine Lakes Loop Trail.  Most of the water comes from snowmelt, but it also has a spring flowing into it.  I find some shade along the rocky shore and soak my feet.  The water is very cold but refreshing.  It’s been another good day.

When I leave Great Basin National Park, I have two options.  I can drive east and eventually connect with Interstate 15 that I’ve driven a thousand times, or continue on Highway 93 and see all new territory.  I opt for the unfamiliar and head south on Highway 93 in search of a hotel, but there are none.  In fact, there are no services at all, including cell phone reception.  I am a bit uneasy about my choice in routes, especially when it starts to rain.  I wonder how long it would take someone to find me if something happened….

I drive almost a 100-miles without services, but I eventually reach Panaca, Nevada where there is a gas station.  Civilization!

Another 150 miles on Highway 93 gets me to Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas.  It’s 111-degrees when I arrive.  I want to make a mad dash for home, but I am too tired.  A Motel 6 near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway provides adequate accommodations for the night.  

The next morning, the last 340 miles home is a breeze.

Total trip mileage: 3,362.

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Yellow-headed Blackbird at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.