Sept 08
Bear Lake, Utah
Heading up hwy 16, turned left / west onto hwy 30 to Bear Lake, Utah. Start descenting off of the high plains with beautiful Utah plains with ranches, down through some mountain passes with unique rock strata, and come out onto the valley of Bear Lake.
Visability is 25 miles.... Bear Lake is 20+ miles north to south, 5 miles across.... some 110 square miles, and you can see mountain chains on the east / west horizons. it is a vast, wide, view of the west. Blue sky with high cirrus clouds... some lower alto stratus clouds... really beautiful.
Coming up on the south end of the lake is the Bear Lake state park / recreation area. It's empty... everyone gone after labor day. The air is cool and thin,... we're about 6,000' elev. This is northern Utah... we're close to the Idaho line.
Driving north up the west side reminds me of the Salton Sea.... very similar.
In a few miles we come to Pickleville. And have to stop and see the Pickleville Playhouse. This is America at it's best. The local community theater / movie house. A rustic log building that presents local community theater productions, and in between productions shows old western classics. A neat place!
from wikipedia***
The first known inhabitants of the Bear Lake Valley were Shoshone tribes, but the area was known to many Native Americans. The first record of whites seeing the lake is from 1818 when French-Canadian trappers working for the North West Company followed the Bear River upstream to the valley. Later, between 1825 and 1840, many mountain men, including Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger, met on the south shore with Native Americans to swap goods and stories. One story that was told was about the legendary lake monster. This monster has said to be seen even today especially in the caves running through the lake. In history, the monster has possibly taken at least 50 lives. This is the origin of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous which continue to this day in mid-September on Rendezvous Beach. It is from these trappers that Bear Lake received its well-deserved infamy for harsh winters.
Although the lake lies relatively near the Oregon Trail, which runs north and east of the lake, and was traveled by many pioneers between 1836 and the 1850s, it seems none of them went south enough to view the lake. It wasn't until 1863 that Mormon pioneers led by Charles C. Rich settled in the Bear Lake Valley, but they made an agreement with Native Americans which left most of the Utah portion of the valley in Indian possession. The Mormons gradually moved south and established the villages of Garden City, Pickleville, and Laketown, each along the lake's shore.
In later years Bear Lake became a resort and recreation area, and this tradition has grown through the years with many developers selling lakeshore and mountain view lots. The beaches of Lakota and Ideal were given to private development in the 1970s, including the Blue Water and Sweetwater developments. The State of Utah bought the far southeast beach for use as a State Park, and also operates a marina on the lake's west side.
Formed in a half graben valley straddling the Idaho-Utah border, the lake has an approximate area of 109 square miles (282 km²) and sits at an elevation of 5,924 feet (1,806 m) along the northeast side of the Wasatch Range and the east side of the Bear River Mountains.[8]
The lake and surrounding areas are a popular summer tourist destination. The lake has many marinas, beaches, and two tourist towns in Utah known as Garden City and Laketown. It also has two state parks, each named Bear Lake State Park: one in Idaho, one in Utah.
****
This was a neat place to see. head on north -- also see Bear Lake 2 post --
Yellowstone Tracks of the StoneBear
Sept 08
Bear Lake, Utah
Heading up hwy 16, turned left / west onto hwy 30 to Bear Lake, Utah. Start descenting off of the high plains with beautiful Utah plains with ranches, down through some mountain passes with unique rock strata, and come out onto the valley of Bear Lake.
Visability is 25 miles.... Bear Lake is 20+ miles north to south, 5 miles across.... some 110 square miles, and you can see mountain chains on the east / west horizons. it is a vast, wide, view of the west. Blue sky with high cirrus clouds... some lower alto stratus clouds... really beautiful.
Coming up on the south end of the lake is the Bear Lake state park / recreation area. It's empty... everyone gone after labor day. The air is cool and thin,... we're about 6,000' elev. This is northern Utah... we're close to the Idaho line.
Driving north up the west side reminds me of the Salton Sea.... very similar.
In a few miles we come to Pickleville. And have to stop and see the Pickleville Playhouse. This is America at it's best. The local community theater / movie house. A rustic log building that presents local community theater productions, and in between productions shows old western classics. A neat place!
from wikipedia***
The first known inhabitants of the Bear Lake Valley were Shoshone tribes, but the area was known to many Native Americans. The first record of whites seeing the lake is from 1818 when French-Canadian trappers working for the North West Company followed the Bear River upstream to the valley. Later, between 1825 and 1840, many mountain men, including Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger, met on the south shore with Native Americans to swap goods and stories. One story that was told was about the legendary lake monster. This monster has said to be seen even today especially in the caves running through the lake. In history, the monster has possibly taken at least 50 lives. This is the origin of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous which continue to this day in mid-September on Rendezvous Beach. It is from these trappers that Bear Lake received its well-deserved infamy for harsh winters.
Although the lake lies relatively near the Oregon Trail, which runs north and east of the lake, and was traveled by many pioneers between 1836 and the 1850s, it seems none of them went south enough to view the lake. It wasn't until 1863 that Mormon pioneers led by Charles C. Rich settled in the Bear Lake Valley, but they made an agreement with Native Americans which left most of the Utah portion of the valley in Indian possession. The Mormons gradually moved south and established the villages of Garden City, Pickleville, and Laketown, each along the lake's shore.
In later years Bear Lake became a resort and recreation area, and this tradition has grown through the years with many developers selling lakeshore and mountain view lots. The beaches of Lakota and Ideal were given to private development in the 1970s, including the Blue Water and Sweetwater developments. The State of Utah bought the far southeast beach for use as a State Park, and also operates a marina on the lake's west side.
Formed in a half graben valley straddling the Idaho-Utah border, the lake has an approximate area of 109 square miles (282 km²) and sits at an elevation of 5,924 feet (1,806 m) along the northeast side of the Wasatch Range and the east side of the Bear River Mountains.[8]
The lake and surrounding areas are a popular summer tourist destination. The lake has many marinas, beaches, and two tourist towns in Utah known as Garden City and Laketown. It also has two state parks, each named Bear Lake State Park: one in Idaho, one in Utah.
****
This was a neat place to see. head on north -- also see Bear Lake 2 post --
