The problem with travelling in the winter is, of course, the weather! While it has been an unusually mild winter in the home base of Billings, the price of warmer temperatures and less snow has been the constant wind. Driving the Lunch Box in the snow can be a bit of an issue, but driving the Lunch Box in the wind can be a huge problem, especially on I-94 west of Billings in the Livingston area where the first climb over the Rocky Mountains takes place. The “boxy” design gets buffeted by the wind and keeping it on the road is like riding a bucking bull. Picking a departure date can be tricky but finally the stars aligned and a Wednesday in mid-February rose as a lull between wind storms and we hit the road. The plan for this trip is to head for the sun, circling down to Las Vegas, then to southern Arizona, turning back north to the Grand Canyon, and then wandering towards Billings through eastern Utah and Colorado before heading north through Wyoming back to Billings, arriving sometime in the second week of May.
Billings, MT to St. George, UT (I-90 to Bozeman, MT; Hwy 191 to West Yellowstone, MT; Hwy 20 to Idaho Falls, ID; I-15 to St. George, UT)
As predicted, the wind was calm as I left Billings early in the morning (leaving early in the morning is a prerequisite for avoiding wind as the winds arise as the sun warms the atmosphere). It has been in the high 50’s/low 60’s for the past week so there is no snow on the ground and the roads are dry all the way up the Yellowstone River Valley to Livingston. The mountains loom to the southwest with their snowy mantle, but this side of the mountains there just isn’t any snow. That situation changes dramatically in the 25 miles between Livingston and Bozeman. In that 25 miles we cross Bozeman Pass, crossing the eastern-most range of the Rocky Mountains and as we head down into Bozeman snow begins to collect along the interstate. At Bozeman we leave I-90 and turn south on Hwy 191. The highway follows the Gallatin River Canyon through a winter paradise to West Yellowstone. As I enter the canyon this is the part of the trip where I expect to find snowy and icy roads.
I get to West Yellowstone in time for lunch and am surprised to see bare pavement on the main streets in town. This is the heart of winter recreation and while there certainly is evidence of a lot of snow around town, there should be so much more this time of year. The view on the left looks due north along Main Street (Hwy 191), the view on the right looks due west along Hwy 20 towards Idaho as we leave town.
While most of Yellowstone National Park is closed during the winter, people can enter the park via snowmobiles at West Yellowstone and visit as far as Old Faithful and the famed Big Sky ski resort is about 30 miles north of town so there is activity in town throughout the winter. The reason for choosing this route as the way to Utah is that after crossing Bozeman Pass, there is no other really “steep” pass to cross before getting down onto the Snake River Plain in Idaho. I’m gambling that the roads will be better, and I was right. I continue to enjoy spectacular views while driving on dry roads!
It’s clear that it has NOT been a mild winter in eastern Idaho with lots of snow on the ground. This is a prime winter snowmobiling area and they are everywhere around Island Park, Idaho.
I stop for the night in Idaho Falls and camp in the snow but we are snug as a bug in a rug! I am increasing concerned, however, by the weather reports for the next day. There are winter storm warnings and watches posted all the way from Idaho Falls down to St. George but most alarming are the high wind watches that accompany the other warnings. I know that even though I am out of the mountains for the moment, the next 120 miles south on I-15 to Salt Lake City require crossing a low range of mountains. Again, we get up early the next morning and hit the road, hoping to cross the mountains before the wind and snow pick up. The first 50 miles crosses the flat plain and the wind hasn’t yet started to pick up, but looming in front of me just south of Pocatello, ID, lie the mountains that I have to cross.
A couple of hours later I’m starting to relax a bit as I descend from the mountains and see the sun breaking out in the distance over the Great Salt Lake.
Unfortunately for me my dash south comes face to face with the advancing storm just south of Salt Lake City and frankly, all hell breaks loose. At first it’s the rain, wind and heavy traffic that cause concern. Warning signs are flashing along the freeway in central Salt Lake City, telling truck drivers that Interstate 80 is closed both east and west of the city due to high winds. I somewhat foolishly think that I’ll be OK as I am heading south on I-15 so I charge on.
South of Provo the interstate leaves the Great Salt Lake Valley and enters a rugged, isolated and sparsely populated landscape. The road alternately climbs and descends a series of mountain ranges and traverses wide valleys as it angles southwest across the state towards Las Vegas. The wind is so bad that at one point I pulled off at a rest stop and sat for a half hour before continuing on after the rain lifted a bit. Then, about 20 miles north of the small town of Fillmore, a blizzard descends on the land. Lest you think I am exaggerating (heaven forbid!), here are two pictures that say it all. The first one shows the poor visibility during the blizzard. I can barely see the semi that is in front of me as we crawl along at about 45 mph in the wind and snow.
A couple of miles further traffic slows to a crawl as we pass a different semi that has been BLOWN OVER IN THE WIND!!! I can tell you that it was a sobering sight and traffic slowed to about 20 mph as we progressed towards Fillmore, about 8 miles further.
Even though it’s only about two in the afternoon, I decided to pull off at Fillmore and stop for the night, hoping to out-wait the storm. I missed the turn-off to the RV Park first time by due to the poor visibility but eventually found it and hunkered down for the night.
Three inches of snow fell in the next hour before the storm passed by and the temperatures dropped into the teens under clear skies for the night. Didn’t bother us in the Lunch Box! The next morning it was cold but skies were partly cloudy and the wind calm. We wandered around a bit in Fillmore before hitting the road again to continue the trek south.
Fillmore, UT
Fillmore is a small town of about 2,500 people really in the middle of nowhere with an unexpected history. While Salt Lake City is now the state capital of Utah and was the center of the Mormon religion from the first time that Brigham Young crossed the Wasatch Mountains, in fact it was NOT the first capital of the territory of Utah. Once Utah was officially established as a territory Brigham Young decided that the capital needed to be in a more central location so on October 28, 1851 he selected a site in the Pahvant Valley about 130 miles south of Salt Lake City to be the capital of Utah Territory. The very same day Jesse Fox surveyed the town and shortly thereafter Anson Call lead a group to settle the town site. A grist mill and saw mill were established and in 1852 construction on the capitol building was started. The building stands today as part of a museum complex.
The territorial legislature met in this building until 1856 when the decision was made to move the capital to Salt Lake City. Fillmore (named after President Millard Fillmore in a political gesture by Brigham Young) slumbered on as the small commercial center of the Pahvant Valley. The Lunch Box sits across the fresh snow under the watch of the mountains that line the horizon to the east.
Evidence of the original grandiose plans remains in the street grid along Main Street. Characteristic of early Mormon towns, the large blocks were connected with broad boulevards specifically designed wide enough so that a team of oxen could turn around in the street. The grand Main Street (7 lanes wide including parking) dwarfs the more pedestrian buildings along its sides.
Leaving Fillmore we continue down I-15 to St. George, our next stop. The rugged land continues to stretch all around as the snow gradually disappears and the sun rises in the blue sky.
The series of mountain ranges and valley crossings continues until just before St. George when the interstate angles away from the snowy mountains on the left and begins to descend into the red rock landscape that denotes the transition to the lower elevations of the desert around Las Vegas, 125 miles to the south west. More importantly, the temperature rises appreciably and our goal of seeking winter warmth becomes achievable!
Next up: Dixie!
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