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As I tend to do with our little road trips, this will mostly be a stub article comprised of a buttload of Passenger Seat Photography (PSP) shots. This is where me, as a passenger takes a bunch of photos as we drive to prevent Landis from having to pull over all the time.
Day One: The drive up.
I love the mountains above Willard (PSP).
Heading up Box Elder Canyon (PSP).
Mantua Reservoir (PSP).
Into Dry Canyon (PSP). Dry Lake is actually dry right now.
Pretty mountain (PSP).
Down Wellsville Canyon (PSP). Random fun fact: Even though the road changed decades ago, these three canyons are still referred to as Sardine Canyon. The road no longer goes that way, but people still call it that. Sardine Canyon is to the south of here.
Into Cache Valley (PSP).
Downtown Logan (PSP).
Entering Logan Canyon (PSP).
Little snippet of autumn (PSP).
I love the rock formations in Logan Canyon (PSP).
This is a super pretty canyon (PSP).
Logan Cave (PSP). We explored what you could of that last time we came this way.
Other than the pass, this is the only spot in the canyon that makes me a little nervous, but it is not that bad (PSP).
The aspens are still green even way up here (PSP).
We did a quick stop at Rick’s Spring which is a really cool thing to come check out
Pretty side canyon (PSP). I initially thought that was a cave in that outcropping, but now I am pretty sure its just a shadow.
Neat peak (PSP).
I think this is North Sink (PSP). The sinks up here in Logan Canyon are fascinating little places. They create natural inversions and are usually colder than the surrounding area. Peter Sinks, to the south of here often produces some of the coldest temperatures in Utah, and even the continental US.
Bear Lake Summit (PSP). The sign is just the Rich County line sign, no other information. I learned the name from a nearby trail, and I googled the elevation, 7818 feet.
Just under a mile beyond the pass is the Bear Lake Overlook. It is definitely worth the stop.
Panoramic.
Heading down into Bear Lake Valley (PSP). It is pretty steep and windy, but it’s not too bad. However I definitely prefer going up this than down it.
When we got to town, we had a little trouble locating the hotels office. This is a wild guess, but I think the ownership might have recently changed, so I was looking for a hotel named X when its current signage said Y. Then.. oh boy things got a little worse. This particular hotel is not staffed, and they failed to inform me that to obtain my key, I need to put a code I did not have into a lock box. Luckily someone answered the phone line so that was quickly sorted. Then we opened the room. It had very obviously not been cleaned since the last tenant. As I had booked a very cheap room (if that was not obvious already) I had braced myself for this becoming the vacation from hell. I gave them another call, really just expecting to have to wait an hour for it to be cleaned, or maybe get a discount or something. Instead, she decided to give us another room, with a small catch. It was way more than just the two of us needed.
HOLY FREAKING UPGRADE BATMAN!!!!
The small inconvenience of an unclean room got us the nicest condo ever! They went way above and beyond for us. We returned the courtesy by keeping to the common area, and only 1 of the 4 bedrooms and baths. Well, after the initial exploring anyway. They were also gracious enough to ship us an item we had left behind. I will definitely come back.
Our view for the weekend.
We decided to make a quick run over the border for supplies.
Hello Idaho (PSP).
Back into Utah (PSP).
One of the 3 lighthouses that are up here at Bear Lake (PSP). We have stayed at the hotel near this one, and I have seen one of the others, I meant to find the 3rd this year, but that didn’t happen. Maybe next time.
We then decided to have dinner at Cody’s Gastro Garage. It was pretty good, and not too expensive. I’d come back.
The waning full moon reflecting off the lake.
Day 2: Exploration!
The lake in the morning.
We noticed an old ATV trail down towards the shore, so we walked down.
Oh hello there little doe.
The lake shore.
The ATV trail lead down to this nice little firepit area.
It is nice enough that I wonder if we accidentally strayed into someone's property so, we decided to head on back.
At the bottom of the hill coming down from Bear Lake Pass there were recently a couple run-away trunk incidents (PSP). The damage is still there. It sounds like they are planning a runaway truck ramp now.
Sailboat on the lake (PSP).
There are a couple of spots where the autumn colors are getting an early start (PSP).
Better Idaho sign (PSP).
Another shot of the lake (PSP).
We went up Paris Canyon and explored the Paris Ice Cave. Definitely a fun little adventure!
After that we decided to keep heading towards Montpelier to go grab lunch. There was a great sub shop up there that we tried last time we were up here.
The Paris Tabernacle (PSP).
The railroads on the south end of Montpelier (PSP).
Sadly the sub shop was not open today so we settled for a random chain place.
We also learned that Idaho, at least in some counties, have the same stipulations about purchasing liquor on Sunday. So stupid. oi. Luckily we got enough supplies last night.
Downtown Montpelier (PSP). Blink and you’ll miss it.
I am sad to announce the Montpelier King’s has closed. Every time we came up here we always stopped in to check out some of the fun kitsch things they had. I am glad we did not skip the tradition last time we were up here. As, with a little googling I have discovered that King’s closed all of their remaining stores in 2017. Super sad, they were a neat store.
After this we did the Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge
Then we explored St Charles Canyon, which was pretty neat.
Back on HW89 a nice view of Bear Lake (PSP).
Re-entering Utah (PSP).
The 2nd of 3 of lighthouses up here (PSP).
Back at the room, another view of Bear Lake.
Old car outside Cody’s Grill.
We wanted to do Bear Lake Pizza for dinner tonight as we remembered them being incredible, but they are closed on Sundays. So we settled for Firehouse Pizzeria. It was good, but not as good as Bear Lake Pizza. we should have done it last night, and Cody's tonight. Oh well, lesson learned.
The moon over the lake again.
I was hoping it was dark enough here to get some shots of the milky way. Not the best, but a smidge of it here.
After quite a few miles along dirt roads, the car is a bit filthy.
Day 3:
Checkout day. I hate checkout day. A scramble to get everything packed up, and cleaned up, and hope you do not forget anything. we actually did forget something, luckily the hotel is being amazing and is sending it back to us. Yes, I will definitely use this hotel if we come back.
Some pretty clouds.
Big bird above.
Last view of the lake.
Heading back up over to Bear Lake Pass (PSP).
A smidge of color on the hills above (PSP).
Bear Lake below (PSP).
Our final adventure was The Limber Pine Trail. The trailhead is just below Bear Lake Pass on the east side.
Heading up over Bear Lake Summit (PSP). Again, only the county sign (now Cache) to let you know you have reached it.
Looking into middle and north sinks (PSP).
Aspens and rocks above (PSP).
Cut in the rocks (PSP).
Pretty canyon (PSP).
Some color along the river bottoms (PSP).
Neat rock formations (PSP).
We decided to stop by Ricks Spring again (PSP).
Continuing down Logan Canyon (PSP).
Fun rock formations (PSP).
This segment seems a little scarier on the way up than it does on the way down (PSP). Anyway, Logan river below.
More fun rock formations (PSP).
Little tree tunnel with some aspens starting to turn (PSP).
Nearing the mouth of Logan Canyon (PSP).
I was fascinated by this old tower using the pyramid shaped roof to display the Aggies A (PSP). Landis informs me this is the ‘Old Main’ building.
We have always referred the Logan Temple as salt and pepper shakers (PSP).
Heading back up Wellsville Canyon (PSP).
Into Dry Canyon (PSP).
Dry Lake isn’t completely dry (PSP).
Down Box Elder Canyon (PSP).
Nearing Mantua (PSP).
As we got closer to home we realized there was a wildfire nearby (PSP).
Luckily they got it out fairly quickly (PSP).
That was a great little trip. The most exciting we have had at Bear Lake so far. Of course it helps to go during the warm months haha. There are tons of things to do up there and I need to do more exploring up here, so maybe we'll swing by again some day.
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