Goin' Out West

Since we've just about run out of new outdoor activities to try (and, more importantly, I have pushed the limits of consecutive days-out-of-office/school), with no small measure of sadness, this morning we loaded up the doughty truckster and started our trek back to the Northwest.  Not before a little excitement of the Ursidae variety, however.   As you may recall from our Yellowstone exploits, everywhere we've gone in the Great Outdoors, we've been warned about large mammals that could very well tear us to shreds.  We missed a mama black bear and her two cubs in Jackson by mere minutes, according to fellow trekkers coming both up and down the trail.  

The most vicious beast we
encountered in Jackson

How ironic, then, that our closest encounter with something that might kill us (other than flaky mountain rocks and lake water) found us in our native habitat:  our friend's apartment.  We had originally planned on sleeping on the back porch, but had been warned that might not be such a great idea since bears had been spotted in the 'hood.  Last night, at around 3AM, K poked me vigorously.  "There's a bear out there!" she exclaimed.  I'm not usually at my most acute at that delicate hour, but I remember thinking, "So, what, exactly, do you want me to do about it?"  We didn't appear to be in imminent danger, so I decided the best course of action was to turn over and go back to sleep.

Later this morning, we discovered that our foolish next-door neighbor had left bags of garbage on the street for collection, despite a clear local ordinance requiring bear-proofed containers. I should note that this neighbor was undoubtedly an urbanite there on holiday, not one of the smarter locals.  In any case, the bear didn't climb the stairs to our back porch, and neither K nor I were eaten.

We did, however, witness one of the largest organisms in the world on our way out of town.  Would you believe, it wasn't a bear!  Believe it or not, Aspen tree forests are not groups of stand-alone trees, but clumps of trees all connected to a single root system.  The grove below is a smidge of what we drove through as we wound down Kepler Pass toward Delta.  

After a 750 mile cruise through Colorado, Utah and half of Idaho, we're holed up in the surprisingly cushy Boise Hampton Inn.  Tomorrow: Walla Walla!  

This must be where James Cameron picked up his Hometree inspiration for Avatar