Day 19 - Driving south across Idaho and Utah

We spent the night at a small town of West Yellowstone, Montana. The town itself was quite pretty, with wild west style buildings and, thanks God no burger or pump station emporium anywhere close.

In the morning we got back to our van and headed south. Very soon we entered Idaho and for an hour we drove through the beautiful scenery of Targhee National Forest ( picture above ). Just after Idaho Falls we joined the Interstate 26. Every kilometer south the air got hotter and hotter and the landscape got more half desert-like. After a couple of hours we passed the Idaho-Utah frontier. At Salt Lake City we stopped at Gateway Mall, did some shopping, had a lunch at TacoTime. Salt Lake City is located in the middle of the flat and hot desert surrounded by the high red brown-colored mountain peaks and white salt lakes. We drove passed the white towers of the Mormon Temple in the city center ( pictured above ) and soon we were back on the Interstate.

After Springville we left the Interstate 15 and turned to road 6 going south. The landscape was deserted ( picture above ) and the road seemed to be never-ending. We passed some 'settlements' dotted on our map as towns but they were literally in the form of a gas station, and a few surrounding shacks - and nothing else.

But we were very excited. Soon we were to land at one of the most picturesque corners of the US: the Southern Utah.



Maciek.