The winter of 2011

The east has gotten all the publicity for their big winter storms this year, but the west has also had a lot of snow.  So far, no really big storms, but a steady accumulation has made life interesting.  We got 33 inches of snow in February in a series of storms that blasted the Bear Lake Valley.

We went to the historic downtown area of Montpelier during a break in the daily snowstorm. Snow must be plowed to the middle of the street where it is stacked until it can be hauled away.

Of course you need to dig out your car before your trip downtown.

We drove north about five miles where the beauty and history of the valley appeared in Bennington, at the Mose Wright cabin.  Imagine raising 12 children in this tiny cabin in snowy conditions like this?  Mose Wright was my wife's great grandfather, a Pony Express rider, and Idaho state legislator.

Winter Wildlife

This has been a cold, snowy winter in the Bear Lake area.  Winters like this tend to drive the wildlife out of the hills to lower ground where food is easier to find.  We have had deer in our back yard eating our shrubs, and twice moose have spent time in town.  There have been plenty of opportunities for wildlife photos.

This bald eagle gave me the evil eye from a tree near Laketown, Utah.  I photographed an eagle just one tree away from this one a year ago.  Could it be the same bird?

A Mountain Cottontail at Cisco Beach didn't seem too concerned as he tried to keep a bush between us, and I finally got a few shots before he left.

Mule deer are everywhere, like this four point buck near Pegram, Idaho

Swans and ducks seem suspended in the mist of a warm farm pond in Round Valley.

People around here don't always sit at home with their feet to the fire during winter.

  Grab your camera and come to Bear Lake!