Mountains, rivers and fields in Wyoming and Idaho

 Day 3 of our motorcycle trip started in Rock Springs, Wyoming, heading north on US 191. For the first two hours we rode through a flat, arid landscape with no trees. Occasionally a dirt track wound off into the far-off Wind River Range that looked like faint shadows in the horizon.

Eventually we started climbing and the landscape changed to rolling hills and green bushes and trees as we entered the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

As we continued north we rode between the Wind River Range to the east and the Wyoming Range to the west.

We came to the first river for today and rode alongside the Hoback River, a major tributary of the Snake River, through a steep-walled canyon topped with pine trees.

In Hoback Junction the Hoback River flows into the Snake River, and we turned west on US 26, following the Snake through another canyon.

US 26 then runs for miles along Palisades Reservoir as we entered Idaho. It had been cool in the morning with temperatures in the 60's, but as we descended below 6000' elevation, the temperatures rose into the 80's. 

US 26 continues west through Swan Valley, home to much of Idaho's agriculture with endless, vibrant green fields backed by mountains.

We're more in touch with our surroundings riding the BMW vs driving in a car - feeling the wind and sun, noticing the different smells in forests, watching hawks and osprey soar overhead. It was a bit jarring to end our day on a 4-lane highway in Idaho Falls, and we look forward to more country miles tomorrow as we continue north toward Canada.