12. Bear Lake
Another lake that has always captivated me and
for which I am thankful is Bear Lake, a beautiful turquoise gem that rests on
the border of southern Idaho and northern Utah not far west of the Wyoming
border. It is definitely an alpine lake formed by glaciations in the Bear River
Mountains as they call them in Idaho or the Wasatch Range as they’re better
known in Utah. The lake is easily approached in Idaho from Montpelier south to
Paris, St. Charles and Fish Haven. But the most spectacular approach is to come
through Logan Canyon out of Utah so that you get spectacular scenery of the
canyon itself and the high mountain forests and then an incredible overlook of
the lake itself in all of its beautiful blue. While there are no large towns on
Bear Lake there a number of small burgs such as St. Charles, and Fish Haven, Idaho
as well as Garden City, Garden, and Meadowville, Utah. There are also some bigger
towns very nearby in case you need any amenities. The famous sculptor of Mt.
Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, was born in St. Charles, Idaho.
As
far as the scenery around Bear Lake is concerned, it is that curious high desert
with timbered north slopes of all the surrounding mountains. If you look to the
west you very much feel a sense of woodsy-ness, but in late summer if you look
east you might suddenly feel the need for a cold drink and a bottle of
sunscreen. You’ll see plenty of raspberry bushes and you will want to stop at a
local drive-in for a raspberry milkshake, the one amenity all the little burgs
have.
The
waters of the lake are of a Caribbean blue. That comes from the silt carried
into it from the aforementioned mountains and their desert character. Its color
is unlike any other lake I’ve ever seen. Because of its unique isolation from
other waterways (as is true of so many Great Basin waterways) it has some
special kind of fish that are only found in its depths. The lake is at a high elevation and freezes
over nearly every winter so it is a great place for ice fishing. While it is a
big body of water it still has a distinctly alpine feel. You know you are in
the mountains when you are at Bear Lake. It’s kind of a secret hideaway for a
select group of people in Idaho and Utah. And that, along with its beauty is
something I am thankful for.
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