When I see this picture, a lot goes through my mind. On the surface, you see a pretty straight section of road. What I recall, is that I had spent most of the day riding through Utah and Southern Idaho, and was just trying to make miles. It was the next to last day of a 16 day, 6 state tour across a big chunk of the Western United States. I wasn’t ready for the trip to end.

The weather had turned a bit nasty, with high winds and threatening clouds. I made a pit stop to take a look at the map and plan a route up to Salmon, Idaho for the night. I was somewhere near Atomic City, so I still had about 175 miles to go. I picked Highway 93, mostly because it would lead me to the Salmon River, and rolling along rivers makes for a scenic ride.

What I didn’t realize is that a decent chunk of this remaining ride would skirt the Lost Range. This is actually one of the taller sections of the Rockies that cuts across Idaho. I had no idea. This ended up being one of the prettier sections of road on a 3000 mile trip. In between the mountains, the wind settled down, and it never did rain much more than a sprinkle. I puttered along saying hello to the cows and admiring the views. As I pulled over to snap a view pics and have a snack, I realized I could stand in the middle of the road, in the middle of the valley, and frame my shots however I wanted. Empty Idaho.