Nevada

It’s a long drive, but it is full of amazing landscapes, people, culture, and wildlife. The first striking feature of the west is the vast landscapes. Huge swaths of land with minimal features between them. Moving through Nevada giant sagebrush plains fill the gaps between passes. Specifically between Stillwater and Great Basin National Park there are 13 passes and basins.

 

Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge was the site of an ancient lake. Over the years due to land management and climate change, the lake has dwindled to wetlands. It remains an important area for wildlife.

My camping neighbor for the night sits on her eggs.

And when least expected, around a corner a piece of pop culture iconic garbage. A cottonwood decorated with discarded shoes. With my environmental hat on, what a shame a that we turn our garbage into nature killing art. But then how else are people to break up the monotony of the great basin desert?

But if looking hard enough amazing experiences can be found. Mount Wheeler in Great Basin National Park, lies in one of the passes interrupting the Great Basin Desert. Within two miles the terrain changes, and snow capped mountains give way to flower covered meadows filled with wildlife on the Baker and Poole Trails. Unfortunately, I was there too early in the season and the upper areas were snowed in and I did not bring mountaineering gear.

Idaho and Montana

The mountains of Cassia County Idaho are a ski resort in the winter. In the summer it is a wildlife wonderland full of wildlife. Winding through the dirt backroads of these mountains I was surprised to find Brockman’s Hummingbird Feeders. Nearly 50 hummingbird feeders dangled from a grove creating hummingbird pandemonium. Nestled in with the feeders were several occupied birdhouses serving as a homestead for wrens.

Moose were plentiful

Broad tailed hummingbird	Rufous hummingbird
Calliope hummingbird	Black Chinned hummingbird

A few features of southern Idaho standout. It is a breadbasket with massive amounts of land being used for agriculture. It also sports three major wildlife refuges (Camas, Bear Lake, and Greys lake

A young Owl looks down at me at Camas National Wildlife Refuge

Another standout were remnants of the pioneers who travelled from the East in search of a new beginning. Many found land and tried to claim it, however for some the land claimed them. Pieces of their life remained behind. While many acts taken by migrants travelling west were deplorable, I continued to marvel at the grit it took to travel into the unknown facing mountain ranges, deserts, rivers, and severe weather with little more than wagon full of their life’s belongs and a piece of fabric over their head.

In the heart of Centennial Valley is Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. This was ground zero in creating a safe habitat for the Trumpeter Swan. By 1933 on 70 were found in the lower 48 states. However by relocating breeding pairs found in Alaska and setting aside safe areas, their population had climbed to 46,000 by 2010 and estimated to be about 50,000 as of 2024. I was fortunate enough to see this bird, the largest waterfowl on the planet, in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and Gray Lake Wildlife Refuge