BEAR LAKE, Utah — "Crossroads of the West" is a common nickname for Salt Lake City and its surroundings, and it's almost always a reference to commerce - to the fact that there's no comparable urban transportation hub between the Rockies and the Pacific.
To state the obvious, crossroads are places of transition and Bear Lake stands alone.
Think about the shorthand you might use to describe a place.
"It's one of those clear high mountain lakes like Lake Blanche," a hiker might say to describe a place, and anyone who's hiked to Lake Blanche above Big Cottonwood Canyon would get a picture.
"It's a reservoir...reminds me of Rockport," someone might say about Millsite reservoir in Emery County.
But what's Bear Lake like?
It's high elevation, almost six thousand feet...but really big and in an open valley. It's natural, AND it's a reservoir, because a diversion dam puts more water into it than it receives from its natural inflows.
Its stunning turquoise gives it the nickname: "The Caribbean of the Rockies." But a nickname based entirely on the water's reflection is shallow, pardon the pun. The vibe of Bear lake is more Jimmy Buffett than Bob Marley, though without the same volume of margaritas and with a whole lot more raspberries and ice cream.
Bear Lake is like Bear Lake - It's its own thing. It's beautiful from a distance, fun from a boat, and forbidding in a storm.
It's a perfect lake for toys. The motorboat, the bouncy things, even all the GPS and sonar gear for early morning fishing. I've taken advantage of all of those things on the lake, and I've been the parent enjoying a shade tent while the kids go nuts in the water.
I'm usually the designated adult-in-the-water watching the kids. It's not that I'm particularly selfless...it's just that to me a beach is not a destination...it's a gateway to water.
So here's my big revelation that I'm burying in the middle of this article: Bear Lake without pressure from kids can be fun on a whole different level!
The kids were too busy socially to get on the road early with me, so I could follow my own weird whim of stopping at Bear River State Park in Evanston Wyoming.
I had my folding Kayak in the back of my truck, which I dutifully got inspected at the border, and figured since I went to the trouble I might as well use it.
The river was way too low for a real excursion, but because it was just me I could goof around and find a half mile stretch where I only had to drag the boat over rocks a little bit.
When I got to the house my in-laws were renting, I was the first there, resting and scoping my spots.
And when I woke up at 6:00 in the morning... I could go outside on my own, meet a family of deer, and traipse through exposed lakebed to the water...sharing dawn with no one but the birds.
If you are also an early riser, you may have experienced similar trips...where your vacation occupies a different timeline than your companions'. You have adventures before breakfast, get chores done while everyone else is asleep, and then take a nap while they're waking up.
In my family, my son Luke is the other morning person, so I'm lucky to get the occasional companion on morning adventures. Even after a late night, offer breakfast and Luke is usually up for it, so we set out together the see Montpelier and take a hike.
Montpelier is not a tourist town, despite it's proximity to a destination like Bear Lake.
It's a real town with the insurance agent and the tiny car dealer on the main drag next to the town hall and the middle school. The grocery store and hardware store anchor one end of town. No big tourist lodge or craft brewery is in sight.
On the outskirts, the Ranch Hand offers a little of everything. A truck stop, convenience store, and a diner that serves up the best chicken fried steak I've had in a long time.
Kale Wuthridge joined me after breakfast. He's the owner and manager with his wife.
He started working at the Ranch Hand to get out of trouble. "Summer of 1991, I have about 17 stepbrothers and real brothers, we went camping, somebody found a beer. We shared the beer. We all got in trouble," Wuthridge told me.
Papa Wuthridge told all the boys they had to get a job or suffer worse consequences. ""I came to work at the Ranch Hand in 1991 as a dish washer. Met my wife on day three. Built the whole business from there, and now we're owners and partners here," Wuthridge said.
Now Wuthridge has his own grown children and in his spare time he's the stadium voice for Bear River High School Football. "I love it. Oh, man. You know, you always try to bring a little family name into the announcement, like, 'There's another great run by the Jensen kid,'" Wuthridge said.
After breakfast, Luke and I drove to the trailhead for Bloomington Lake.
The One-and-a-half-mile trek pays off in a big way. Bloomington lake is over eight thousand feet in elevation, sitting in a scooped-out cirque under cliffs that comprise the far shore. Along one side...an old tree leans over the water...and a rope from a high branch allows fools like me to swing out over the water and jump in, which I did.
