Season finale

Colter Bay closed to guests on Sunday morning.  Cabin Office staff are re-assigned to help Housekeeping winterize the cabins.  So much needs to be done.  They strip all the linens out of the cabins and place them in large plastic bags.  Yesterday I drove the company van around the cabins and collected all the plastic bags.  6 van-loads, and I was not the only person collecting bags.  The laundry men were astonished at the mountain of large bags for them to haul away.
     Other tasks are done cabin by cabin,  wrap the curtains and lamp shades in plastic, turn the trash cans upside down, and remove all paper products from the bathrooms.  All the soap and shampoo dispensers must be emptied and cleaned. Our Maintenance dept installs a support beam in every cabin to help the roof withstand the weight of the winter snows.  Its a huge project for 167 cabins and they appreciate all the help we can give them.
     Last week I was able to tour some of eastern Idaho.  Much of the landscape is sage brush, as I expected.  A few areas surprised me.  There are 15 dams on the Snake River to capture water for irrigation or for hydroelectric power.  Reservoirs created by these dams are drying up rapidly as the water level has dropped to extreme lows.  Palisades and Ririe reservoirs still have water in the central "lake" area.  Tributaries or "arms" of the reservoir have become mudflats.  Another reservoir has been reduced to mudflats and had attracted a wonderful collection of shorebirds.
    Returning thru Targhee National Forest I saw Maple trees on many hillsides turned brilliant red.  I did not know Idaho had such bright red Maples in the Fall.

In a few days I will head south and east.
Photos:  Pond with a beaver dam in Bridger-Teton NF.   red Maples of Idaho, 
and a shed antler from a Mule Deer.