#ProjectAlaska: Mesa Falls and Grand Tetons

My next adventure awaited me at Mesa Falls, the site of a large waterfall and where Big Falls Inn, which was originally built as an office and residence for Mesa Power, is located. The plans were originally to build a hydroelectric plant here when the Snake River Electric Light and Power Company owned it.   However, this never came about; more than likely due to its remoteness. Montana Power Company bought it from Mesa Power in 1936, and it has served as many different buildings since then. I found the history of this place quite intriguing.

After enjoying myself at Mesa Falls, my mood darkened. Behind this sign is where the Tetons are; unfortunately, due to the forest fires, one cannot see them clearly. Underneath this picture is another where one can almost make them out in the distance. Understanding the importance of this fact, I became a bit worried about whether I might have to detour around any fires....

Here is a picture of the Tetons which is better but still quite hazy; this one taken just north of Driggs, Idaho.

Once I arrived at my campground, I discovered the fact that there were fires in the mountains to the southwest of my location just outside of Victor, ID. This was the Tie Fire and the helicopters assigned to it could be seen dumping water on the fires from the campground. Having reservations at a campground so close to active fires was worrisome to me. Embers blowing in the wind can wreak havoc elsewhere and there were farms, animals, and lots of trees nearby that would be affected.

As I was doing a bit of research for this story, I came upon some new information that I found to be a bit demoralizing. One might think that 2016 was just a crazy year for wildfires. Unfortunately, this is a growing problem that is only getting worse year by year. For instance, JUST FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, check out this information from the National Interagency Fire Center that shows that the number of fires so far this year is 2,459 and the number of acres involved is 54,961. The annual average over the past decade is 1,760 fires during the same period with 37,122  acres involved. Needless to say, we are on track for another wild year fire-wise.

Stay tuned for some more beautiful pictures tomorrow!