Smalley hits great American traffic jam

Didn’t I see you stuck in traffic on I-15 south of Dillon right after the solar eclipse?

Judging by the number of vehicles, it’s hard to believe you weren’t there!

A recent guest at our cabin taught astrophysics at MIT and Harvard University. His enthusiasm for the eclipse was so infectious that Nan and I packed the moho and we headed south for Dubois, Idaho.

On Sunday evening, when we parked along a gravel road out in the sticks, we were alone. By late Monday morning, our secluded spot had been invaded by dozens of vehicles.

The phenomenon of solar totality was worth every one of the 378 miles we had driven. And the bright white light that followed will be etched in my memory forever.

After the eclipse, cars and trucks and motorhomes and motorcycles began heading back to I-15 north.

South of Dillon, thanks to a road construction work zone, thousands of vehicles were channeled from two westbound lanes to one. We went 12 miles in an hour and 45 minutes.

In addition to the eclipse, one of the perks of the trip was the opportunity to fish the Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers. The Beaverhead was stingy with its fish, as usual.

Nan won’t forget the rattlesnake that buzzed her when she was walking the dog. The Big Hole offered all the mountain whitefish you could want.

Jerry Smalley’s Fishful Thinking column appears weekly in the Hungry Horse News.