Travel Directions:
From I-80 take WY Exit 5, “Front Street / WY-89
N”
Follow WY-89, UT-16, UT-30, and WY-89 for 50.0 miles.
Turn Left (N) onto US-30; go 29.6 miles.
Bear Right (N) onto WY-89, ID-61; go 10.1 miles.
Turn Right (E) onto US-89; go 16 miles to the Salt River
Pass overlook.
From here the area extends for approximately 45 miles
along US-89.
Remarks:
Just where is Annie Proulx’s magical, mystery
mountain? Larry McMurtry’s vast knowledge of western
history and lore led him to conclude that it was in the
picturesque Star Valley region near the Wyoming / Idaho
border. [1] Here, verdant rolling hills and rugged
mountains encircle tiny towns with names like Alpine,
Etna, Afton, and Smoot. He has an excellent argument.
Forest Service grazing allotments, Basque heritage, and
large-scale sheep ranching are especially prominent
elements in the life and times of this region.
Stop and enjoy the scenic Salt River Pass
just south of Smoot. The Salt River Range [2] is
visible to the east between Afton and Etna.
Brokeback’s elk was raised on
a farm in Canada; its valuable antlers were carefully
cultivated for the production of Chinese aphrodisiacs. By
contrast, antlers from its Wyoming cousins,
“thousands of ’em,” have been used locally
to form exotic arches and monumental structures. Notable
examples of “antler architecture” can be found
in Afton and Jackson.
See:
http://www.greater-yellowstone.com/Swan-Valley/index.htm
http://www.jacksonholechamber.com/
Quotation:
“Larry has a different idea of where it is,”
Lee said .... “He believes it’s an area just
south of the Tetons, where there is actually more
business for sheep herding ....” [1]
[1] “Where in Wyoming,” Chicago
Tribune, Robert K. Elder, January 4, 2006, Tempo
section, page 1.
[2] “Years on years they worked their way
through the high meadows and mountain drainages ... Salt
River Range, into the Wind Rivers over and again
...” Brokeback Mountain - Story to Screenplay
by Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
(Scribner) ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-9416-4, page 17.
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