Friday, 1 October 2021
Just as we were pulling out of our campsite, I saw 4 deer the next aisle over. Fortunately for me, Dext was still sleeping under the table and he missed it all.
They were a little skittish, but everybody who drove by them, including me, did so very slowly so they never got really spooked. I'm not even sure if the folks in that RV they're feeding by were awake and may have missed them. Really graceful creatures.
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| today's route (combining maps for Wyoming and Utah) |
The first half of today's drive we've done before, when we went to Lyman. I didn't expect to see anything new and was surprised that I did.
First wasn't something I saw but that I heard on the radio: in Teton County, the crabapple trees are attracting bears, and they're trying to come up with a plan to reduce bear/people interactions that doesn't involve eradicating the crabapple trees.
I crossed the Continental Divide twice this morning: once at 7,000' and a while later at 6,930'. I think that may be the last time I see it until I get around to Montana next year. Before I left the campground this morning, I noticed that the map shows the Continental Divide splits in 2 south of Rawlins (you can see the split on the map above), and then rejoins itself just south of South Pass City. So when I crossed it twice, it wasn't that it snaked around, like it did in Yellowstone, for instance. Instead, I actually crossed both pieces of it. In between the 2 pieces, north of the interstate, is something called the Great Divide Basin. It didn't look all that basin-y to me, because I could see other hills and mountains, but I guess it's all relative, when you're talking about 7,000' of elevation.
I also passed an exit to "Red Desert" and, since I couldn't see a town anywhere, wondered if it really were a desert. Turns out it is, and a famous one to desert lovers. The Nature Conservancy says it's "one of the last great high-elevation deserts left in the United States." Wikipedia says one of its features is that Great Divide Basin I saw on the map, that that's a "unique endorheic drainage basin formed by a division in the Continental Divide." It also says another of its features is the Killpecker Sand Dunes, "the largest living dune system in the United States." I'm glad I look these things up.
I also heard on the radio that, according to AAA, the US average price for regular unleaded gas is $3.18 this week, while the average in Wyoming is $3.51. I knew it was expensive here.
I saw lots and lots of both deer and antelope near the highway all morning long. I saw one field where the antelope almost outnumbered the cows.
On the back of a semi, I saw a sign saying DUCTS UNLIMITED. (Little pun there.)
Dext slept under the table all morning, which meant Gracie could have the front cushions all to herself for a change. Lily is usually the one who sleeps under the table and I have no idea where she ended up. She almost never sleeps with either of the dogs but I didn't see her anywhere else.
When I came through this area before, I'd been driving since Casper so I was tired, it was raining, and there was a lot of weekend traffic. It all looked different to me this time.
Somewhere around Rock Springs I passed a business called Industrial Supply with the slogan "105 years Old - And We've Still Got It."
When I came through here before, I noticed the rock formations along the road, and I noticed them again this time. And this time I was able to take a photo.
That's what they looked like from a distance, as I was driving down the highway. But this is what that one looks like in a closer view.
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| Castle Rock |
I turned off the interstate at Green River, pop. 12,515 and elev. 6,100'. Right away I saw signs directing me to a couple of parks, though when I followed the arrows I never found the parks. What I found instead was the City of Green River Rodeo Arena - Home of the Overland Stage Stampede Rodeo, and a large area of Municipal Horse Corrals. These rodeo/horse facilities are run by the city, which is an unusual set of city priorities.
I finally gave up on their signs and their alleged parks and went back to the main road, where I'd seen a sort of green belt, and the dogs and I walked along there a bit. I saw several pieces of public art along there, and here's a sample.
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| scorpion |
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| Donated by someone who loved (past tense) walking. Was she no longer able to walk? Did she make the donation posthumously? |
At Green River I picked up WY-530 (designated Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway) and headed south on the west side of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.
I missed the Green River Intergalactic Space Port, which is probably because the city apparently hides the sign most of the time to prevent theft. It's actually pretty funny and here's a link where you can learn more about it. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story
Shortly after leaving town I came to a turnout that was the northern end of Flaming Gorge, where I found lots of information about this place.
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| Flaming Gorge & environs |
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| This is all I could see of the gorge at this north end. |
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| This sign helped explain some of what I saw. |
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| This is an enhanced view of the "towers" mentioned in the sign. |
Then I learned about what lies beneath (so to speak).
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Wyoming leads the world in trona production. And apparently, it comes from right here.
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And for many people, more important than this mineral is the wildlife that live in this area.
Continuing along the road, I saw a sign saying I should turn left for Lost Dog. From the look of the sign, I assumed it was a town, but I couldn't find any mention online so who knows.
I drove for 44 miles from Green River to the border with Utah. And as far as I could tell, every bit of the land on both sides of the road was fenced. Who on earth paid for all that fencing and whose labor strung it up?
There are actually 2 routes designated as the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway - this one running south from Green River, and US-191 running south from Rock Springs. I chose this one because it looked from the map like I'd have a better chance of getting views of the reservoir. And that turned out to be a good guess, and the reason the east side road doesn't run any closer than it does (as you can see from that wildlife map above) is because mountains border the lake on the east side. The mountains rising behind the reservoir made my view from the west more picturesque.
But I'll say right here that - well, first, this place is worth the drive because it's spectacularly beautiful - but mainly, if you come, drive from south to north, not the way I did it. I could see in my rear view mirror that I was missing most of the best views of the gorge and the reservoir. But when I stopped at any place I could find to stop, even the designated pullouts were on such a steep slope I was afraid to get out of the RV. I just didn't trust the emergency brake enough to take the risk on those slopes. Not that I missed spectacular scenery - it's just that there was even more that I missed. So you'll have to come see for yourselves.
I watched a hawk soaring over a canyon, assumed it was looking for food, and wondered again about its eyesight. It must have been a mile above the ground.
And then "Welcome To Utah - Life Elevated."
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| Utah - my 33rd state |
A couple miles over the border I came to the town of Manila. Utah doesn't bother to give populations or elevations on its signs, but at least it does post the names. I was curious and learned its 2018 population estimate was 316, and it's at 6,375' elevation. I was hoping to find a park or a church here where we could stop for some lunch, but there was almost nothing but little farming town stuff. We finally ended up stopping at a weird little pulloff area that was on a slope, but I was getting desperate - and it turned out others stopped there too after we did.
The Uintah Mountains (I think) were visible ahead of me and I'm certain I saw snow on them in places. Maybe it was a glacier here or there? But I know what snow looks like and, after all, it has been pretty darn chilly at night lately. And it turns out I have proof.
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| I took this because of the strange land form, but I see now that those mountains in the distance have snow on them. |
It wasn't too far out of Manila that I started seeing signs like this one:
I saw 18 or 20 similar signs along the road and I never did figure out who posted them. One said, "Frontier Sandstone - with cannonball size concretions." I remember seeing formations like that at - wasn't it Theodore Roosevelt National Park?
Another said, "Jurassic - Stump Formation - where giant marine mammals swam." And "Jurassic - Entrada Sandstone - known for dinosaur tracks." And "Jurassic - Carmel Formation - contains alabaster from an ancient tidal flat." "Jurassic-Triassic - Nugget Sandstone - ancient desert sand dunes." "Triassic - Dinwoody Formation - deposited after Earth's largest extinction event." "Permian - Park Cities Formation - bizarre sharks and phosphate."
I appreciated the extra detail, beyond the name and age of the formation, which is what I saw in Wyoming. With this descriptive information, I had a clearer idea of what happened in that area in the very-distant past. What do you suppose "bizarre sharks" were?
This road away from Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was a challenge to drive. Several 8% grades; a hairpin turn plus plenty of 90° turns and s-curves and stunning scenery and the well-founded belief that if I paid too much attention to the scenery I'd get the curves wrong and fly out into space. Hair-raising.
This series of photos shows how the road wove through the changing scenery.
And these show just a hint of the views you could have if you drove in from the south.
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| Flaming Gorge reservoir - though it's much more stunning in person |
The aspen were changing colors here, as in Wyoming, and I saw wonderful splashes of color on the hillsides.
After driving for a while, I realized I must have climbed up to those areas because I found myself surrounded by color.
After climbing for a long way, I came to a sign saying "Summit - Elevation 8,428'." For such a decent height, you'd think this summit would have a name.
I passed miles of red rock walls, and I wanted to take a photo but couldn't find a place to stop. This road had no shoulder worth the name.
As I was about to enter another curve, I happened to notice in my rearview mirror that a woman on a horse was crossing the road behind me, with a dog tagging along. Even though I'd seen some houses, I forgot people live up here, so it was nice to see someone going about their business in the middle of all this glory.
A sign warned me that in 1 mile the road would begin 5% - 8% grades with 10 switchbacks. And after every few switchbacks, signs would tell me how many more I had to go. Hard to enjoy the scenery when I had to pay attention to switchbacks and steep slopes.
I passed a sign warning "Blasting Area Next 2.5 miles - Do Not Leave Highway." I understand there's an active phosphate mine just north of Vernal, and apparently coal has been mined somewhere in the area.
And I came to Vernal, which is growing from its 2010 population of 9,089. It sits at 7,900'. I drove past tonight's campground because I wanted to go by the state visitor center about 15 miles farther down the road. I was really tired by then but wanted to have whatever tourist information they had so I could look at it over the next few days.
On the way I passed a billboard saying, "Mr. Romney, Please Resign. USA Patriots." (Although it's not clear to me what would be patriotic about him resigning from a position a majority of voters had elected him to, and they didn't say.)
I passed The Goodrich Mud Company, which I figured must supply the materials used in oil drilling (and their website says I'm right), but it just struck me as funny. A good job for a little kid who loved playing in the mud and grew up and needed to find work.
I passed the tiny towns of Naples and Jensen, goats, harvested corn and hay, and came to the visitor center. The woman was very nice and tried hard, but they just didn't have much information I could use. Still, she told me where in Vernal I might be able to find information about state campgrounds, and I got some information on the various natural wonders in Utah and how accessible they might be, so it was worth the drive. The dogs wanted to be walked and we did, but there were signs everywhere saying to keep dogs off the grass, so it wasn't our best walk.
And then back to the campground where we'll stay the next few nights.
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