RAWLINGS WYOMING

We literally blew into Rawlings and stayed at RV World Campground.  Its located right off interstate 80 and easy to get to.  We had some great neighbors, Elwin and Vikki Dillon, who had the spot right next door. They had a problem with their 5th wheel, the wind caught the under side and blew the undercover off.  Elwin and I worked on putting a cover back on their unit.  It was nice to have something to do and Elwin and I did some outstanding work.

Our first adventure was a trip up to Martin's Cove, Devil's Gate and Independence Rock.  Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate are at the same stop.  When we arrived, the first thing that I noticed was the visitor's center is manned by members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.  They were very friendly and knowledgeable about the entire story of what happen at Martin's Cove.  We were told by the woman at the visitor center that handcarts were used because most people could not afford to purchase covered wagon.  Each person could place 17 pounds of goods on a cart and then you and your family pulled it along.

In November 1856, about 500 Mormon emigrants in the Martin Handcart Company were halted for five days in the Cove by snow and cold while on their way to Salt Lake City.  The Martin Handcart company had begun its journey on July 28, 1856 which was dangerously late in the season and would ultimately lead to the disaster.  Although the number who died in the Cove is unknown, more than 145 members of the Martin Company died before reaching Salt Lake City.  A few days prior to their arrival at Martin's Cove, the company was met by a small rescue party with food, supplies and wagons that LDS Church President Brigham Young had sent from Salt Lake City, Utah.  On November 4 the company and rescuers forded the bitterly cold Sweetwater River and sought shelter in the cove.  That evening a powerful north wind blew the tents to the ground.  The tents were set up again, but a blizzard brought heavy snow.  The company remained in the camp for five days, unable to proceed due to the snow and cold.  After five days the weather warmed and they were able to move on toward Utah.  With the assistance from the original rescue party and from additional rescue parties that met then along the way the survivors finally reached Salt Lake City on November 30.

Devil's Gate Wyoming is a natural rock formation, a gorge on the Sweetwater River a few miles southwest of Independence Rock. The site, significant in the history of western pioneers. was a major landmark on the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail although the actual routes of travel did not pass through the very narrow gorge. 

  

We traveled on to Independence Rock, which would have taken the pioneers at least a day to get to.  Independence Rock is a large granite rock, approximately 130 feet high.  During the middle of the 19th century, the rock was a prominent and well-known landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California emigrant trails.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961.  It appears that a lot of the signatures are fading away.  I don't think that there is anything anyone can do about it, its something everyone should see.

The Old Wyoming State Penitentiary, in use from 1901 - 1981, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers hour-long guided tours that take visitors through three cell blocks, the cafeteria, the grounds and the Death House.  This prison housed over 13,500 inmates, often under brutal conditions, over the 80 year operation of Wyoming's first state penitentiary.

Linda and I toured the prison and the young girl that gave the tour talked about the brutal conditions the prisoners where forced to endure.  The prison opened in 1901 and had no electricity, running water and inadequate heating. 

I would like to visit the prison around Halloween.  They have about 60 people that work the "haunted prison", i guess its really scary!

On one of our adventures we drove out to where the Continental Divide Trail runs by Rawlins.  It was a bit confusing, finding the trail, but we did find a new born antelope.  Momma Antelope placed her baby by a big rock and tried to  lead us away.  We took a few pictures but were careful not to get to close



LYMAN  WYOMING

We enjoyed the hospitality of the Lyman, Wyoming KOA.  It is a real clean and well kept campground.  We did see some deer graze through the campground.  The manager/owner of the KOA was very pleasant and helpful.  We ended up spending a week after discovering all the things to do in the area.

Linda and I set out on our first adventure, to discover some of the ghost towns in the area.  We went off in the direction of Piedmont.  It was a logging camp prior to the coming of the Union Pacific Railroad.  It then became a tent town, housing railroad workers.  It was also home to roundhouse and a large water tank at that time.  Piedmont, gained fame in 1869, when some 300 railroad tie cutters who hadn't been paid in some time piled railroad ties on the track, stopping a train full of dignitaries on the way to Promontory Point, Utah, for the driving of the golden spike signifying the completion of the transcontinental railroad.  In 1896, Butch Cassidy met up with his boys in Piedmont before riding off to rob the Montpelier, Idaho bank.  Calamity Jane, frontierswoman and professional scout lived in Piedmont as a young girl.  Just outside of Piedmont we found some charcoal kilns that supplied charcoal to the Utah iron industry.

We also managed to find Cumberland, Wyoming.  It was once a prosperous coal camp.  Cumberland flourished from about 1900 until the last load of coal was taken from the ground in 1930  Cumberland also had a graveyard, many of the graves mark the resting spot of babies and very young children, attesting to the difficulty of life in the coal camps.

We managed to find the Wyoming Badlands.  It is seems desolate at first glance but after you spend some time exploring, it is very interesting.  We saw some Pronghorn Antelope,  horses, praire dogs and sheep .  Its one of those places I could spend a lot of time.

We took a day trip to the Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge, established in 1965, the refuge encompasses more than 14,000 acres along the Green River.  In addition to providing an opportunity for excellent bird watching, Seedskadee offers world-class trout fishing along with waterfowl, upland bird and big game hunting.  Native bird species making the refuge home are prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, owls, hawks and Canadian geese.  Bald and Golden eagles also inhabit the area.

We did see a golden eagle but from a great distance.  We also found a moose but she was real shy and kept running away, go figure?  We looked for sage grouse, so we could see the mating dance but all we found were females...

If it seems that there are more pictures than usual thats because Doty requested more photographs in the blog.

SALINA UTAH

We stayed at the Butch Cassidy Campground, located in the town of Salina, Utah.  Its an old KOA campground that is run by a very nice couple.  There are rabbits, chickens, cats and turkeys and an peacock that run free in the campground.  The showers are clean and the sites are large enough.  I would stay here again.

Linda and I took a day trip Fish Lake.  It is a great way to spend a day viewing the wildlife and scenery.  We managed to see some Elk, Eagles, Coyote and some Deer.  Everything is so big here that getting close to the wildlife is not an easy task.  I have never seen so many Aspen trees, in my life.  It was a fun day, we took along a picnic lunch and enjoyed it on a bluff over looking the whole area.  The only thing I didn't plan on was the cold temperatures at that elevation.  We didn't know the exact temperature but I wore shorts and a shirt and I quickly put on a jacket.  All things considered, it was a great day.

This area is still so wild.  I talked to the camper next door and he talked of mountain lions as though the were house cats.  I had hoped to see bears on this adventure but we saw plenty of other animals.

RED CLIFFS NATIONAL

CONSERVATION AREA

Though the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Congress designated the Red Cliffs National Conservation Act (NCA) in Washington County, Utah, "to conserve, protect, and enhance...the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational and scientific resources" of public lands in the NCA.

The Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and the Mojave Desert overlap in Washington County.  In this transition zone, unusual plant and animal species have evolved, including the dwarg bear poppy and shivwits milkvetch, small native plants that grow nowhere else on earth.  The hot, arid Mojave Desert provides habitat for diverse wildlife species such as the kit fox, Gambel's quail, and the Mojave Desert tortoise.

 I managed to hike about 50 to 60 miles of the over 130 miles of hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails available to the public.  It offers some trails that take you through some watery canyons.  I "encouraged" Linda to hike one of these trails and she managed to come back with a bruise on her hip and a gash on her shin and she is still complaining about it. 

The Red Cliffs Area also has an old Indian village.  It is a small village but it was pretty cool.  We did discover that there was a movie made here in 1959.  The movie set is all gone except for the renants of one building.  We really enjoyed this stop and can't wait to return.

Tonopah Arizona Area

One of the first things linda and did was get information on some of the hiking trails in the area.  We decided to hike the Vulture Peak Trail.  Its located just outside of Wickenburg, about 5 miles.  The trail is just over 2 miles long but we had to hike another mile and a half miles just to get to it.  The road/trail is in pretty bad condition and we didn't want to harm the truck, so we walked a little extra.  The trail was pretty because the cactus were just starting to bloom.  It was a very steep trail with a lot of loose rock at the peak.  The view made it all worth while though.  We did not encouter any wildlife except a squirrel at the top that was used to being fed by humans, he was worth half a power bar. lol

HIKING SADDLE MOUNTAIN

Saddle Mountain is many things to many people, it is a special piece of Public Land that  holds vast and precious parts of Arizona's history.  Known as a landmark for travelers from the ancient days to present, it is to this day a place that offers solitude and provides a sense of remoteness that carries visitors away from the hustle and bustle of city life.  We hiked as much of it as we could squeeze into our month, and found it to be a great place to get away from it all.  If you ever get out this way I would recommend Saddle Mountain, if you enjoy peace and quiet.

The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse of the world's desert.  The area around Saddle Mountain contains both Colorado River and Arizona Uplands types of Sonoran Desert.  While low rainfall reduces the quality of plant and animal species there is still a wide range of interesting and unique wildlife.  Found in this habitat are cougars, mule deer, kit foxes, desert bighorn sheep, coyotes, desert tortoises, cotton tailed rabbits and kangaroo rats.

Petroglyphs can be carved, pecked, chipped or abraded into stone.  The outer patina covered surface of the parent stone is removed to exposed the usually lighter colored stone underneath.  Petroglyphs sites include the surrounding area and may include prehistoric campsites and a host of other archaeological interests.

Saddle Mountain is also home to the Gila Monster and several types of lizards and snakes.  We saw a lot of lizards and only one rattle snake.  I was beginning to think Arizona had run out of them. 

 We managed to hit the desert just right again.  The cactus were blooming as well as lots of desert flowers.  The cactus are so very pretty but very delicate, as the flowers only last a day or so.

 We did have an Owl couple that nested in the RV Park while we were here.  There was a couple of different stories going around about the owls.  We were told that the female had a chick that fell out of the nest and they had a funeral for the chick.  The second story is that one of the owls swopped down and got a campers cat and killed it.  This is a tough park.

We have enjoyed our stay here at Saddle Mountain RV Park.  The people here are very friendly and are quick to let you know if there is something to see or do in the area.  There is still a lot of area to discover for us.  We look forward to returning.