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.