June 15, 2018
What a fun day at Fossil Butte National Monument! It is absolutely stunning! Here are a couple
pictures from our hike through the Nature Trail. The only down side is that there were
mosquitoes out and we are not used to bugs…we came prepared, we wore repellent
bands as well as spray.
We drove the Hideout to the parking area for the hike and then we unhitched it (at the Ranger’s suggestion) and left it there to do the scenic drive. Even driving it to that lot was a bit rough, the grade was 8% up and our Little Engine made it, but not quickly! The scenic drive was amazing and there was no way the trailer could have made the journey. We had the truck in 4x4 drive because the grade was so steep and we wanted the extra traction. Here are the rewards of that drive.
In this last picture, in the middle, you can actually make
out the Hideout parked down the hill!
After the scenic hike and drive we went back to the
Visitor’s Center to put the final touches on the Junior Ranger books and learn
a bit more about the amazing fossils.
The coolest thing that I learned here was how special it is
to be able to find fossils representing such diverse plant and animal life of a
whole ecological habitat that existed together during the same time
period. There are fossils of fish eating
other fish, fish with other fish in their stomachs, all manner of plant life…it
goes on and on. Sometimes you can go to
a museum and see fossils, but they are generally isolated in that each find in
the museum is unrelated to the others – they probably did not exist in the same
community unlike the fossils at Fossil Butte.
Here you can see the whole community of life that existed in this region
50 million years ago. Amazing.
After our adventure for the day we set off to find a
dispersed camping spot, but we were not successful this evening for a couple of
reasons. Primarily we don’t know how to
tell BLM land from other land. For a
time we thought we found a good spot at a State Nature Preserve until we found
a sign that said no overnight parking/camping.
We just don’t know where it is ok and where it is not ok. Secondly, while we were looking for a spot
there were dark clouds gathering and as we drove down dirt roads I had visions
of the mud that would be created by the storm and I worried about being
stuck. So, we decided to move on to the
next town which was Farson, WY.
Thankfully they had a gas station with a large lot. Though it was dirt and the wind was crazy
until the rain came, it was comforting to be near people instead of off in the
middle of nowhere in case we needed something.
We didn’t need anything of course and we had a rather uneventful night
in that tiny town. The highlight of the
evening was the double rainbow after the rain.
The last thing I wanted to mention, because I didn’t know
this and I found it interesting is that the first JCPenny store is located in Kemmerer, WY and
was established in 1902! We drove by it
and though I didn’t have time to go inside I wanted to!
There is much to see in Wyoming!
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