Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge

Funny name, I know.  It's the fur trappers from the 1820's version of a Shoshone Indian name "Sisk-a-dee-agie" or "river of the prairie hen".  Or as we know the bird today, sage grouse.  But, modern name for the river is now Green River because of it's color.  This particular refuge is the result of a 1956 act that provided for the development of wildlife habitat to offset the loss of the habitat when the Flaming Gorge and Fontenelle Dams were built.  To provide a natural habitat for those migratory birds, animals, reptiles to have suitable nesting and breeding habitat.  If you have not visited any of the 550 refuges in the country, you need to do so.  Pristine, natural, beautiful scenery.  Birds, birds, birds! The staff member at the visitor's center said he watched a moose that morning meandering around the banks of the river but we probably would not see it due to it's 'nap time'.

Visitor Center - very informative

Hoping to see him - but napping somewhere under a tree

This particular area of the Refuge was also the cross over point for the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express Trails, and also the fur trappers before the emigrants came along crossed right near the refuge.  There are segments of the original ruts from the wagons that can be seen.  A replica of the Mormon ferry is on display at the crossing area.  With this being the spring run off, the river was swift, high, cold, and dangerous.  Many emigrants lost their life trying to ford the river on their own instead of paying the fees from the ferry owner.

Wetlands - lots of birds

Green River - very fast, flowing

Mormon Lombard Ferry Crossing of the Green River

Replica of the Mormon ferry

Talk about flat, wide open spaces.  In the distance you can see the snow capped Uinte Mountains to the south, the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains to the north and to the west, the Wasatch Range near Salt Lake City.  The area that we are in, Bridger Valley, has many large mining plants - natron (or salt).  Refined - baking soda, fire extinguishers, soaps, glue, snacks, paper, cattle feed - just a few of the things that are made with natron.  Funny story - we stopped to look at the information board for Natron and as I got out I fell flat on my face - my left foot caught in the door while the rest of my body continued to move out.  Dave came around to the passenger side looking for me because he could not see where I went and found me lying face to the ground.  Ugh - klutz! This morning I am very sore but, it could have been worse!  A good laugh now.

Fort Bridger State Park

Yesterday morning we went over to the state park.  My expectations were pretty high, I am an American History buff and I have read about the expansion of the west and in particular this past year, I read a number of books on Mountain Men and fur trappers, knowing we would be in Wyoming and Montana this summer. One book was about Jim Bridger's life.

One of two known photos of Bridger 

As they say, first impressions are the ones that last.  But not in this case.  Not until Dave and I went through the park and THEN sat down to watch an orientation movie did the significance of this particular fort come to prominence. My first reaction as I came into the fort was - oh no, not another old military outpost (been there, done it many times).  Original buildings from the military occupation of the fort still stand with a walking tour of the different buildings and functions performed.  Where was the Jim Bridger fort?  Found it deep within the park.

Jim Bridger, Mountain Man, who was one of the foremost trappers of American history, and an explorer,  realized when the fur trapping business was quickly coming to an end by 1843 and the importance of starting a trading fort to help those pioneers and emigrants restock their supplies once they traveled the South Pass, heading to Oregon, California, to Salt Lake City (Mormons), and points beyond. The Pony Express had a station within the fort, also.  This fort was the main hub of the expansion of the west.  If it happened in the opening of the American West, it affected or was affected by, Fort Bridger.

Various trails and routes come into Fort Bridger then move out

He eventually left the fort after a decade and the Mormons (forced him out) took over for two years, then the US Army moved in by 1858 and developed a very large military outpost, then abandoned it by 1898 when the transcontinental railroad came through.  For the next 30 years local citizens came in and used some of buildings for housing/milking sheds for their cattle and bought some of the buildings and moved them to their homestead. Last, the State of Wyoming took over the complex in 1933, realizing the importance of what happened here, and made it into a state park and museum.

Entrance into the Fort 

Bridger's living quarters

Unfortunately, the original fort that Bridger built burned down in the early 1930's but the state had enough information and local knowledge so they built another fort as a replica of what it looked like. The Mountain Man Rendezvous reenactment that happens here the first weekend of September is said to be the largest reenactments of all.  People dressed as pioneers, Indians, fur trappers, emigrants, military personal - can you imagine experiencing this?

And to top it off, at the entrance to the state park is a Lincoln Highway roadside car/hotel.  People started to get out and see the country by the late 1920's and would follow the original emigrant trails and at Fort Bridger, a hotel was built where for $1 you could park your car under a carport and rent a room to sleep for the night.  Even comes with bathrooms.  Sorta an olden days camp ground.

Room and carport

Communal bathrooms

Moved to Ft. Bridger, Wyoming

Very easy pack up and leave yesterday morning from Provo, Utah.  Took the drive up Provo Canyon Scenic Road which wound through the Wasatch Mountains.  Thankfully the grade increase was very gradual that Buddy did not whine or howl at us.  We think it also helped that I sprayed the bedroom area where they stay during travel with a calming spray that we got at the pet store.  Not sure if that did the trick, or the gradual increase, regardless I am going to continue using the spray.

Good bye Salt Lake City and hello Provo Canyon

Passed Bridal Veil Falls, passed the turnoff to Sundance where Robert Redford started the Sundance Film Festival (and he lives there) and up into Heber City.  Lovely Deer Creek Reservoir to our left.  Talk about a mecca for sports enthusiasts!  Beautiful area although I would not want to be around in the winter due to the heavy amounts of snow they get.

Provo River meandering through canyon

Deer Creek Reservoir near Heber City/Park City

Wasatch Mountains - taken through Dave's window

Jordenelle Reservoir - near Park City

 Continued on the upward grade to Park City where the Winter Olympics were held in the past.  Got onto Interstate 80 and headed east towards Wyoming.  Picked a great day for travel and great route because once we got on I 80 it was a gradual decrease down.  Talk about luck.

Wide open country

Only took us 33 days to get here

Got here to Ft. Bridger by 1pm which is not bad for being on the road 4 hours.  Dave said it was an easy drive for him although most of 3 hours was spent on I 80. We are in an RV park right next door to the Ft. Bridger State Park where Jim Bridger, Mountain Man, and his partner Louis Vasquez, built a fort in the 1843 to provide supplies to pioneers and emigrants who were passing through.  Bridger is also the person who started up the the famous Mountain Man Rendezvous where fur trappers and Indians came together in the summer to trade, 'parley' restock, etc.  These summer gathering continued for 16 years, and of the 16 locations 13 were in Wyoming around this area we are currently in. Today there are many reenactments throughout the state and the biggest one is here in Ft. Bridger in September but alas, we will be long gone from here.

Drive up Provo Canyon

Somehow I broke my camera - saw a shadow in all the pictures I took and after Dave cleaned the lens, still showed up.  This morning we drove to Orem, a city just north of us, and went to Costco to see if there was a cheap camera to buy.  I am not into fancy cameras, just want to pull the camera out of my pocket, point and shoot, to remember a memory or scene.  Found that my camera in the smart phone is not convenient so I opt for the small pocket cameras.

Start up along Provo Canyon Drive

Very pretty scenery - snow still on mountain

Bridal Veil Falls

Zoomed in and saw this crazy woman and kid climbing up!

After purchasing the camera we drove up Provo Canyon Road towards Heber City and Park City - two large towns where winter sports, especially skiing, are.  Three agendas for this drive:  one was to check out the road which is a good possibility to drive when we leave Tuesday for Wyoming, and two, friends of ours had stopped along the way at Bridal Veil falls and looked interesting. The third was obviously to use the new camera and see if it works okay.  And it does.

Very pretty drive and after we drove the length - about 50 miles from Provo to where I 80 connects east of Salt Lake City and east of the Wasatch Mountains, we decided that it would be a prettier and more relaxed drive for Dave to do in a couple of days.

No drive complete without tunnels to go through

Bridal Veil Falls was pretty to see.  The sun was in our eyes so we did not get the full effect of the awe factor, but glad we stopped to see.  And stunning views of the ride through the canyon.  After Dave driving the length where Interstate 80 connects and then following I80 back west to Salt Lake City, making a big loop, decided that we would not follow I15 through Salt Lake City to connect as we were originally inclined because the elevation gain would be too hard for Buddy's ears (and ours). And there seems to be much less traffic taking the Canyon Drive. Can't wait for Tuesday when we are sitting up much higher and can get better views of the lakes and rivers flowing through the canyon.  Stay tuned.

Deer Lake Reservoir on our way up - about 9000 feet

Buddy (young cat) is doing fine and so is Grace.  She pulled out of her funk and is playful (ornery) as ever.  Thank goodness our babies are fine.

Moved to Provo, Utah

Packed up yesterday morning and pulled out of Torrey by 9am.  Pretty uneventful drive EXCEPT. Buddy, our baby black and white cat, got freaked out about 40 minutes into our journey.  I heard a huge howl, sounded human, and looked to the back of the RV and saw him straddled by the poop box (it's right near doorway to bedroom) and he had drool/spit hanging down his mouth to the ground, his mouth was open, his eyes were dilated to all black, crouched down to the ground. I flew out of my seat (yes, not good when we are traveling) and grabbed paper towels and ran back to him.

Good bye Torrey and red rocks!

I was able to clean him up, wiped him down, gave him some encouraging words, got him in the poop box where he did a little business, and shoved him over to Grace who was laying under the end of the bed on a large quilted mattress I made for them when we travel.  He quieted down and we did not hear anything else from him.  Once we got to this campground, he was out and looking around within 5 minutes.  Go figure.

LDS church, one in every town (no other church)

Interesting driving through one small town after another.  These towns cannot afford their own sheriff or police force so they have an old sheriff car that they put a dummy in the driver seat and if you do not know it is a dummy, you slow down thinking the sheriff is sitting in there with radar set up.  Another thing you notice in every town regardless of size is the LDS church.  Always big, always the same architecture, and no other religion/church.

Radar set up (not really - it's a dummy in the driver seat)

Mountains, valleys, wide open spaces, very few farms/homes

As we reflect back on the drive to Provo, Utah from Torrey, we had to climb up and over a 9300 foot mountain pass and back down, the engine on the RV whining, but I think the problem with Buddy was the altitude change and it probably hurt his ears really bad.  The rest of the trip was pretty flat, riding along about 5100 feet elevation, but very simple straight forward back roads to get to Interstate 15 in Nephi and head on up north to Provo.  Not bad driving - 165 miles in almost 3 1/2 hours (cannot go fast through small towns.)

Wasatch Mountains - Salt Lake City at base - destination

We are staying at Lakeside RV park situated right near Utah Lake (not Great Salt Lake you hear about) which is a really large fresh water lake.  We need to replenish supplies, and if necessary, get Grace to a vet.  She has been very lethargic, eyes weeping, cough - wonder if she was affected by the wildfire smoke.  If she is better, not a problem.  We will sit here till Tuesday morning when we shove off again for Ft. Bridger, Wyoming.

Evening Spent at Capitol Reef National Park

We ventured back into the park yesterday to catch, hopefully, the glistening red rock cliffs as the sun was setting.  But an hour before we headed out we had a tremendous 10 minutes of very high gusty wind.  Wow!  We are used to the air getting very dusty after one of the micro burst wind storms in Arizona and had hoped that in this case, the air would not be affected.

Waterpocket Fold looking north 

Stunning colors

Grand Wash's southern entrance (hiked northern other day)

Traveled the scenic road south through the park taking in the Waterpocket Fold and still marveling at the majestic cliffs and the colors.  As we turned around at Capitol Gorge where the pavement ends and a dirt road continues for another 5 miles we saw where our vista views looking back north had dimmed.  Lots of smoke - we could smell it.  As we traveled back and stopped at various places to take our last pictures, the smell of smoke got stronger.  And we thought, hello - wildfires.  Here we go again on our summer journey.

Just love the burnt orange color 

Got situated at a place called Panoramic View Pullout and waited for the sun's direct rays to hit the walls.  Was not disappointed, but by then we had started coughing a lot. We were definitely smelling the affects of where ever the wildfire was raging.  Just a hour's time passing and the smoke was really filling up Capitol Reef National Park.

Looking north again - notice smoke in canyon?

Got back to the RV and noticed as we looked across to Boulder Mountain which is our view looking out the front of the RV that the mountain was gone - covered in thick smoke.  Got on the computer and found that about 4:30pm (about the time of the high winds) wildfires broke out at Bryce Canyon National Park, southwest of here about 40 miles as the crow flies.  This morning the mountain is clear again, seems they got the fires under control.  Wonder what the rest of the summer will be like?

Boulder Mountain clear of smoke this morning

This is our last day here in Torrey, has been memorable.  We have put Capitol Reef National Park on our top 5 parks we have really enjoyed.  Tomorrow we head to Provo, Utah, on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, for a couple of days to do major shopping.  Then we head to Fort Bridger, Wyoming by next Tuesday.

Some last minute thoughts on CRNP:  the smells of the piñon pine, sagebrush, and last day of the wildfire smoke.  No birds, no animals to see (other than the almost tame mule deer near the campground of the park, the sound of wind moving through the canyons as we hiked.  The dry desert environment. Flowers just beginning to bloom, prickly pear cactus just budding out. The beautiful Fremont River meandering through the canyon, the colors! of the rocks.  Truly a sensory visit here at Torrey, Utah.

Hickman Bridge Trail

Our time here at Capitol is coming quickly to an end and one hike we wanted to do was hike to the Hickman Bridge (arch) within the park.  It is rated as moderate and felt we could manage it.  The notable thing about this hike was it is the first real test of my foot's recovery from surgery of last year.  We have walked (casual hiked) but nothing strenuous. Packed snacks and water and off we went. Viewed the info board that explains the trails located at the trail head and decided that Hickman was the one to do, we did not want to travel to the overlook of the canyon.

Notice the elevation gain of this trail

Start of hike along Fremont River

Raw wilderness

First glimpse of Hickman Bridge

Notice man standing at bottom left - to get a feel how big it is

Our view while resting

Capitol Dome from the upper hiking trail

The hike takes you up into one of the upper canyons of the park, having great vista views of the park's namesake - Capitol Dome.  Up into meadows filled with cacti just beginning to flower, long grasses, juniper bushes, some type of evergreen bushes.  Pretty yellow clumps of flowers, lilac persimmon flowers, just a nice hike.  And, very few people on the trail which was good because at times the path is very very narrow and steep if you fell off.

Deceiving - maybe a mile across from where we were

Lovely!

The rock formations were amazing.  From rain runoff of the towering cliffs you could see where pockets of water holes were, still filled with water.  And we continued on until we rounded a curve and wham!  There it was.  The bridge spans 133 feet across and I can only guess the depth of the arch was about 100 feet.  Pretty impressive to see.

Stopped under a shade of a juniper bush and had our snacks and replenished our energy, and back we went.  Along washes filled with animal tracks in the sand, only the sound of the wind rushing through the canyon, no birds chirping, so very quiet.  Up and down we climbed to near 1000 feet of where we started and hiked down along the Fremont River back to the parking area. Very happy that we did this walk, my foot did not give me any problems.  We were exhausted when we got back to the car and a little dehydrated even though we took plenty of water.  Glorious day hiking in Capitol Reel.

Castle Rock