Occupation of Independence

  Ahh dear, I was so looking forward to getting back to the north for my second summer in a row. Does southwestern Wyoming count as "north"? The air will just get worse towards Idaho, since it is in the "smoke shadow" of northern California fires, as well as Idaho fires.   Next summer I won't be campground hosting, so I will go to the Northwest about 15 May, and leave 10 July or whenever the wildfire season kicks up. That way I will avoid the fire season (early summer) in the Southwest and the fire season in the Northwest. After leaving the smokey Northwest, I will head south, very slowly.  On the internet, travelers tend to say disparaging things about Wyoming. They probably hang out on Interstate 80 too much. Or they complain about the wind, which is understandable. But the wind dies down in late summer. A breeze is a nice thing -- it means you can camp out in direct sunlight, without trees, and you will stay reasonably comfortable.  There is always a great d

  This was the place where the old Wagon Trail was supposed to cross the road. The word "Gap" on a map has a certain attraction. Some government agency had done a good job with a plaque. But that was it -- there was no other signage. It is possible to learn to like that. Of course it means that you are not quite sure where you are going. I biked in the direction that the plaque suggested. Maybe. Without any signs spilling out the answer, all I could do was look at the land. I was trapped between two high ridges, both of which went north/south -- bad luck for the pioneers who were headed west. But the geography was so lucky. There really was a smooth, gentle, green gap through the ridge -- almost like a swale. Their stock animals could graze through the gap. A trickle of water flowed. This is not tourist scenery. You can only appreciate its "beauty" when you are struggling to cross the land under your own (or an animal's) power, and when you are looking for grass

Despite my paean to gravel roads in the last post, it seemed prudent to pull off onto a dry spot when hard rain started. I chose a flat area at the top of a hill, since it seemed well drained and grassy. Further on, I might have gotten suckered into crossing a creek, like those fools in the videos of AZ floods. So I just sat in the van and gawked with astonishment at the hard rain. I had forgotten how scary lightning can be. The next morning it was mostly sunny, but the air was still damp. The nearby ridge was visible now -- and green and lovely. The wind and sun were doing their best to dry the ground, so I probably wouldn't get stuck trying to leave. Memory of that morning will probably last for the rest of my life. It was fine. 

  Rain at last. It felt strange, like I was experiencing it for the first time. Seriously I couldn't remember the last time it rained more than a sprinkle or two.  I was acting like a house cat who is let outside for the first time, after a half inch of snow. What about driving to town in this crazy stuff? People who live in cities and towns take 'road' and 'pavement' as synonymous. Rain and dirt roads are frustrating and even a bit scary. Try driving around Moab UT sometime after a rain. The road looks like red sandstone, but it isn't; it has some clay mixed in. You can't judge the firmness of wet ground just by looking out the windshield. It is better to have a pair of rubber-soled boots and jump out of the vehicle frequently to probe the ground. In olden times mud must have caused more 'cabin fever' than snow and hard-frozen ground. Spring must have been a terrible season. Our ancestors must have looked forward to May more than anything in the yea

I couldn't recognize the howls yesterday. Wolves?  But they were too high in pitch. The cows grazing nearby appeared unconcerned. These days I seem to go to You Tube when I want quick information on something, rather than Wikipedia. I wanted to hear sounds of coyotes and wolves, rather than move my eyeballs over a pile of verbiage, or worse yet, jargon. The You Tube recordings of coyotes did sound similar to what I heard here. It was howl-like rather than the high pitched yipping that I am used to. Do Wyoming or northern coyotes sound different than the scrawny coyotes of the Southwest?  Northern coyotes seems less famished and bushier than those of the southwest, but would they sound different? I don't get it.