Sublette County Library, Pinedale, Wyoming
A meadow along US191 into the Flaming Gorge NRA. [Photos taken 10 Jun 2013.]
Panning left....There were two plaques, one of which asked, "Was Smokey Wrong?" The other noted that the elk had returned after the fire which apparently got away before it could be controlled. Most Federal agencies now emulate Native Americans, who periodically started fires to clear both underbrush but also accumulations of dead material which could lead to large, destructive crown fires rather than fires which scorched the trees but more often than not did not kill them.
The Cart Creek Bridge over one arm of Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
The name "Flaming Gorge" was given to a stretch of the Green River on 26 May 1869 by John Wesley Powell, a one-armed ex-Army officer who ran both the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1871, when he saw a spectactular red rock cliff face.
A pontoon boat "chugs" toward the bridge on the Cart Creek estuary.
The Cart Creek Bridge as seen from US191 up to Greendale Junction.
The Swett Ranch, which sits on a bench of the Unita Mountains near Red Canyon; Oscar Swett originally homsteaded the property in 1909.
Looking to the north it's clear that the land is considerably flatter.
A look down into Sheep Creek Canyon.
Sheep Creek Bay from the Sheep Creek Overlook, where it was extremely windy.
Zooming in....
Note the bright red layer on the other side of Sheep Creek just above my camper. It seemed almost as if it were wet; hwr, as you can see by glancing farther up the far side, it's actually very dry. Perhaps a similar outcropping along the Green River caused John Wesley Powell to name the area Flaming Gorge.
Panning upward....
The other side of Sheep Creek Canyon looks entirely different -- and even drier!
Somehow the Wyoming Fish & Game Department was able to "imprint" the Kokanee Salmon they planted in Flaming Gorge Reservoir with Sheep Creek as their birthplace.
The land-locked Kokanee Salmon spawn in the fall before Sheep Creek freezes for the winter. Of course, survival is higher in a fish hatchery, but Mother Nature has kept the run alive since the 1960s.
Links:
- US Forest Service website on Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
- Wikipedia biography of John Wesley Powell
- Lengthy PDF file with Biographical Memoirs of Major Powell
W 12 Jun Actual Route: Rock Springs W/M - Rock Sprs Lib - Farson - South Pass bd
Th 13 Jun Actual Route: South Pass bd Lander USFS Ranger Sta - Sinks Cyn USFS CG
F 14 Jun Actual Route: Sinks Cyn CG - Lander Lib - Ft Washakie - Arapahoe - Riverton Walmart
Sa 15 Jun Actual Route: Riverton, WY, W/M - Shoshoni - Pavillion - US26W bd
Su 16 Jun Actual Route: US26W bd - DuBois Lib - DuBois Fish Hatchery - Togwotee Pass - Bridger-Teton NF bd
M 17 Jun Actual Route: Bridger-Teton NF bd - Moran Jcn - Teton Natl Park - Jackson - Hoback Jcn - Hoback USFS CG
T 18 Jun Actual Route: Hoback USFS CG - Pinedale Lib - WY106 bd
W 19 Jun Actual Route: WY106 bd - Big Piney - Fontenelle Resv - Kemmerer Lib - BLM bd
Th 20 Jun Actual Route: BLM bd - Kemmerer, WY, Lib - Fossil Butte Natl Monument - Raymond, ID, WY/ID Border bd
F 21 Jun US89 WY/ID Border bd - Afton State Farm Office - Thayne Lib
Finding Campgrounds:
- RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
- Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
- Free campsites website
- Info on finding BLM Campgrounds
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