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Published: October 11th 2007
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One Armed Explorer at Green River
Some dudes just know how to get things done. Obfuscator writes: We woke up and immediately got moving for Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area. We didn't really stay long though, because it was snowing and visibility was terrible. While we could have waited around to see if the weather would clear, we didn't have the time for that, and so we left, taking a minor vow to try to see the southern part of the park when we go through Utah later.
We drove east to Rawlins, where we found the Wyoming Frontier Historic Prison. During the weekdays, there's tours of the historic building, but of course, we got there on a Sunday. We were able to take a walk around the perimeter of the prison though, and to see the Prison Cemetery, and due to a hole in one of the fences, gained access to the exercise yard. We ended up with a lot of questions about the prison, but of course, since they were closed, they're questions that will have to remain unanswered. Perhaps the oddest thing about the prison was the painted sign on the wall of the exercise yard that said “Welcome Jaycees.” Perhaps the city found another use for that prison yard for some
time after the prison ceased to be used as a prison. I remain unconvinced anyone ever felt particularly welcome walking into that field, with falls, barbed wire, and guard towers. Maybe I'm just sensitive that way.
From there, we turned north toward Casper. On our way, we were keeping our eyes open for Devil's Gate and Independence Rock. We were surprised to find that the easiest access to Devil's Gate was at a spot called Martin's Cove, which we hadn't planned on stopping at (because we had no idea what it was, and the name wasn't attention grabbing enough for us). Martin's Cove is on land that has been purchased by the Mormons, and they administer a sizable museum there, along with trails that go to Devil's Gate (though it is actually on private ranch land). A nice man lured us into the museum that we were otherwise going to skip, and I'm glad he did. He told us all about the history of Martin's Cove, and why it was important to the Mormons. Apparently back in the 1850's, the church was trying to get all of its people to go to Salt Lake City, where they had recently
established themselves. This was basically just the Mormon branch of the great westward push along the Oregon and California trails. A lot of Mormons didn't have any money though, so they organized themselves into companies and walked to Salt Lake City pulling handcarts with their meager belongings. Personally, I had no idea that any emigrants ever walked that far in U.S. History, but apparently as many as about 500,000 Mormons did.
Anyway, Independence Rock was the marker that emigrants had to be to by July 4, in order to be sure to avoid the bad weather. Two of these handcart companies (one of them being the Martin Company) got started far too late in the year, and got stuck in severe snow and cold, and sheltered near what came to be known as Martin's Cove, before being rescued by a huge convoy sent out from Salt Lake City for that purpose. Still, about 200 people from the two companies died.
Devil's Gate is basically a pass cut through the granite by many years of erosion. It's terrifically rocky, and so no one ever really used it as a pass in that sense, but it's quite the distinct landmark,
so I guess people used it to make sure they were still on the right path. Still, it's quite the beautiful sight, with towering granite walls on both sides, and a lovely creek running down the middle. There's also some weird aqueduct thing running along one side of the pass. We followed it for a ways, and found some interesting small caves in the pass walls, but we weren't well enough equipped to go spelunking, and we rather needed to be getting back on the road by this point.
We drove past Independence Rock. It's a huge dome-shaped rock. It wasn't interesting enough looking that we felt the need to stop, but you can definitely tell why it made a good landmark, since it stuck out like a sore thumb.
We got to Casper, and turned east toward Medicine Bow National Forest, which was the closest thing we could see on the map with camping. On our way there, we passed Ayres Natural Bridge, and decided to stop. We were certainly glad we did. Ayres Natural Bridge is apparently the only natural bridge in the United States that has water flowing under it. It's not a lava bridge
like the ones we saw in Washington, but it's a fully formed rock bridge that goes over a pretty little creek, and it's quite sizable and scenic. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that it was a County Park with free camping. There was an on-site groundskeeper, and he did a great job keeping the park up. It was nice to camp with basically no one else around, and with none of the silly regulations that we have often found at State and National Parks.
We built ourselves a nice fire, had beefy rice dinner with tea and cider, and just generally enjoyed the cold night. It took a while, but eventually we got to see some good stars from the top of the bridge, and after building our poncho hooch, were able to go to sleep.
Onaxthiel's Lessons Learned: The Poncho Hooch is a great idea if you think you're at risk for rain or snow, but if it's really windy, it can also be a liability. The poncho snaps and makes a heck of a lot of noise in high winds, so if you're getting wind but no rain, it'll probably not serve any purpose
other than to keep you awake all night. Alternatively, we could have just tried harder to find a spot with a better windbreak. We were pretty much just out in the open. Glossy magazine paper produces interesting colors when you put it into a fire. If you're going to pull a handcart to Salt Lake City from Nauvoo, IL, make sure you make it to Independence Rock before July 4. Otherwise, have fun in the snow.
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