From the Tetons to Flaming Gorge and slightly beyond

In an attempt to speed up these posts,this one goes from when we left the Tetons and ends at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. This is a span of about a week.

 After we left the Tetons, we were going to do a multi day hike into the heart of the Wind River Range.This was another of those places I always wanted to go. The national forest is huge, so we picked a loop that would show us a large chunk of the northern forest and many mountain lakes to fish or camp near.

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were so bad, we made it one night. We were killing them on our body, five per slap. When we got to our camp the first day, we made a fire that we burned six hours to keep the pests away. When we woke up the next morning, the screen of our tent was covered in the blood suckers. We decided to head back out, I regret this decision. I was so frustrated with my welts, but looking back, there probably would have been a lot less above timberline. The only highlights of the overnight were a bear, a moose, and I unsuccessfully tried fishing for golden trout near our camp until I couldn't take the bugs.

After we got out of the woods, we stealth camped in a Wildlife Management area. It was true sagebrush prairie. There was a pond nearby that cows used as a watering hole. There were also horses. Then. I thought they were ranchers horses, but looking back more and more, I think they were wild mustangs.


We went to the town of Pinedale to do some grocery shopping and cooked steak

American Avocet

                                               Sunset on the sagebrush

Female Pronghorn

After we left there, we headed to southern Wyoming to  Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge borders the famous for trout, Green River.It is also known for having a huge moose population and wildlife. I planned our visit there, before I had seen so much wildlife, or I probably would have spent more time in the mountains. The refuge was set up to protect Greater Sage Grouse, which we saw many of, but got darn few pictures.

Greater Sage Grouse

Cattle are allowed on the refuge. They drink and pollute the Green River

White Pelicans on the river

After we left Seedskadee we headed to Flaming Gorge. I had reservations for a campground on a peninsular. The reason I reserved this place was, I had read there is a good chance of seeing pronghorn right in the campground area. Again, I had no idea how lucky we would be with animals, or I probably would have skipped this campground. None the less it was on the water. We also did a tour of Flaming Gorge Dam. Below the dam is one of the most famous pieces of trout water in America. The cold water from the dam keeps the Green Rive the same temp year round. We thought about fishing, but didn't know where to by a Utah license.

Lots and lots of lizards in the southwest.

There were some pronghorn in the area like this baby. Not as many as other places we went. On the drive from Wind Rivers to Seedskadee, DJ counted over a  hundred in the prairie and fields.

One of the things on my trip bucket list I wanted to see were petroglyphs,Rock art created by ancient Indians. I didn't care where I saw it. As we were driving through I saw this sign

We decided to take a look. For a couple of dollars you can go look at the carvings made a thousand years ago. It turns out that petroglyphs are all over the southwest and we could have seen them anywhere we wanted if we took the time. However, these were the only ones we actually did see.

                         


                                                 Everywhere