20070702 Monday
at Rock Springs, WY
At 6pm, 93*F with 5% humidity, breezy, dusty


Got up early to avoid afternoon heat. We took our tour of the Flaming Gorge country on the Green River in Wyoming & Utah. We did a loop down US-191 to Dutch John UT, west to Manila UT, then home via Green River WY.

On the way down and the way back, there's not much to see. But you can see the Green River Reservoir backed up from the Flaming Gorge Dam better on the Green River side. The real scenery is in Utah. But on the way down, Dolores saw some antelope and we had to nearly stop the car to avoid running over an angry badger (badgers are always angry). I didn't even know badgers could be found out here.

The dam itself is impressive - 502' high, generates 150 Megawatts of electrical power used all over the southwest, and supports irrigation in the region. It was built in the early 1960's. The sides of the canyon below the dam and what you can see above the water north of the dam is a dull red rock. The region was named by Major Powell (the same one-armed dude who rode down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon).

Probably the most stupendous sights are found in the Sheep Creek Geological Area, where rock formations are twisted and tortured into strange shapes. Layering can be seen that's almost been twisted to the vertical. 

We had lunch in Manila at a nice little cafe. Great food and great prices. Then we came back home as noted above. I dropped D off at the trailer about 3pm, then topped off the truck with diesel fuel for tomorrow ($3.049 here now). 

The plastic part of the 5th-wheel hitch handle that opens the hitch snapped off in Leadville. We're using a 2-foot "persuader" to move the steel stub of the handle. So I stopped at Home Depot after fueling and bought a square-tube steel piece. We the sun gets behind something, I'll go out and begin to make a substitute handle from the tube stock.

Our intentions are to take it easy tonight & start early tomorrow.