Traveled
south on #191 east of the Flaming Gorge through more spectacular high, dry, hot
country. Passed into Utah and finally to Dutch John (population 145) then
crossed over the five-hundred-foot-high, Flaming Gorge Dam, that creates the ninety-one-mile-long
Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Information from Wikipedia. The dam is 1,285 feet
(392 m) long, and its reservoir has a capacity about twice the annual flow
of the upper Green River. Operated to provide long-term storage for downstream
water-rights commitments, the dam is also a major hydroelectric power source and
is the main flood-control facility for the Green River system.
According
to Wikipedia, the dam and reservoir have fragmented the upper Green River,
blocking fish migration and significantly impacting many native species. Water
released from the dam is generally cold and clear, as compared to the river's
natural warm, silty flow, further changing the local riverine ecology.
However, the cold water from Flaming Gorge has transformed about twenty-eight
miles of the Green into a valued trout fishery.
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| Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Just behind the Dam |
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| High Above Flaming Gorge Reservoir |
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| Retired Flaming Gorge Dam Turbine Wheel |
We
crossed the dam and headed south into the Ashley National Forest and the Uinta
Mountains, America’s only east – west trending mountain range with peaks
ranging from 11,000 to 13,528 feet. Thousands of acres of juniper, pinyon pine forest.
Passed a big mining operation north of Vernal, Utah (population 11,000).
Simplot Vernal Mine
Dinosaur Country. Vernal’s economy is largely based on oil, natural gas,
phosphate and uintaite or Gilsonite, a form of asphalt. However, these days,
there are plenty of thirty-foot-tall, plastic dinosaurs deployed throughout the
town to encourage tourism. I wish I could bring one home.
From
Vernal we headed east on #40 to Jensen (population 412 and ten plastic
dinosaurs) then north on #149 and into the Dinosaur National Monument, a
dazzling landscape and one of those places to which we will return. A place
where there is ample fossil evidence that dinosaurs roamed one hundred million
years ago. We were greeted by the usual chipper and friendly Park Service
Ranger at the entrance station then drove ten miles to our fabulous camp site
right on the banks of the Green River or as I prefer, the Sisk-a-dee-agie,
complete with our own private sandy beach. After setting up camp we sat by the
river waiting and watching. In short order thirteen wild turkeys, looking
rather dinosaur like, walked out of a willow thicket on the opposite side, took
a long drink of cool Green River water and began foraging the banks for
insects. A stately great blue heron joins his turkey cousins for a while. After a while they walked back into the willow grove as we sat in
stunned silence. Time for a swim. In I went. Burr cold!
We
unhitched Flicka II and took a sunset car tour through more breath-taking
country, highlighted by Split Mountain, which we to learn more about the next
day. We drove deeper into Monument Land and followed the map, passed a few
other travelers and came to the still standing, homestead cabin of one Josie
Bennet Morris, a remarkable woman who was married five times and divorced four
times in an era when divorce was unheard of. The kiosk didn’t say what happened
to the last guy.
“With
no money to buy property, Josie decided in 1913 to homestead in Cub Creek. Here
she built her own cabin and lived there alone for over fifty years. She shared
her home with her son Crawford and his wife for a time; grandchildren spent
summers working and playing alongside Josie.
Raised
on the frontier, Josie lived into the modern era of electronics. For friends
and acquaintances in the 1950s, Josie was a link to a world past. During Prohibition
in the 1920s and into the 1930s, Josie brewed apricot brandy and chokecherry
wine. After a lifetime of dressing in skirts, she switched to wearing pants in
her later years. She was tried and acquitted twice for cattle rustling when she
was in her 60s. At the age of 71, in an ambitious move to revive a profitable
cattle business, she deeded her land away and lost all but the five acres where
her cabin still stands. In December of 1963 the legendary Josie suffered a
broken hip while in her cabin; she died of complications in May of 1964.”
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| Josie Morris Homestead |
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| Josie's Dinning Room |
On the way into Josie’s homestead we
encountered petroglyphs of the Fremont people who lived in this area about a
thousand years ago and left evidence of their presence in the form of
petroglyphs and pictographs. Petroglyphs are carved or chipped into rock, a
process which must have taken a very long time. These folks didn’t have power
tools. We saw many examples. It’s quite something to reach out and touch these
remarkable works of art and ponder the mystery of why they were created and to
think about the daily lives of the Fremont people, living in a place with such
extremes of seasonal weather. See the petroglyphs below.
Back
to our campsite for the night, but not before another sitting session at out
private beach where we were delighted to watch two enormous beaver appearing to
forage their way down through shallow water on the opposite side of the river.
I thought beaver ate tree bark, but these guys were gathering something from
rocks in the river. I speculated that it might have been mussels. Oh, wait a
minute, those aren’t beaver. They are river otter! Big fat North American River
Otter (Lontra canadensis),
fattened
I hope on the native mussels found in the waters of the Green River basin, not
the quazza and zebra mussels infesting many waters in the east and being found
more and more often in certain western waters. The Bureau of Reclamation and
other state and federal agencies are serious about stopping the spread of these
non-native species. Mandatory inspection points are set up throughout the west.
Anyone towing any kind of aquatic vessel must stop and be examined.
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| Our Private Beach Camp Site on the Green River |
After
an evening cocktail and supper, its beddy bye time for us. More Dinosaur Monument
adventures tomorrow.
Sweet
dreams.
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