SPC Trek- Ethnobotany on the Flood and Hindle Trail

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     Lunch On the Flood and Hindle Trail during the Ethnobotany Trek

 We had a quick breakfast and then headed for Lander for our weekly "big" shopping trip. We picked up enough groceries to get us through Monday, including a semi-boneless (whatever that means) leg of lamb that I plan to smoke on Monday. We stopped at Ace Hardware for a couple of items and then hit a couple of other stores looking for foam board- no luck- but I found something that will suffice. 

On the way into Lander, we saw only top pronghorn antelope and only for on the way back home. 

As soon as we returned to SPC, we put out groceries away, packed a quick lunch, and then walked into town for the "Trek." These are guided field trips sponsored by the Friends of South Pass. The subject of today's trek was ethnobotany, and was led by John Mionczynski (sitting against a tree in the picture above) who is extremely knowledgeable about local plants and the various uses the local tribes had for these plants. 

 We started off at 11:00 AM and ended at about 3:30. It was a really interesting trip.


Abandonded Maul found along the Flood and Hindle Trail

 At one point, John was  discussing aspects of the biology and use of lodgepole pines and I noticed an odd piece of metal. I looked at it a bit more and then realized it was more than a piece of metal- it was attached to a handle. It was an old-timey maul. My best find in several years.

After the Trek, I smoked some hamburgers- they'll serve as lunches for a few days. 

Later, after dinner, Connie and headed over to the Miner's Grubstake for some onion rings. On the way back home, we drove around the old highway looking for wildlife and saw only 6 pronghorn antelope, Not a very good day for wildlife viewing. 

 

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