Return from Kemmerer and a Day of Routine Tasks

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Wagon ruts along the Oregon Trail at Pilot Knob Historical Marker, Hwy 28, Wyoming 
Wagon ruts along the Oregon Trail.

We woke up at 6:00 AM as we generally do, made coffee, went about the morning in a leisurely fashion and then began carrying our belongings out to the truck. After coffee, breakfast, and a quick shower, we were off. 

Just before Farson there were a couple of historical markers that we had passed before, but decided to stop. The first (westernmost) was for Pilot Butte, a prominent geographic marker along the Oregon Trail. There were several interpretive plaques there which primarily focused on death along the trail, I guess because of the two grave sites there, just off the trail. 

Graves along the Oregon Trail at Pilot Butte Historical Marker, Hwy 28, Wyoming 
Graves along the Oregon Trail.
 

The second marker was for Simpson's Hollow. Simpson was in charge of an army supply (wagon) train that was attacked during a series of skirmishes between the US Army and Mormon militia, which seem to have occurred as a result of miscommunication. Anyway, there is a lot of Mormon history along the trail and some of it is pretty interesting.

Simpsons Hollow Marker, Hwy 28, Wyoming 
Simpson's Hollow Marker. Note, at the ground-sky interface toward the right of photograph you can see a marker for the Oregon Trail (zoom in). 

Along the way from Kemmerer to South Pass City we saw 17 pronghorn antelope, 12 of which were in an irrigated alfalfa field near Farson and between Farson and SPC we saw several nighthawks patrolling the road,

We arrived back at South Pass City, put things away and left almost immediately for the Walmart in Riverton, about an hour away. I had a couple of prescriptions transferred there. We picked them up, did a little shopping, headed for Safeway in Lander for groceries. We saw six pronghorn antelope and two sandhill cranes on the drive to Riverton and one on the way to Lander. Heading back to SPC we saw eight pronghorn antelope feeding yellow sweet clover across from the old Atlantic City Iron Mine.

Back at the trailer, I started the smoker and threw in three chicken breasts and four ears of corn for dinner tonight and tomorrow. I pulled the chicken and corn off the smoker at 4:20 so that we could go on a short excursion (they call them "treks") that the site organizes for staff and volunteers. We traveled only a few miles to the site of a Shoshone camp, at which they would harvest limber pine nuts- a bit smaller than pinyon pine and with a soft, edible shell. Jan talked about the tribe and their chief Washaki. I listened for a bit and heard a bird in a nearby pine tree and went to investigate.

An old 1870 photograph of the site and a contemporary photograph were published by Lens of Time Northwest.

We ate dinner after the trek and then prepared frittatas for breakfasts for the next few days. Connie then went for a walk. I stayed behind finishing smoking the fritattas and writing while sitting outside. I was buzzed several times by hummingbirds. After a bit, I noticed a few birds cutting across the area and then realized they were nighthawks, the first that I've seen in SPC. 

Jesse stopped by and we chatted for a bit and planned a small cookout for next week. I ended the evening with little writing and reading.

 

 

 

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