Return to Kemmerer and a Visit to Fossil Butte National Monument

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Fossil Butte National Monument sign, near Kemmerer, Wyoming 
Entry sign for Fossil Butte National Monument. The butte in the background? That's it! (It's much larger as you get closer, honest.)

We ate breakfast and headed off for Kemmerer and then passed on through to head to Fossil Butte National Monument, about 11 miles outside of town. We saw a grand total of four pronghorn antelope along the way from South Pass City to Fossil Butte.

Coming on the site, we stopped for a photograph of the entry sign and then a bit later for a sign advertising a greater sagebrush grouse crossing. 

Sagebrush grouse crossing sign, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming 
Sagebrush Crossing sign, Fossil Butte National Monument.

Ok, we've seen those before. But about 200 ft down the road, we saw five or six grouse of two different sizes: a hen and her clutch.

Sagebrush grouse, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming 
Greater sagebrush grouse along the entry road to Fossil Butte National Monument. 

We arrived at the Visitor Center and spent about an hour or so looking at the exhibits. Most of the fish, invertebrate fossils on display are from this area. The birds and reptiles are casts of fossils from the area. Pretty impressive. 

I have worked with paddlefish, gar, and other fish represented by the fossils, so this was of special interest to me. 

Fossil paddlefish at the Fossil Butte National Monument Visitor Center. 
Fossil paddlefish at the Fossil Butte National Monument Fossil paddlefish at the Fossil Butte National Monument Visitor Center.

 

Fossil gar at the Fossil Butte National Monument Visitor Center 
Fossil gar at the Fossil Butte National Monument Visitor Center.

There are two main hikes on the monument. One that goes up to an old fossil quarry and a second, shorter Nature Trail. We took the latter- 1.5 miles round trip with a 350 ft gain in elevation. So, yeah, the calves felt it. Here is a view from a seating area about half way along and at about the maximum elevation (not quite).

View from the hiking trail looking back on Fossil Butte National Monument 
View from the hiking trail looking back on the site of ancient Fossil Lake. The parking lot is visible in the lower right hand corner (our truck is in the middle). 

After the hike, we ate the lunches we had brought and headed back to Kemmerer. About 3 miles outside the monument was a fossil gallery (Ulrich's gallery). We stopped in and booked a fossil dig for tomorrow. They had a fossil dinosaur footprint on display outside, so I had Connie compare her hand with the footprint. 

Dinosaur footprint at Ulrich's Fossil Gallery, Wyoming  
Hand versus dinosaur footprint.

Then on to Kemmerer. We drove into town, seeing eight pronghorn antelope along the way, and went to the "Triangle" and visited the J. C. Penney Mother Store. Ok, it was a J. C. Penney's in a historic building with a few pieces of clothing that belonged to Penney and one of his wives. Enough said.

Shirts, ties, and hats owned by J. C. Penney on display in the Mother Store, Kemmerer, Wyoming 
Shirts, ties, and hats owned by J. C. Penney on display in the Mother Store.

We had a few minutes to kill, so we sopped for a cold drink in the Stock Exchange Club- a real old time bar and if it wasn't the setting for a scene in a Nicholas Cage movie, someone should get on it.

Stock Exchange Club, Kemmerer, Wyoming 
Stock Exchange Club. 

On to the Fossil Butte motel for a bit of rest and then dinner at the El  Jalisciense across the street. Connie got a combination plate and I, once again, had the molcajete. A great place to eat!

Back to the room for reading, writing, and rest. A fun day! 

 

 

 

 

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