A Trip to the Red Desert

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Elk herd in the Great Divide Basis, Wyoming 
 
Elk in the Great Divide Basin. We were driving along and this herd of about 20 elk, with the bull bringing up the rear, crossed in front of us.

We were up at 6:00 to get ready for a trip into the Red Desert with Glen. A very chilly start to the morning. The weather app shows 46 degrees outside; however, our temperature meter shows 29F. The water was slushing up first thing, so I am going with the 29F. Our trailer is located about 60-70 feet from the creek on the valley floor. Cool air flows downhill, so we get the very coldest air and, hence, the coldest morning temperatures. All things have a positive side: we get some really nice, ice cold water right out to the tap!

Breakfast is done and lunches are made and we have a hour or so wait for Glen. Glen arrived right at 8:00 and we were off!. We drove about halfway to Farson, well past the Oregon Buttes, and then turned off towards the Red Desert. Along the way, we saw well over 100 pronghorn antelope. They were in small herds of 10 to 20 animals, probably getting ready for the reproductive season and, likely, beginning to move south. A lot of antelope!

We drove into the Jack Morrow Hills and toward a spring that Glen had set up game cameras on. He had told us that, in the past he had seen a lot of elk here, coming to drink and browse, and on one occasion had seen a mountain lion. He and his friend Joe had three cameras here. All had been taken. Nice.

We looked around a bit hoping to find a camera that an animal might have knocked down. No luck. We sat around for a while, ate lunch, and told stories. Then we were off for a ride.

We drove across the western portion of the Red Desert and then into the Great Divide Basin. During the course of the day, we drove almost all the way across that basin and saw most of the prominent geological features. An arid, but beautiful landscape. 

We saw three herds of elk, two were fairly large, with 20+ cows and young and, of course, a bull. We also saw a smaller herd of about seven bulls- bachelors. Al together, we saw 40 to 50 elk. The desert floor had a lot of loose dust so they really kicked up a storm as they ran.

We saw a fair number of pronghorn antelope in the Basin, but nothing like in the morning The pronghorn antelope and elk both took off before we ever got within one hundred yards of them and, once disturbed, they ran a long way. Hunting season for pronghorn antelope has begun and the elk also are skittish as their turn is coming.

 

 
 
This is one of the smaller herds of wild horses we encountered. Most of the herds, like this one, had at least one colt among them.

 We also saw several small herds of wild horses, ranging from five to a dozen. All together we saw 30+. They weren't as wary as the pronghorn antelope and elk, but kept their distance.

The wildlife viewing was great! 

Brannan Ranch house, Great Divide Basin, Wyoming 
 
Ruins of a house on the Brannan Ranch in the Great Divide Basin.
 
 We passed by the old Brannan ranch. The land is still in private hands, but the abandoned ranch buildings have collapsed.

We headed back into South Pass City and Glen drove to Lander. A bit later, Connie and I decided to head up to the Miner's Grubstake for dinner. I pretty much went to bed as soon as we returned- I have been running a sleep deficit and had woken up this morning at 4:00, so I was ready. An excellent day and Glen is always entertaining/

 

 

 

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