I awoke to sunshine today although the temperature says it is only 37F. At that moment, there was no wind either!! I had got up earlier to turn the heat on so that when I finally did crawl out from under the covers, it was warm and I could sit and drink my coffee in comfort.
Hogan, I think missed his sleeping buddy Kay last night as I had to get up three times to cover the poor bugger up. He was cold. Of course he didn't have this issue when Kay stayed with us because he simply buried himself under her covers!!
I enjoyed the morning coffee and then…I heard it……the bloody wind!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I actually had myself convinced that we just may be lucky enough today to travel without it….NOT!!!
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| heading out... |
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| travelled through some interesting terrain again today |
Coming out of Vernal, Utah, we knew we had a big climb ahead of us. We have been this way before although the last time we were heading south. There was a sign along the road that informed us that we were going to encounter 10 switchbacks over the next four miles and that the speed on the corners was 20mph. It seemed like we were climbing over this Unitas Mountains for hours!! The terrain was marked along the way as to what kind of fossils had been found in this area. It was all very interesting. The truck actually handled the long steady climb well and that included the 5-8% down grades. We were 8428 feet at the summit and we did encounter a bit of snow at the top. We saw two rather scruffy looking mule deer along the way. They looked like they were losing their winter hair.
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As we left Vernal, Utah there was a sign that warned us about
10 switchbacks and 4 miles of up hill climb. Most of the
corners were posted at 20mph. |
We were out of Utah once we climbed over the mountain and into Wyoming. Here we travelled along the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. There is a whole recreation area around the reservoir and I bet it is beautiful in the summer. Not so much in the early Spring though!!
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| Flaming Gorge Reservoir |
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| The bridge over the reservoir |
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The Reservoir Dam…..road construction ahead
Stop on Red |
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| Go on Green |
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| The highway….way down there |
The terrain through this part of Wyoming was very mountainous and we encountered lots of blowing snow and steep grades up and down. The first climb was 8119 feet at the summit. It was through open range and was quite spectacular to see although it was very WINDY!!
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| Snow….What!! |
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| Blowing Snow |
At 7300 feet on our next climb there was more blowing snow. Gosh, I thought it was Spring!!
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| Mini Blizzard |
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| Definitely, snowing them there hills!! |
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| miles of lonely open country |
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| More blowing snow |
The tallest summit we reached was 8470 feet and it felt like we have been climbing uphill all darn day. We did manage to see several herds of antelope in the grasslands today and they are always nice to see. They truly are survivors in this harsh environment.
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Tonight's Campsite - the fairgrounds at Shoshoni, Wyoming
(not sure how this pic would up out of place!!) |
We found the fairgrounds at Shoshoni, Wyoming to be more than adequate for our night's stay. We hoped that the wind would ease a bit but that was not to be the case. It blew all night long!!
All in all, it was a good day of travel and we are getting closer to home. Life is Good.
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| Flaming Gorge Dam |
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| Flaming Gorge Reservoir |
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