Again we were battling with cloudy rainy weather which always ruins the site seeing a bit, but our drive was pretty good anyway. We took the scenic route between Jackson and Vernal, 89, 412, 414 into Flaming Gorge and eventually to Vernal. Most of the drive was rather unimpressive, although better than a freeway through scrub land, as was our alternative. There were lots of ranches and horses and cattle. We passed through some badlands to rival if not surpass our own in Alberta, with a beautiful maroon and green colour. In and around Flaming Gorge was by far the most impressive. In Afton, Wyoming we saw this amazing elk antler arch over the highway in the centre of town.
We also stopped in at Fossil Butte Monument, for a brief museum visit. The fossils were mostly of fish, plants and other aquatic animals, but still neat. When we went outside there were 3 herds of prong-horned antelope and we all excitedly took turns looking through the binoculars at them.
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| Only in America, common sign in store windows |
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| The pronghorns |
Finally we made it to Utah, after 4 days it was pretty exciting. Almost at the state line the skies cleared and the sun made an appearance. So sweet! Flaming Gorge looked like a fantastic place to take a boat and camp on the shores.
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| Typical farm/grazing land near Flaming Gorge |
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| Cole looking at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir |
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| Photo courtesy of Cole Macaulay |
The oddest thing that struck us was the hunters everywhere once we passed the Flaming Gorge. There were guys in high-vis driving trucks very slowly all along the road. We figured they must be able to shoot right from the window of the truck. Later we found out that they can't shoot from the truck, but have to get out and make sure they aren't standing on the road! Crazy. These dudes were wandering down a lovely hiking trail guns over their shoulder ready to shoot any unsuspecting stag or hiker.
It was beautiful coming down into Vernal, Especially Red Fleet State Park which we wished we had time to visit. Apparently there is great mountain biking there and dinosaur tracks right in the rock. We arrived and settled in then set out for dinner. Being Utah on a Sunday, nothing was open except fast food and two terrible restaurants where you couldn't even get a beer. Should have had Cafe Rio!
