Flaming Gorge as seen from Canyon Rim Trail

 Continuing from the last post I am doing a little fast-forwarding.

July 2023

While Cyndee was convalescing from her surgery I did some hikes.  The anesthesia had some lasting effects and she was sleeping for long stretches so it was possible for me to get in some short hikes during her "naps".  The Canyon Rim Trail was close enough to the volunteer campground that I could just walk to it and take in the sights.

Looking east into the gorge.
It is 1,380' (421 m) down to the water from where I am standing.

This is pretty typical of how close the trail parallels the canyon rim.

Red Canyon Rim Trail.
It is loaded with rocks that are perfect for rolling an ankle on.

If you don't take a picture, it didn't happen.

I started the hike in the middle of the trail and hiked to the terminus at the Red Canyon Visitor Center.  Walking into the public area and campground I was treated with another encounter with our local herd of big horn sheep.

The lambs have put on some size since I saw them a month ago.

Some tourists from the visitor center got too close trying to take pictures 
and started a small stampede.

As soon as they crossed the road their "buffer" between them and people
was re-established and they went right back to grazing.

Moving away from the crowd of people put them to where I was the closest 
human and they were keeping an eye on me.

Only three days after abdominal surgery Cyndee was ready for a day trip so we loaded up a cooler and headed for Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery.  

Jones Hole Fish Hatchery really is down in a "hole".
Entering from the plateau above it is a 10% grade down a 
lengthy road to the bottom of the canyon.

It doesn't look like much from this angle but the hatchery building had 
dozens of large raceways (water troughs) with tens of thousands of fry in 
different stages of development.  Some with the yolk sack still attached.

We arrived after the release of the mature trout.  In May these 
raceways are chock-full of trout and being prepared for release into the Green River, 
beyond the trees in the distance or loaded into trucks for shipping to other rivers.

This hatchery is so remote that they are required to have 3 months of rations on hand during the winter months.  When the snow comes it comes quick and heavy.  The location is so remote that plows don't even bother with clearing 50 miles of road just to make it possible for six people to commute to work.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we've had a break-in.  One of the two herds of angus cattle breached a fence and found their way into the 14 acre portion of the historic site.  It is not the first time I've had to move them out of this pasture and there is a couple of times since that they have found their way all the way up to the cabins and house during the night.  There are a couple of bulls in this herd that are gigantic and they are always fighting over control.  They have smashed a lot of fencing during their fracases.

A few members of the red angus herd of cattle.

As we entered the heart of summer, although it was hard to tell with us having to run heat every morning, the native plants are maturing.  Generally I'm not a fan of thistle but we have a few plants around us that are impressive.  They are not bushy, rather they have a few long stems with a flower on top at about four feet tall.

One afternoon while making a quick trip to the Visitor Center to turn in time sheets I came across this scene.

Fire on the mountain!  In mid-July we had an intense thunderstorm that resulted in a double lightning strike on Mustang Ridge, directly across the reservoir from us.  Luckily a ranger happened to be looking right at the tree that took the double hit and she was able to immediately call the Forest Service Fire Fighters.  Two helicopters with water buckets were called in and a bulldozer was used to cut a fire line.  To be safe a campground adjacent to the ridge was evacuated and even we were told to be ready to go without notice.

But the Forest Service got things under control and had the fire contained within 48 hours with little more than 100 acres scorched.  Good job!

Back to the flora and fauna.  Just out the back of our rig is a stand of milkweed.  The milkweed I am familiar with is usually a small clump, no more than a few inches tall.  I've planted hundreds of them as attractants for Monarch butterflies.  But like all the other flowering plants around here, the milkweed is huge.  It stands chest-high to me.

Really tall milkweed right out the back of our rig.

All kinds of insects were taking advantage of these flowers,
bees being the most prominent.

Swallow-tail butterflies were the next most abundant insect.

I really enjoyed taking these pics.
It was a real challenge getting a sharp image because of 
the motion of the insect coupled with blustery winds.

Towards the end of July our son, Chad, came to visit us at Flaming Gorge.  He packed a lot in while here - went to a swimming hole in the reservoir, 4WD backroads all over the place, Dinosaur National Park with us, the ranch, the fire watch tower, and the Sheep Creek Geological Loop to name a few.

The geological loop is interesting just from the car but getting out 
and taking a closer look just takes your breath away.

Tower Rock.
That big old thing is just sticking up there, free-standing.

I'm going to wrap up July with a youth group that came to the ranch to do a civic project.  I gave them saws, lopping shears, pruning shears and rakes and we all went to the spring house and two-seater outhouse and cleared a tremendous amount of overgrowth that was beginning to push on the buildings and displace them.  Let me tell you, these kids and their adult chaperones worked hard.  This part of the ranch hasn't looked like its former self in years.

The outhouse is not yet visible due to brush.
The entrance to the root cellar can be seen in the upper-right corner.
The foot bridge is for crossing Allen Creek, the ranch's sole source of water.

There it is!  The outhouse is getting back to looking like it 
did when the ranch was occupied by the Swetts and their nine children.

Not a slacker in the bunch.  These guys worked hard.

As July comes to a close it is time for a change for us.  The Forest Service is losing some volunteers and some hard choices are having to be made.  It has been decided to close the ranch for the season and move us to the Ute Mountain Fire Watch Tower.