An Early Fall Outing at Alcova
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| Heading toward Fremont Canyon from cottonwood beach |
A great day to be on the water. We do not often see a calm day in the 60's in late October
Ahead is Fremont Canyon.It was here that Col J.C. Fremont and his Expedition of 1843 rode the rapids down the canyon in rubber boats and lost most of hi scientific plant Specimens and survey equipment. I Kayaked up to the point on the left and decided it was a good place to turn around
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| The water was really blue heading back. It must have something to do with direction of the sun. |
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| The cut in the rocks is part of the original Platte River course |
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| Coming back into Cottonwood Beach |
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| After going ashore, I loaded up the kayak and headed up hill to a good place to cook up a little lunch |
I fired up the Coleman butane stove and the little Triangia alcohol burner.
Freeze dried chicken cubes were added to the pot for a little filler. My cousin is a distibutor for Thrive foods and they have a great selection of long term storage foods. Good stuff and it beats throwing jerky in the pot
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| My lunch spot was next to the Dinosaur TrailheadNatrona County is fortunate to have evidence of life from tens of millions of years ago right in our own backyard. The Cottonwood Creek Dinosaur Trail at Alcova is a fascinating glimpse of how Wyoming may have looked during the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods. Managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, this site about 30 miles from Casper features interpretive signage explaining the geological evolution of the region, as well as some amazing dinosaur fossils discovered in recent years and still in their natural setting. |
We have hiked up there for many years on weekend outings with friends and have many fond memories of the area. I think we were not at all surprised when the news came out twenty years ago that a dinosaur was discovered here. We had been picking up fossils and looking for arrowheads up there for years
I still have not seen the Dinosaur tracks and bones that everyone talks about but here is some clam fossils.
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Thee is a nice view of the Pedro Mountains and the surrounding area.
Actually the view is magnificent in all directions |
Some of the early locals left their mark on the rocks below. I am currently researching D.K. Irvine and think he or his relatives had something to do with the Johnson County War.
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| I snapped this picture on my way back into town. It was jus one great day in Wyoming and I thank you all for letting me share it with you all |
