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Our Wyoming Vacation
My husband and I left home July 19, for a week's vacation to one of our
favorite places in Wyoming. We needed UNSS members to be with us to help
identify the innumerable flowers, trees and other interesting things in
nature. An outfitter has taken us into this area three times before. We
drove to his ranch, just past the upper Green River, to the north and west
of Green River Lake.
The first day found nine of us, and sixteen horses, getting ready to leave.
It took all morning to pack the horses with tents, food, clothing, and
other gear, and to saddle the horses. We left the ranch at noon and rode the
first nine miles, gradually gaining elevation on a trail through aspen and
a variety of wild flowers. The trail went parallel to a cascading mountain
stream. Along the way we startled a pair of sandhill cranes, which flew into
the air above us, conversing about our intrusion of their territory. A few
miles farther we saw a moose, and then, partly hidden in the terrain, a
herd of elk numbering about fifty. There were many young calves in the herd.
All were feeding on bright green grass in a wooded area just below deep snow
drifts.
After a 16-mile ride we reached our camp site, where all of us worked to put
the camp in order. We stayed here for five days, and rode horses each day
from our camp to other lakes to fish for that day. One lake had a bank of
snow with a ledge broken from it at least 16 feet deep. This chunk of snow
was floating on the lake's water like an iceberg. As I was fishing along the
shore, I found three long deep drifts of snow, one at least ten feet deep.
It is difficult to describe the scenic beauty; the refreshment that comes
from scraping dust off the top of the snow and eating a real icy snowcone;
the contrast of evergreens with the blue sky and the white clouds; the
mountains covered with large patches of snow in July; the wild flowers
blooming up to the edge of a melting snow bank; and seeing a pair of
mountain sheep on the skyline in their rocky rugged home, eating and
watching us far below them. This, and listening to the wind in the trees,
and hearing the rain falling on the tent at night, all brings a quietness
and peace to one's soul -- and does a great deal towards regenerating one's
life and purposes. The simple unhurried life style brings thankfulness for
good health, and an appreciation of the good simple things that life has
to offer -- that truly bring us happiness.
The fifty six miles we traveled on horseback in those five days was a trip
we will all remember and cherish for many years to come.
by Marguerite Wright
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