Well, here it is Friday night and
I’m just catching up with the blog. For
some reason the Internet is no longer working at the RV.
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| Boat Launch |
Monday and Tuesday, June 9th and 10th
we worked, but it was not the best of days.
Monday morning we were pretty slow and Nan came through about 8:30 and
told us to close up about 11:00 if the crowds didn’t show up. So we left about 11:00, stopped for lunch and
were still home by 1:00 to let Rudy out and give him a chance to run and have
some fun. The rest of the day was pretty
quiet, chit chats with the neighbors and relaxing evening and off to bed by
9:30…..5:00 am comes early.
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| Ties up to the water spigot |
Tuesday was really slow, but
about 8:00 Brad radioed me to see if I heard anything about a fatality on the
river Monday evening…..no I didn’t. It
couldn’t have been 15 min. later when Sheriff Ray stops by to let me know they
had a fatality the night before, just to make us aware. We both then worried about who it was, 'Gramps
and Pappy' (our nick-names for two guys), the youngest was about 72, and we were hoping it
wasn’t one of them. Then we found out it
was a 62 year old with his 13 year old son, and we were both hoping that it wasn’t the Moody’s. My first weekend working they came through and
didn’t have cash for the Day Usage Pass, so I fronted them the $15.00 for the
week pass, and the next day he was very nice, grateful, and gave me an extra
$5.00 for being so nice. J They fished all week and everyday they took time
to talk for a while, really nice guy.
Saturday June 7, they were back for another week pass, but ended up
buying the yearly pass, since they planned on being back again and again. Well, sad for us to hear, it was their boat that flipped
and Mr. Moody got stuck in the river brush, they finally got him loose and told
him to float out, but he had a heart attack and they were not able to revive
him…..oh, I can’t imagine how his son feels, being there watching all this
happen. Nan and Adam came down Tuesday,
about 10:00, planning on going down the river to check out the site and see if
they needed to put up signs or clear something out….but it seems like it was
just a freak river accident.
Wednesday we were off, so we
headed up to Rock Springs, Wyoming for supplies, again we saw the herd of wild
horses on the way there, but they were too far away for pictures. Now we have decided it is cheaper to shop in
Wyoming, the taxes are lower and the food selection is better, but what a long
day. We left the CG after 10:00, got to
Rock Springs about 11:30 had lunch, shopped at K-Mart for the misc. stuff, then
hit the Smith’s grocery store. We did do
some touring around the town to check out what else was there, then headed home,
finally arriving about 5:30 to let Rudy out….the poor thing. We finally get everything put away when Jim
came over for a chat…..not another good night on the river, a raft flipped and
got stuck in some trees in the middle of the water, but the family made it off
the water. It was late till somebody got
the news out, so they dropped supplies from a helo for them to spend the night
safely and then the rescue team went in and floated the family out early in the AM on Wednesday….what a couple of
days. While we are sitting there
talking, Fred, another volunteer stopped over and asked if we heard about what
happened at ‘Little Hole’, another boat launch that hasn’t been manned. He heard that the pay booth was hit, but
nobody really knows for sure….something to check out another day. We are inside for the night, when Jake stops
by and asks if we are available to go down the river tomorrow, the Forest
Service goes down every week to check out the toilets and camping areas and
they are headed down Thursday, so we can go along and check out the river,
launch time is 1:00 PM.
Thursday, since all our original
plans are changed, we ended up having a big breakfast, did a load of laundry
and just kind of hung out at the CG for the morning. We had some fruit for
lunch and headed out about noon, heading into Dutch John before we got to the
launch area. We got to the pay booth and
talked with Jim for a minute, only to find out the boat is already waiting for
us at the launch, so off we go down the hill.
Now we thought we would be going down the river on a ‘Dory’ (the Forest
Service Boat), but there was a raft instead, there are 4 going down, and the
Dory only holds 3 people. We ended up
having Adam as our boatman, and from everything we have heard, he is one of the
best, so I’m a happy camper. He just finished
cleaning up around the launch area when Teri, the other worker, shows up to go
down with us. We all get ready, into the
raft and off we go. The river is still
running high so the 7 mile trip should only last about 2 hours, I have added a link
to pictures from the trip. There is
normally a walking trail along the 7 mile stretch, but some of it is totally under
about 3 feet of water and some of the wooden walkways have completely washed
away. We passed the stuck raft, where
one of the guides/owners of the Outfitter was trying to get it loose. We stopped to make sure they were OK, but
then headed on wishing them the best.
Further down the river, there are still signs of where the fatality
happened, then off to Dripping Springs for Adam to check out the toilets and
make sure all is fine, but as soon as we are tied up, Brad looks up and out on
the river there goes an upside down kick boat.
We waited about 20-30 min. to see if the owner came down, but we didn’t
see him, let’s just hope one of the other fishing guides picked him up. While we were there waiting, the Outfitter
trying to get the raft passed us,
without the stuck raft….that might be there until the water levels are
dropped. Back in the water and the rest
of the ride was pretty much uneventful, other than seeing one of the fishing
guides holding the loose kick boat. We
landed safely, got the rig loaded up and headed out of Little Hole. As soon as we had cell service, Adam called
and reported the incident, but it seems all ended up OK and the rafter made it
out just fine. We get dropped off at the
car, head home to tend to Rudy, then have a nice evening at the CG. Steaks and a veggie for dinner and off to bed
about 10:00. Oh yea on a side note: it looks like somebody threw a rock through the window of the fee booth, but nothing was taken.
River Pictures: River Pictures
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| Reservoir from Antelope Flats CG |
Friday Brad once again made a nice breakfast
of sausage and pancakes, cooked on the grill and eaten out side. After that we head out to check out a couple
more of the campgrounds. We stopped in
Dutch John for an ice cream, but instead had a light lunch. Off again and this time we stop at the ‘Mustang
Ridge CG’ and boat launch area. We both
agree that this is the nicest CG we have seen yet, set on the reservoir with
water access nearby, well shaded and sites big enough for a motor home. After that we headed to ‘Antelope Flats CG’,
what a drive and of course there were the token Antelope running around as we
headed in. I think the drive was about a
30-40 min. long, mostly on a gravel road after you turned off the main highway. But if you want a remote CG, right on the
reservoir, with it’s own boat launch this is the place to go. There was also a large group camping area,
that had about 4 covered picnic areas.
We walked for a while, checking out the beach area and the Utah
butterfly bushes that were very fragrant and beautiful.
After that we head home, we left at 10:30 and
didn’t get back home until about 4:30, who would have ever thought it would
take that long to check out 2 campgrounds.
Oh yea, I did talk to Lynne for a little, she was heading out on her
camping trip and took time to call on the drive, a pleasant surprise. Back home, chicken on the grill, some visits
with the neighbors, laundry done and we are still off to bed about 10:00, our
work week begins tomorrow.
Diane and Brad
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| Checking out the Butterfly Bushes |
Diane and Brad
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