gabby
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,538
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Post by gabby on Sept 12, 2020 17:16:14 GMT -8
Trap, as in beaver, Fox, even porcupine. Had to be one or the other. :^) I too grew up with pretty much the same thing. We hunted and butchered deer, rabbits, birds and such, and it was just a matter of normal life.
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rangewalker
Trail Wise!
Agitate, organize and educate.
Posts: 1,029
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Post by rangewalker on Sept 12, 2020 19:44:29 GMT -8
Getting section, township, and range information from a claim post is a great navigation aid in the sage brush sea. Places you keep going back to. Highest on my list is some places that few others cannot get away fast enough. There is a stretch of sagebrush steppe and the edge of the Northern Plains that I-90 roars through. Sandwiched between the Bighorn Mountains to the west and the Wyoming Black Hills and Devils Tower NM to the east, the Powder River is dotted with pockets of public land, scruffy ranches, oil fields, coal and bentonite mines. The southern reaches have uranium development. The indigenous history of the First Nations across the area is varied and as rich as any across the North American Plains. It is rich in water and habitat, and before the Euro-American expansion, it was host to a diversity of wildlife, including two species of Bison, native elk, antelope, mule deer, and plains Grizzly. I had to first learn the place in the mid-’70s when I arrived to work on oil and gas exploration. I got to love the place in the mid-’80s when I put down roots in the area. My first FT work was staking and improving mineral claims for uranium. That involved hiking, ore hiking, and then just sitting still in one place, sometimes hours on end. During those sits, everything from the drone of insects, to the grassland sparrows, and massive mule deer bucks unaware of me bedding down in a coulee overhang in the siltstone, and the place became alive. The jolt back to the other world broke in when the lead surveyor came over the radio barking he needed the rod and mirrors to take the shot for the day. I still get back out there though it has been a few years since I have done overnight. The Coalbed Methane boom came and went, so the traffic has died back down. The good pad lights have gone dark. I think the place is due a couple of nights in the shoulder season of November this year.
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echo
Trail Wise!
Posts: 3,330
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Post by echo on Sept 12, 2020 23:14:10 GMT -8
rangewalker, with my family in Cody, and my husband’s in Newcastle, we drove all the variations of road between the two, up into Montana and down through Sheridan on 90, or ten sleep and Worland, Shell Canyon, or my favorite, the old 14A when the switchbacks would break a snake’s back. All weathers, including being young and dumb enough to go around road closed signs a couple times. I miss that area a lot, the wide open feel is very different than the green, enclosed sensation of the redwood forests. But in all that variety of species, there really were no buffalo or antelope. Oh, you said Bison.
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mk
Trail Wise!
North Texas
Posts: 1,217
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Post by mk on Sept 13, 2020 7:46:02 GMT -8
It's the Grand Canyon for me. I've not been fortunate enough to truly get off the beaten path, but that's ok. I just love to be there - at the rim or wherever. I've been in the box canyon on the North Kaibab 3 times, and each time it feels more spiritual and special. The desert plants, valuable water sources, vast sky, and towering canyon walls just amaze me. And make me feel very small in the grand scheme of things. We had Boucher Creek and Salt Creek to ourselves, and it was absolutely peaceful and wonderful. And the sky ... wow.
My husband and his adventuring friend are taking 4 newbies on a rim-to-rim backpack at the end of October. No room on the permit, so I'm going to be the shuttle driver and then hang out at the Maswik Lodge and day hike and enjoy the scenery. By myself. So much time to walk, take in the scenery, and contemplate (rubs hands together with glee)!
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,957
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Post by Westy on Sept 16, 2020 9:53:46 GMT -8
Saturday afternoon from Powell Plateau
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