Staying “Home”
Front yard o’ the day.
This post is simply about going no further than a quarter mile from camp, and taking a zillion snaps of my campsite. Ugh, sounds horribly boring, doesn’t it? See, I intended to go out for a walk day before yesterday, got out there a ways, and then noticed some rain heading my way. Couldn’t be sure of the timing though, because here above Green River, Wyoming, you can clearly see stuff that might be twenty or more miles away. So, I walked this way and that about the camp in order to stay within a reasonable distance of it.
I’d been toiling away at the desktop and heard a whinny. They had walked near the drop-off and were heading back by the time I popped outside with the Pentax.
This is the first time I’ve seen wild horses on this visit, and I find it impressive to think that they are roaming free.
I’m approaching the two-week mark, and that blue hose connects the camper’s waste tanks with the waiting waste section of the truck-mounted Tankmin. A macerator at the camper end does the dirty work.
The other side shows the equally fascinating freshwater fill hose going from the Tankmin’s upper section to the camper’s fill port. Hoses are normally kept packed out of sight until their time approaches, depending on weather predictions.
Clouds caught my eye while I was walking away from camp in a second direction.
Swinging the camera slightly to the left as I got further away revealed more clouds.
…And yet looking just to the right (see the camper?) shows a sky so different that it seems as though time must have passed. Nope, seconds apart. This was an interesting day to just stand and do 360s for awhile.
There’s a campsite loop to the left that directly overlooks the valley far below. As you can tell by this trail, access is interesting. Stay to the left to avoid the tilt, and you’d better have some ground clearance handy for an eroded drop-off not visible here.
Just watching the shadows come and go in the distance.
This turned out to be a short walk that took quite a while! This is a difficult area to take for granted.
Just approaching camp again after disappearing over a hill.
This is not so much for the same ol’ camper as it is for the clouds rolling past. That butte in back doesn’t hurt, either.
A walk across an open field shows a swath of different plants, possibly the first growth over a very wide bury area for pipelines.
Whup! Don’t forget to look back and check for interesting sky!
Back to business, there’s an ExxonMobil CO2 pipe here. Not too sure what they use it for, except that the pipe seems to be heading for one or two areas with lights and smokestacks a long way away.
Turn this way, turn that.
Spin a 180, and see distant rainfall that missed camp.
A hole in the sky, just to the right of what is actually approaching off-camera.
Spin most of a 180 to the left and see the low clouds passing overhead, and cheerier skies departing further on.
The next morning, I could hardly see the road 50 feet away out the window. Only when it began to clear could I tell that in fact, all the higher levels were in the clouds.
Taking predictions of the weather to heart here is pretty much a wasted effort. 60% rains decrease at the last minute and pass by dry, while 10% rains go on all day. Predicted 6 MPH winds make it difficult to keep a hat of any kind on. The current wind is noted at 3 MPH, and my guess is that it’s gusting at 35-40. It either stays that way all day, or drops to practically nothing for a couple of hours before picking up again. The only thing that is accurately predicted are the temperatures.
But, it’s interesting and immersive. Though today’s winds have varied between concerning and moderate, the sky has gone from gloomy thick overcast to brilliant blue skies, and now I see dirty grey clouds moving rapidly in, just low enough to obscure the hilltops once again. Not every day is suitable for going outside, due to rain or high winds, but there is no lack of variety!
Strolling Amok 
Looks like a captivating location Doug! Thanks for sharing.
It is, and to a surprising extent, Ross. Even if I’m trying to get something done, I’ll find myself taking a step out to observe the large effects of the constant changes going on. It puts Chicago’s “wait five minutes and the weather will change” motto into overdrive.
Watching the shadows play on the mountains will captivate me too. 🙂 Wonderful photos!
Me too, I love watching clouds and sky. Took a beautiful oic today on my Kindle but don’t think I can post it here. 😦
Yeah, this blog template has its limitations. But, if you send an image to strollingamok (at) gmail (dot) com, I may be able to add it in to this very comment!
Thanks, Rachel. And, since I’m far too lazy to wait for the “best time of day” or pump these snaps up in Photoshop, when you come here to look for yourself, it’ll knock yer socks off!
My last run in with wild horses was in Nevada. Had pulled way off the road to pee in the sage brush. As I was so occupied, I heard a snort behind me and almost fell over. There were several of them ranged in a semicircle behind me, gazing placidly as if to say, “yep, we do that out here too.” When I see them, my first thought is to admire their beauty, and the second is to worry about them, out there all on their own.
Beats me if I can find anything that I consider edible by a horse here, but they seem to be doing just fine, judging by the mountains of poop scattered all over. I don’t consider horses to be genetically steered toward domestication like pets are, and not all of them do well psychologically when locked up in stables or corrals. I also consider that many of the physical ailments they suffer originate in how they are used and cared for. Out here, a vet following the herd around would likely starve to death. My concern is limited to how they make it through the hard winters here, but they obviously do.