Today we saw the sites around Flaming Gorge
Flaming Gorge and Flaming Gorge Reservoir lie along the Green River between Wyoming and Utah. The reservoir was created by the Flaming Gorge Dam for water conservation. Flaming Gorge was named by William H. Ashley when he traveled down the Green River on an early expedition.
We started the day with a big breakfast. We cleaned up and headed into Flaming Gorge. We stopped at several overlooks along the way. We eventually reached the Red River Visitor Center.
The area around the visitor center has some spectacular views of the Gorge and the reservoir below. The ranger at the visitor center gave us some tips on what we should see during our visit.
We went down the road further across the Cart Creek Bridge and to the Flaming Gorge Dam. We went on a free tour of the dam. The tour was a little uncomfortable because it was starting to rain and much of the tour is outside. Luckily it was still a little warm, so it was tolerable.
After the tour we headed back up the road. At Flaming Gorge Resort we had a nice lunch.
Back on the road, we found the road to Dowd Mountain. After a 4 mile drive down a dirt road, we were greeted with a spectacularly wide view of the Gorge. It was worth the drive.
Next we drove through the Sheep Creek Canyon Geological area. Near the bottom of the area you get a wonderful cross section of the geological changes that the area has been through.
We returned to the campsite to enjoy a nice crock pot meal all ready to go. Some neighbors pulled up in the campsite next to us late in the day, so we shared our left over crock pot meal with them. They were grateful as the power in the park had just gone out.
Tomorrow we start the last leg of our adventure. We decided to try and make it home in two days instead of three. If we did a three day journey we would have to stay in Reno. Unfortunately, it's Hot August Nights and camp sites are hard to come by.
We're going to try and get an early start for a long drive tomorrow all the way through Utah and into Nevada.
