September 6, 2008

September 6, 2008

Aimee and I are aghast. It rained yet again last night. We have a black cloud that just won’t leave us alone. If we go to Tucson right now, we are liable to turn desert into rain forest.

We have a long day ahead of us, so we rise early and drive the couple miles to Scott’s Bluff National Monument. One of the young park rangers offers to shuttle us up to the top of the ridge. We should have great views of the surroundings there but one side of the ridge is shrouded in fog. We opt to hike back to the Visitor Center. I am glad we do, as it is outstanding. The trail descends down one side of the butte then crosses by tunnel to the other side for the rest of the hike down. Back at the Visitor Center we watch the park film and peruse the exhibits but they are pretty weak on history. The Oregon Trail, the Pony Express and finally the Transcontinental Telegraph line all went right between the two halves of Scott’s Bluff.

From Scott’s Bluff we make a short detour north of the Oregon Trail past barren ranchlands on a sunflower lined highway to visit Agate Fossil National Monument. Here in these eroded ridges, paleontologists have uncovered a treasure trove of Miocene fossils from 19 million years ago. At that time, the grassland here resembled the Serengeti Plains of Africa. A drought occurred at a watering hole causing many of the local inhabitants to perish in the mud. Unearthed were grass-eating Rhinos and carnivorous Beardogs the size of lions. After looking at the Visitor Center exhibits, we take a hike along the Daemonelix trail. This trail is famous for giant spiral formations found in the mudstone. These rock corkscrews are the fossilized burrows of extinct prairie dog-like beavers.

Back on the Oregon Trail, we follow it to Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Fort Laramie at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers was the major fort of the west. It was initially built to protect pioneers on the Overland Trails but later became the focal point of the Plains Indian wars. Fort Laramie is a huge complex, the size and look of a modern military base. Many of the barracks and officer quarters have been restored. Superbly I might add. They could easily pass for the set of a western cavalry film. But a little too realistic for me. I would prefer that they had added some modern signage to better explain what we are looking at.

Tired after a long day, we spend the night at an RV park just outside the fort.