Wednesday, September 10
After breakfast Bridget and I ride the Perfect Tow Vehicle to the “rise” of the Popo Agie (pronounced Puh-PO’-Shuh). The river surfaces after flowing underground for a fourth of a mile.
The “Rise,” Sinks Canyon State Park, Lander, Wyoming
When the water rises it forms a calm pool. This pool is home to different varieties of trout. The pool isn’t stocked; it naturally contains trout up to 10 pounds. Some locals believe there are trout in there as big as 20 pounds.
Bridget and I stand on the pier above the pool.
I watch the fish swim below and toss in some fish food I purchased from the vending machine. The water swirls as lunkers grab a snack.
Hmm . . . I think I’ll see what the zoom on my camera can do . . .
From approximately 25 feet above the surface of the water, I take this photo of a fish underwater.
Not bad, eh? Do you know what kind of fish this is?
“Okay, Bridget. We can go on our walk now.”
She’s in her harness on-leash and excited to trot down the paved walkway. The walk takes us through “overlapping riparian zones” — three in all. (See, I did read the interpretive signs).
Bridget tolerates the new camera better than the old one. She stops and allows me to snap the above photo.
“Oh, look! There goes a rabbit!”
Bridge watches it hop up the walkway and into the grass. The rabbit stops and sits motionless, the way rabbits do in these situations.
Heh-heh. Now I can give my camera another test!
Photo taken approximately 20 feet away (hand held)
Bridget and I continue along the walkway and cross a bridge over a stream bed of boulders that fills with mountain runoff during spring. The Popo Agie is underground, remember?
I dart ahead, turn, and take this picture of Bridget.
It’s a cool morning and much of the canyon is still in shade due to the early hour. We hurry along until we reach the “sinks” where the Popo Agie disappears into an underground cavern.
On the walk back to the Perfect Tow Vehicle, we meet our furry friend again . . . or one of his relatives.
Photo take from 40 feet (hand held)
We walk further and the rabbit moves slightly and then freezes, as if to give me a chance to locate him in the frame. I’m awestruck to see this little bunny holding up that big boulder!
Photo taken at 15 feet (hand held)
Back at our campsite in Sinks Canyon State Park, we relax for the rest of the morning.
Inside the Best Little Trailer Bridget takes a nap on the bed and I go online. Around one o’clock I suit her up in the harness again and we walk the campground loop.
We take this exercise program very seriously!
About a third of the way around the loop, I come upon a man looking at one of the yurts.
I use the yurt as a subject to start a conversation. I learn that Bob and his wife live in Casper, Wyoming, on a ranch where they board horses. Bob also does part-time driving for the postal service from Casper to Lander. Before returning to Casper he likes to do things in Lander like visit the state park. Sometimes he fishes the Popo Agie or hikes the canyon.
Bob and his wife are in that pre-retirement stage of trying to form a vision for how they want to live their retirement years. Naturally we talk about full-time RVing and I relate some of my experiences as a full-timer.
We end up sitting at a picnic table and talking until 2:30!
Um, RVSue . . . The exercise program? Remember?
Bridget and I return to our campsite.
I’m expecting a visitor! When I opened up my laptop this morning, an email from Larry was waiting for me.
Larry is a guy the crew and I camped next to up at Brooks Lake, Wyoming, in July, 2012. If you click on the link below, you can go back to that camp — one of the most beautiful camps we’ve ever experienced. (Also at the bottom is a slide show including the grizzly bears and two photos of Spike enjoying a soak.)
“Grizzlies visit our campsite at Brooks Lake!”
Larry soon arrives and we sit outside in camp chairs and visit while the river tumbles past in front of us. Larry lives in Riverton. He used to lead dudes, sometimes involving 50-60 horses, on trails up into the Absaroka Mountains where they would camp for a few days. He had to give up riding horses due to health problems which he still battles. Two recent surgeries prevented us from camping next to each other this year as we had hoped.
It’s great to see him again!
Before Larry leaves for home, we promise each other to keep in touch and to camp together at Falls Campground the next time Bridget and I visit Wyoming. (The crew and I camped there recently.)
What started with a chilly morning became a full day warmed by good people and sunshine!
rvsue
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