Greetings,
June 19, 2011 – Stinking Creek to Murphy Ranch – Today we crossed the North Platte River and rejoined the Pony Express Trail southwest of Casper Wyoming just west of emigrant gap. We rode across the Bates Creek Stock Driveway. In Wyoming, there are various stock driveways that are still used to move animals from winter pastures to summer pastures. On the Big Horn 100, there are two – the Dugway and one that I cannot remember the name of that goes from Trapper Creek on the valley floor to Jack's Creek on the Big Horn plateau. Today we rode down the Bates Creek stock driveway that goes from the Shirley Basin to the North Platte River.
We crossed the North Platte on an old highway bridge that is now used for pedestrian travel. The North Platte is flooding and the river is very swift. The bridge pylons made substantial wakes in the water and I would not want to swim across the North Platte under these conditions. However, one rider's horse got away and swam the river twice. The story is that the horse crossed the river once and then ran scared and ran hard. The horse was spooked by something real or imagined and was running wild. The horse then became cornered by a fence line and jumped into the river at a full gallop with a magnificent splash, swam back across, and disappeared into the sage-covered hills. After an hour or so of searching, the horse was found and reunited with its owner.
We rejoined the trail just west of Emigrant Gap and our lunch stop was near the Devil's Backbone on the Oregon Trail. We should be able to follow the Pony Express Trail the rest of the way to Virginia City except for a short section in Eastern Utah through Salt Lake City where there is too much development to ride safely. Our detour through the Shirley Basin was a very nice diversion but now we are back on the historic trails.
We are taking a two-day break to resupply. The main camp is in Alcova Wyoming but some of us have moved to the Natrona County Fairgrounds in Casper. Frank and Whiskey are in a large field and roaming freely for the first time in several weeks. We plan to purchase hay and do laundry in Casper. We shopped for groceries today at a Smiths and it was nice to visit a real food store with an acceptable produce selection. We plan to rejoin the main group on Tuesday and head back out on the trail on Wednesday. The next five days of riding will take us across Wyoming to Fort Bridger.
Best Regards,
Tom N
June 19, 2011 – Stinking Creek to Murphy Ranch – Today we crossed the North Platte River and rejoined the Pony Express Trail southwest of Casper Wyoming just west of emigrant gap. We rode across the Bates Creek Stock Driveway. In Wyoming, there are various stock driveways that are still used to move animals from winter pastures to summer pastures. On the Big Horn 100, there are two – the Dugway and one that I cannot remember the name of that goes from Trapper Creek on the valley floor to Jack's Creek on the Big Horn plateau. Today we rode down the Bates Creek stock driveway that goes from the Shirley Basin to the North Platte River.
We crossed the North Platte on an old highway bridge that is now used for pedestrian travel. The North Platte is flooding and the river is very swift. The bridge pylons made substantial wakes in the water and I would not want to swim across the North Platte under these conditions. However, one rider's horse got away and swam the river twice. The story is that the horse crossed the river once and then ran scared and ran hard. The horse was spooked by something real or imagined and was running wild. The horse then became cornered by a fence line and jumped into the river at a full gallop with a magnificent splash, swam back across, and disappeared into the sage-covered hills. After an hour or so of searching, the horse was found and reunited with its owner.
We rejoined the trail just west of Emigrant Gap and our lunch stop was near the Devil's Backbone on the Oregon Trail. We should be able to follow the Pony Express Trail the rest of the way to Virginia City except for a short section in Eastern Utah through Salt Lake City where there is too much development to ride safely. Our detour through the Shirley Basin was a very nice diversion but now we are back on the historic trails.
We are taking a two-day break to resupply. The main camp is in Alcova Wyoming but some of us have moved to the Natrona County Fairgrounds in Casper. Frank and Whiskey are in a large field and roaming freely for the first time in several weeks. We plan to purchase hay and do laundry in Casper. We shopped for groceries today at a Smiths and it was nice to visit a real food store with an acceptable produce selection. We plan to rejoin the main group on Tuesday and head back out on the trail on Wednesday. The next five days of riding will take us across Wyoming to Fort Bridger.
Best Regards,
Tom N
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