Moondance

           So I’ve been in Wyoming for a little over a month now…no complaints, really, besides the fact that the wind is terrible. I do miss interacting with people from time to time, but that’s usually on my days off when I can go into town, get on the Internet, and see that there is actually a world full of people outside of Wyoming. Other than that, I’m keeping busy with fieldwork, TRYING to run in the mornings (motivation…dropping…can’t…keep running alone through such…barren landscape), reading/drawing (doing that A LOT), and meditating.

            We’ve started sampling a new section of river outside of Seedskadee. We’re still on the Green River, but we are sampling it above the Fontenelle Dam, which creates this HUGE reservoir, which was recently emptied out to prepare for the snowmelt. Snowmelt accounts for a LOT of water here and this year’s snowpack was 200 – 300% of last year’s. So that means that the rivers are flowing high, fast, and COLD. This is good and bad. Since the water is flowing so swiftly, we get done relatively quickly, but since it’s so high, some of the latrine sites that the otters use are being washed away. AND ALL OF THE SNOW HASN’T EVEN MELTED YET. Wyoming has crazy weather, man.

            Where we are sampling on the upper Green River is actually quite pretty. There are a decent amount of trees (cottonwoods, willows, alders, and some evergreens) and we can see the mountains in the distance pretty clearly. After all, we’re only 169 miles away from Yellowstone (SO CLOSE). There are also some really beautiful cliffs and buttes that always make me smile…and get a crick in my neck from staring up at them. There are moose (we saw 5 today), Mule deer, and birds galore, but we aren’t really finding any otter scat. Brady said this happened last year when the snowmelt came through. The otters follow the fish and, when the water is high, the fish go to quieter pools…pools that we can’t get to in the raft. At least, that’s the theory. So we are currently floating down the river and checking sites that SHOULD have otter poop, but don’t. Rather disheartening. However, on the VERY LAST DAY, I found a really smelly, fresh scat, so it wasn't a total waste. 

            There is a bright side to this tragedy. The section of river we’re sampling is near the bustling, thriving metropolis of La Barge, populated by 431 people at an elevation of 6600 ft. I think I have more friends on Facebook than there are people in this town (which makes me want to go through and see who I should de-friend…is that bad?). There are ranches all over the place and the “houses” in town are actually trailers...but La Barge has one HUGE redeeming feature. The Moondance Diner. This diner is a hole in the wall joint with a jukebox, funny signs, and posters of older musicians (they even have something from Woodstock). It hearkens back to the days of cross country road trips with nothing but one small suitcase with all the personal belongings you’ll need, the windows literally rolled down because your car didn’t come with A/C, and your favorite cassette in the tape player. And the FOOD IS AMAZING. I’ve eaten there twice now and I LOVE IT. I’ve had a Magnetar Melt (hamburger, sautéed onions, and cheese on rye) and a Veggie Melt (broccoli, pepper, onion, and mushroom with Swiss on a hoagie) with French fries (HOMEMADE…yeah, be jealous). Both were excellent, and I already have something in mind to try the next time I go. But the best things (so far) are the milkshakes and the Green River soda. The milkshakes are legit. They make them right there behind the counter with ice cream and fruit. They have banana (personal favorite), strawberry (good), peanut butter, Milky Way, caramel, chocolate, and raspberry, to name a few. I WANT TO TRY THE PEANUT BUTTER AND THE RASPBERRY ONES SO BADLY. Then there’s the Green River soda. Evidently, there was a brewery that made beer off the shores of the Green River until Prohibition started, so it switched to soda. This soda, which is EMERALD GREEN, rivaled Coke and Pepsi. When Prohibition ended, they switched back to beer, but it fell through. Their soda, however, survived and is currently being sold in 4 states (sadly, not Georgia). It’s really tasty and refreshing, kind of citrus-y with some grenadine or something. It’s absolutely wonderful as a float, and I’ve never really liked floats! Yeah, this diner has it all. No wonder it’s home to Wyoming’s #1 burger (the Mountain Man, which Brady had and loved) according to some big magazine. If anyone ever comes to Wyoming, VISIT THIS DINER. 

            So yeah, that’s life right now. OH, we FINALLY got our own washer and dryer! Now Brady and I won’t have to wear the same field clothes for 2 weeks because we have to wait to use the bunkhouse’s washer and dryer! It’s the little things that make me happy.