Rock Springs, Utah Magic

I realized I didn't want to go all the way to the Dixie National Forest in Utah from north central Nevada, and needed a hotel night. So I decided to go to Rock Springs, Wyoming for the night, and then take my time on the much shorter drive to the campsite I always go to in Dixie. 

My first exposure to Wyoming was driving back from the Twin Cities last summer, after crossing Minnesota and South Dakota, hitting Wyoming near sunset and taking a back road to a hotel in Casper. This was a terribly weird, lonely and forlorn drive, as I suspected (as I had been suspecting for months) that I might never see a certain person ever again. The combination of being in completely unfamiliar, endlessly huge and empty territory and having a sore heart gave that whole trip a poignant edge. 

I started to recall al of those feelings as I headed to Rock Springs, but I was generally in okay spirits. I stil had that somewhat new fundamental acceptance of reality, of my own state in relation to reality, and of the totality of everything. 

Wyoming is vast. The Big Sky is a beautiful place to get lost. 

The next day, I drove the scenic route down highway 191, through Flaming Gorge, the middle of nowhere Utah, about a seven hour drive. 

Pediocactus simpsonii 

Sedum sp. 

From Capitol Reef NP up to the campsite is a very rapid climb to 9000 feet from much lower. 

Pediocactus simpsonii up there also, half eaten. Hungry critters. 

This looks like it survived some fire damage. 

Unlike earlier in the spring, the other two times I have been here, this high summer season had other campers at this spot that I usually have entirely to myself. It was okay though, as they were mellow. I built a huge fire and used up all my firewood as the sun set, and sat up late as the stars came out.