I needed a good spot to stay where I could get out despite the rain coming. I needed to get back to Canada soon. There was not going to be a rain delay in leaving a spot if I could help it. So I was returning to my abandoned campground, where there would be no problem leaving a gravel pad in the rain.
But first a ‘real’ time update
I’m down in the USofA now, having gone all the way to Nevada to avoid the early heavy snow and cold, at least as of the week of November 6th. That’s as real time as you get here folks. The weather shooed me south much quicker than I’d hoped, so I’m not all planned out for what I am doing next. I am much warmer and drier now, although there is a good rainstorm just starting here in the bit of desert I’m parked in right now. I’ll be heading further south in Nevada eventually, but in the meanwhile I’ll recharge here figure out where I’m going next. And now, back to May 2022!
Getting out of my spot in Routt National forest was straight forward. Between the dry days and my addition of gravel to the wet area, I had no problem pulling out of the site and back onto the road. Driving down to the highway I saw my first pronghorn sheep. While we do have these in the deep south of Alberta, I had never seen one in my few countryside journeys there. They galloped ahead of me, and eventually jumped over at a gate that was lower than the fence between them and the highway. I wasn’t hurrying them along much, enjoying the site of them ahead of me.
My drive into Wyoming on what becomes the 789 is in mostly empty rolling plains. Other than a long stretch of construction stopping me for a while, there is little to report. I head west on Interstate 80 passing through the Great Divide Basin. This is an area if filled with water would be a large lake, but being a dry area, what water exists all ends up evaporating as it falls into the basin instead. It is a scrubby semi desert by my books, not looking like good cattle country at least where I am. It is empty however. Any public land here should be pretty empty for camping too. But the view isn’t that scenic in my books.. I stop for lunch and gas in Rock Springs. The terrain here is hillier with a bit of water, a bit more appealing. But the lunch was meh. I had been hoping for a great Mexican grill find, but only got something filling.
I continued west, then turned to the northwest on highway 30. As my travel today was a bit shorter, I had noted Fossil Butte National Monument as a possible stop along the way. Seeing that it wasn’t far off the road, I turn and head for the facility. It turns out to be a mostly indoor display of some of the many fossils that have been found here. While the building is not of the scale of the Royal Tyrell in Alberta, it is packed with some spectacular fossils, especially aquatic and plant. I get to talking to one of the people that had been working on a specimen and mention I found a plant fossil on Vancouver Island. I bring it in to show them and they asked if I could wait a minute as their colleges would be interested in seeing this. I guess my plant fossil is pretty good if they found it worthy to show someone else. They were not really able to add any information about my specimen though, other than what I already know.
I drive on, reaching Idaho and McCammon. My abandoned campground, formerly known as Indian Rocks, is just on the other side of Interstate 15, north of McCammon. Driving in, I have the luxury of knowing the campground and what spots are best. There are a few other people camped here, being the Memorial Day long weekend now. There are still lots of good spots to pick from though, so I set up in a bit of a hollow, more out of the noise from the nearby interstate. The scenery this time is different. Last time, I was running away from the last vestiges of winter. Now, it was full out spring here, with glorious yellow flowers blooming everywhere. Even the hills in the distance had splashes of yellow on them.
I decided to stay one day, using the time to explore a bit around McCammon in the improving weather following a rainy night. The area around the Interstate junction is your typical small service area, with the Flying J dominating the area. You can see the remains of another gas station that didn’t cut it in the fierce competition for business. The town proper is a short walk away from the Interstate, turning south down what was the main highway prior to the Interstate going in.
The town is a on the bubble in terms of size – not quite big enough to have a grocery store. But Pocatello is only 30 kilometers away – hard to compete with that. But the Harkness Hotel restoration is nice, just needs some more life in it.
The best find for me was the sign and old fuel pump collection. I know the Quaker State sign from when I was a kid – the same oil was advertised at the local gas station my Dad filled up at.
Sign and pump collection in McCammon
You know you are starting to get old when things you remember as a kid start showing up as historical bits in a museum. Hey kids, remember rotary phones? Of course you don’t, that’s way before your time!
Several buildings in town incorporate cobbles in the walls
I noticed a fondness for cobbles embedded in concrete as a major wall component here. Even some concrete barriers were made of the stuff. I would guess there was some local expertise and a lot of large cobble rock available somewhere near to make this building material prominent here.
I returned to my camp, with showers threatening. I could see new snow in the hills. It seems winter had not quite released its grip here yet. Tomorrow was the long drive back into Canada. That was a pretty blah drive with overcast and occasional rain, as the picture below shows.
Grey drive in Montana
There was snow too at the higher elevations but fortunately it did not stick to the road. Back home, it was going to be a long run of things to do to get ready for my next adventures. But there were a few explorations along the way. See my next entry for some upgrades and some adventures.
