Day 38: Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge

Saturday
Well I made my cup of Kenya Miiri Coffee this morning and it tasted really nice.
Sally had a rest day today, so after doing the shopping at Walmart I took myself off to the Seedskadee Wildlife refuge. This refuge is on the Green River. So we have passed over from the Missouri watershed (i.e. the Missouri) to the Colorado Watershed. There is a large bit of land in between called the Red Desert, it has no outward drainage and retains all its water, what little there is of it. It is not well known, but is as big as Denali NP in Alaska. Although it appears to have nothing but sand and rock and dry grass is it very rich in minerals, producing significant percentages of USA's gas and oil. So a conflict of interest here. The Southern edge is marked by the Green river, which feeds into the Colorado at Canyonlands NP, near Moab. The refuge is there to support the native animals, Pronghorn (apparently there are 50,000 in the red Desert), Desert elk, Moose, Mustang, Sage Brush Quail and every raptor imaginable. So I had a great day visiting this place, but only saw a rabbit!. OK I saw some hawks and swans as well, but not any of the bigger mammals that I was hoping for. In conversation with a fisherman the moose come down to the river in the evening, but I had to get home for dinner. Within this refuge is the Lombard Ferry. This ferry was originally owned by the mountain men and used to transport emigrants across the Green river. At this point the Oregon Trail, the Morman Trail, the Overland Trail (to California) all meet at this river crossing. It is estimated that 400,000 people crossed here on their way to the West. That was interesting, so not a wasted day and I did enjoy getting out along the Green River.