Boring 1, Yellowstone

Boring 2, Mammoth

Boring 3, Tetons

Boring 4, Critters

Boring 5, Roadside Oddities

Boring 6, Vehicles

Boring 7, Wild Flowers

Boring 8, Geology

Boring 9, Idaho Ag

Boring 10, Craters of the Moon NM

Boring 11, Dinosaur NM

Boring 12, Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Boring 13, Ouray and Ridgeway, CO

First, fossil cabin near Medicine Bow, WY, made up totally of dinosaur bones from nearby Como Bluff archeological area.


Fossil Cabin, Medicine Bow, WY by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Closeup of cabin


Fossil Cabin closeup by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

The other claim to fame from this area is that the train robbery depicted in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid occurred just east of where this cabin was later built. And the movie was correct, the chairman of the railroad was named E.H. Harriman, the clerk who refused to open the baggage car was named Woodcock, and they really did blow the car to pieces. Unlike the movie, this area is all flat, sagebrush and desert.

Anybody play the computer game "Oregon Trail" when they were a kid? You might remember Soda Springs, Idaho. Got several things from there, not including the massive Potash mines. You can spot those on Google Maps.

Here's a observation post for a Cold War civil defense group called the Ground Observer Corps. Folks in northern states volunteered to spend 2 hours a day watching for Soviet Bombers. The program was terminated after radar coverage improved.

Ground Observer Corps


GOC Building, Soda Springs ID by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr



[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 6/10/2013 11:23p).]

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 6/30/2013 11:27p).]

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 6/30/2013 11:31p).]

Also at Soda Springs, some old wooden grain bins, built by stacking planks horizontally.


Old wooden grain elevators by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Lots of hot springs in the area, so in 1937 a guy decided he'd drill for hot water to run a swimming pool. He hit a pocket of hot water and CO2, and created a man-made geyser. Claimed to be the only man-made geyser in the world. They capped the well, put a timer on a valve, and now it goes off at the top of every hour.


Soda Springs man-made gyser by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Soda Springs man-made gyser by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 6/9/2013 11:04p).]

Did I mention the Oregon Trail? Here are some swales (ruts) of the California/Oregon Trail just east of Soda Springs.


Oregon Trail near Soda Springs ID by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

And a fun one. Near Arco, Idaho, is EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor) the first nuclear reactor to produce electricity. On December 21, 1951, they fired it up and lit 4 light bulbs (it was capable of much more) It is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, but we were early. Fortunately, they were giving someone a VIP tour and they let us in for a few minutes. Can you say 1950s Mad Scientist Movie?


EBR-1 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


EBR-1 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


EBR1 control room by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


EBR-1 generator and turbine by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

So it's the 1950s, Nuclear Energy is brand new, and it's going to save the world. Scientists are madly (pun intended) coming up with new uses for nuclear energy.

Say, I've got a great idea! Let's power a bomber with nuclear power! What could possibly go wrong?

On the grounds of EBR-1:


IMG_4507 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_4508 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


IMG_4509 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

So they actually came up with working steam turbine jet engines powered by nuclear reactors. They built test units on rail cars and tried them out in the desert. They were a little big. Note person standing between engines.


Nuclear bomber engines by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Nuclear Bomber Engine 2 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

That's the jet engine near the bottom, nearest to the camera.



nuclear jet engine by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

So there was expected to be a little radiation. To protect the ground crew, they came up with a shielded tug. You pilots stay in the plane, we'll be in the locomotive behind several inches of lead.


locomotive by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


shielded engine for nuclear bomber by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

And they actually built a hanger for the nuclear bomber that was never built. Your tax dollars at work. Photos above on the sign saying "The Plane That Never Was". You can see it on Google Maps. It's on the Idaho National Labs property, so I guess they have a use for it. Idaho National Labs is not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. This is coming from somebody from the Panhandle.


Nuclear bomber hanger by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

What can you say?


????? by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Your town probably discourages graffiti. In Arco, Idaho, it is a hallowed tradition.


Number Hill Sign by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Arco Number Hill by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

The school is Butte County School. Their mascot is the pirate. So they are the Butte Pirates. Make of that what you will.

At Idaho National Labs near Arco, they trained all the nuclear plant operators for the U.S. Navy. They may still, for all I know. The rumor started that the sailors trained on a buried nuclear submarine. True or not? In the Arco city park, the Hawkbill sail


USS Hawkbill, Arco, ID by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

The hull number 666 just completes the whole picture.

Moving to Utah, and Sheep Creek near Flaming Gorge. Marker at a grave in the middle of nowhere, another Butch Cassidy connection.


Along Sheep Creek Loop, Flaming Gorge, Utah by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

More on the amazing Sheep Creek Geologic Loop later. Flaming Gorge dam:


Flaming Gorge Dam by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

And now a special treat for fans of the John Wayne version of True Grit. At the end of the movie, Rooster Cogburn visits Mattie Ross at the Ross family homestead in west-central Arkansas. If the setting didn't look much like Arkansas, that's because it's just west of Ridgeway, Colorado. The buildings still stand.

In this photo, you are looking west toward the house and barn. The "cemetery" where Rooster and Mattie talked and Rooster jumped the fence, is at the top of the hill to the right.


Ross homestead from Movie "True Grit" by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Now rotate 180 degrees, the photo above is at your back, and this is what you see when you look east from the "Ross homestead". You'll see it in the film clip below.


View from "Ross Homestead", True Grit by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Now we drive around to the south side of the "Ross homestead". The house is out of the photo to the right, these are the barns. We're looking straight north to the "cemetery hill" and I'm betting the rail fence is the one Rooster Jumped.


Ross homestead from Movie "True Grit" by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

True Grit clip on YouTube. The house and barn are at the bottom of the hill, the barn near the cemetery is gone, and the long barn at the bottom of the hill in the clip is probably the rubble you see in the last photo.

If you're really into the movie, and want to see the filming locations near Ridgeway, Colorado, here's a low quality YouTube video that details the locations. They also have a web page at Colorado Vibes. There were lots of sites near Ridgeway and Ouray, and many are accessible to the public.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing

enjoyed

Appreciate the thread.

cool pics

your third picture or so about Skywatch...when my Grandpa died in the mid 70's we found a book in his stuff about this. He must have been one of the participants.

It had silhouettes of many possible enemy planes so the skywatcher could identify them. This was in central Texas.

Really good pics, hope to make it up that way someday

Allen76-

This program was a Cold War program. There was a similar program during WWII. It's possible your granddad was a volunteer on the earlier program.

Cool photos.

Arco has a sweet cheap motel.

I've been to Arco. That mountain with the class years was really cool. I had some pics but my wife though that "Format" on our camera meant to change the format of the files...nope, it meant to format the SD card...

Canyon...I think this book was WWII because grandpa was a sniper in WWI and his two sons (my uncles, both Aggies) were in WWII. So it makes sense that he was home at that time.