Wild Horse Canyon Road

I am camped in the mountains (7300’ elevation) overlooking Green River, a small town in southern Wyoming. The directions to this site were quite simple: drive on Wild Horse Canyon Road past the Hampton Inn and continue up the road beyond the pavement to the top of the hill. At first, I was worried that the road up the hill would be steep, but it was not. The gradual grade was bumpy but fairly easy. Once at the top, a dirt road cuts off to the right where there are several campsites within a half mile. At that point, the road becomes deeply rutted and plunges more steeply down.

I chose a big wide campsite that looks directly down on Interstate 80, Green River and the railroad tracks. Due to the distance, the road noise isn’t bad, and the sound of the trains was soothing to wake up to. The gravel road on top of the mountain goes about 30-some miles, and there are reportedly wild horses to be seen. I chose to remain at my campsite, to read, and to prepare a supper of scrambled eggs with fried tortillas, onion, and tomato.

As evening crept in, I could see a couple of small bumps on the horizon on top of the next crest. My binoculars confirmed that the bumps were actually two wild horses. Elvis and I set off on a walk along the road and were able to get close enough to the horses that we were both getting a little nervous. I think the horses are probably used to fending themselves from coyotes and wolves. Elvis must have seemed a strange-looking canine that they weren’t going to mess around with. The bigger horse started approaching us, stamping feet. We decided that we were close enough (although a better camera with zoom would have captured the moment), so we slowly backed away and then and then turned around back to the campsite. Both parties seemed satisfied with the conclusion.

Just before turning in, I noticed a large fire off in the distance, creating considerable smoke. I asked an older couple passing by on an ATV if they knew about it and whether it was anything to be concerned about. Yes, they said, it’s about a three-hour drive to that fire, and you can rest easy tonight. I would never have guessed that the fire was more than 100 miles away, but I did sleep well.

In the morning, temperatures had cooled off to the lower 40’s, and I could smell the fairly strong odor of smoke for the first time during my trip. By the time I finished breakfast and coffee, the odor was gone. Nevertheless, this stop will be a short one. We will continue south.