Day 4

We are still following the path the Oregon Trail Emigrants took west across the country. 

Today, Day 4, after breakfast we drove around Fort Caspar (Fort name is spelled that way).
We are going to try to cover more distance today. 
We have both been thinking that if it had been us back in those days, we would have stopped in what was to become the states of Kansas or Nebraska and not gone on to Oregon. That wasn't an option for the nearly 400,000 people who traveled over parts of the trail in the 1800s.

First major stop was Independence Rock, halfway point for the pioneers.  There was a nice center there with lots of historical items.

 We walked...

and we walked...

and we walked...

to the Rock.

  Roger (after double knee surgery a year ago) climbed up the rock all the way to the top!

He texted me from the top that coming down might be interesting.

A couple little boys who went up with their dad, slid down on their butts where it was too steep to walk.   Roger made it down, but much more carefully than the 2 little boys.

 I was still too sore from yesterday's two climbs to even attempt it. There are no trails--it is just climbing on a monster rock. I did, however, walk around the rock on the path pictured below. It stays fairly level.  That was my kind of walk.

 I did climb up two feet on the rock and have my picture taken. Roger did well to make it look like I was really accomplishing something!

Back on the Interstate, we were looking for information about South Pass, a way the pioneers got over the continental divide. I saw a sign that said South Pass City and suggested turning in. We ended up wandering all around mountains on a gravel road that became a dirt road that became a one lane dirt road.  Finally found a place that would remind a person of Landusky, MT. We stopped for our picnic lunch.  Roger found a way back to the highway and we stayed on paved roads after that.

The drive across the part of Wyoming from there on was just sagebrush. No scenery, no historical sights, just sagebrush and more sagebrush and more sagebrush! We decided I would NEVER have survived being on one of those wagon trains.

Next planned stop was Soda Springs. 

It was a disappointment.

And Steamboat Springs we had read about in the history book is now underwater, so another disappointment.

Then more sagebrush! Found a place to get a huge, giant (they called it a single scoop) ice cream cone. Nice break from the sagebrush.
We glanced at a few more markers along the road, but we didn't stop for graves anymore or for Indian battles.  Being raised in Montana, we felt we know Indian history reasonably well.

Arrived in Pocatello, ID later than we usually drive, but ate supper and planned tomorrow's trek.
We covered a lot of distance today.