Birds, Rockets, and Spikes
Great night at the Baugh Motel in Logan, UT. So good that I slept in until 7:00 AM. After a large, complimentary breakfast, I was finally on my way again by 8:30 AM and headed towards the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge center near Brigham City. My thoughts were this was going to be a quick stop but I ended up on site for about 2.5 hours. And easily could have stayed longer. There are a couple of walking loops right out of the visitor center (one boardwalk/paved and a longer one that isn’t). There is also a driving loop with designated stops that is quite a distance from the visitor scenter (10 miles?).
Birds that I spotted in large numbers included Western Grebes, Clark’s Grebes, American White Pelicans, White-faced Ibis’, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Barn Swallows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, American Coots, Cinnamon Teals, and American Avocets. Less abundant species included Caspian Terns, Forster’s Terns, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Black-necked Stilts, and Spotted Sandpipers. New species for me included the Clark’s Grebe, White-faced Ibis, and Forster’s Tern. I’m still really struggling with photo quality but here are a few of the better ones from the visit.
After leaving the wildlife refuge much later than I had anticipated, I headed towards the Golden Spike National Historical Park. It’s a relatively short distance and I should be there in no time, right? Right? No, not right. Apparently, Northrop Grumman decided to test the “Most Powerful Segmented Solid Rocket Booster Ever Built” on the same day I was passing their launch site. And it is a serious spectator sport. After seeing what looked like smoke from a fire (picture taken while riding) I came upon westbound traffic that had been stopped by the local sheriff and huge parking lots full of cars that were slowly emptying. Emphasis on slowly. Roughly half an hour of stopped in traffic in 90-degree heat. I was not amused. Although a little amused at watching the people leaving the event. Quite a range of ages and social group (couples, families, individuals, etc.) but all had a bit of a nerd vibe while also having a bit of a party feel. If it hadn’t been so hot, I would have been more intrigued.
Smoke from rocket launch.
I finally made it through the madness and arrived at the Golden Spike National Historical Park. And, meh. Not my favorite of the National Park Service sites. The exhibit area is small but it does have some interesting and informative items. And there is a recreation of the original event to include recreations of the original train engines. And there are a couple of hiking trails. So, maybe my impression was tainted by the recent traffic nightmare.
But, I couldn’t dawdle as I was hoping to get to the Minidoka National Historical Site today as well. So off and heading north. Before getting to the site however I spotted a BLM campground (free) and called it a day. It was a small campground with eight sites – three were occupied by what looked like permanent squatters, another two were ‘occupied’ by people reserving sites for the 4th of July weekend. So, I grabbed one of the three remaining sites.