Swallow Canyon

 We drove to Brown's Park, a wildlife refuge in the northeast corner of Utah.  But to get there, you have to drive up into Wyoming, then take a partially rough, partially paved road for about 20 miles. This road takes you to the John Jarvie Historical Ranch (Utah - John Jarvie Historical Ranch | BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (blm.gov).) as well as Swallow Canyon, where cliff swallows nest, and on to the Brown's Park Wildlife Refuge and Visitor Center.  From the visitor center, you take a gravel county road on a swinging bridge over the Colorado River, and continue on a gravel road up through Crouse Canyon for the next 40 miles.  This was an awesome drive.

Have you ever driven on a swinging bridge?  This was the first time I have ever driven on a swinging bridge.

Crossing the Colorado River

Once across the Colorado River, you just keep driving at a reasonably safe speed of up to 25mph.  I thought it was funny to see a "Welcome to Utah" sign on this narrow, rocky road.

Here are some more pics of the drive

Here is a pic of the cliffs at Swallow Canyon.  Just imagine all the swallows nesting in the nooks and crannies.

Then it was on up through Crouse Canyon.  This was a wonderful drive through a narrow, gorgeous canyon.

Then a few days later, we attended a wildlife event where the scientists were capturing hummingbirds and analyzing them for weight, length, sex, and breed.  Then they would put a leg band on them.  First, the capture.  They put a weighted net above the hummingbird feeder and sat back about 30 feet.  Then when there were a few birds on the feeder, they would drop the net so the birds couldn't fly away.

Then the analysis.  The birds were placed in a mesh bag so they could not fly away

And the release

This was quite fun to watch.

INSPIRATION:

When someone comes to the area where we volunteer and wants to reserve a "float in" campsite, they come to a large white board near our rv and write their name on which campsite they want.  There are a total of 12 campsites.  Well, a few days ago, about 4:00 in the afternoon, I saw two ladies looking at the board then one of them started walking towards our rv to ask questions.  So I stepped out of the rv and she asked me if I could help her and her friend with the reservation process.  After answering their questions, the subject of the cost of the campsite came up.  Now keep in mind, they have already guided a raft for 7 miles by themselves and were looking to go a little farther down the river before setting up their tent and fixing their dinner.  So I asked them politely if either of them were old enough to have a national park senior pass.  They both laughed and the one lady said "son, we are old enough that we are proud of our ages."  So I said, "well now I'm curious, how old are you?"  The one lady said she was the young one at age 75, and her friend was 95.  NINETY FIVE years old guiding a raft down a river!!!!!  Then the older one spoke up and said she really won't be 95 until the day after tomorrow!!  Then she said to her younger friend "well let's get going so we can hit the rapids and get to our campsite to set up our tent!  NINETY FIVE YEARS YOUNG!!!!!!  Hats off to those to ladies; what an inspiration!