Monday, November 7, 2011

Wild Horse Hunt

Welcome to Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour. We heard about this area from the local Chamber of Commerce Visitor's Center and picked up a brochure about it. We had to do this. It's a self-guided trip which begins just north of Rock Springs Wyoming and should take about 1.5 hours to travel across. The total traveling distance is approximately 24 miles on gravel road. It is very scenic.

The brochure warns that high-clearance vehicles are recommended and weather conditions should be monitored because they change rapidly making it important to be prepared at all times. They recommend: full tank of gas, spare tire, cell phone and binoculars. They also recommend that you inform someone of your destination and planned time of return.

Well, it made me (Jo) nervous to say the least but we just had to do it to see the wild horses running free, plus we had been on roads much more rougher than these while four-wheeling. This is Pilot Butte. There is a trail going up to the top but we passed on doing that.



The road goes across the top of the White Mountain. The Rock Springs BLM monitors the area and is the headquarters for the Wild Horse Program in Wyoming.  They estimate there are about 2,500 wild horses in the Rock Springs District.


 To thwart overpopulation the BLM conducts a periodic census of the wild horses to determine how many must be removed to control the number of horses able to sustain with the vegetation in the area and prevent overpopulation and protect their overall health.

Unbeknownst to us they had just finished their survey and roundup of wild horses (lucky us), we didn't get to see any; we did, however, get to view some beautiful scenery. Hope you enjoy looking at more of Wyoming wilderness.

Check out the hole in the rock at the bottom center of this formation.

On the downhill slope heading towards the town of Green River we encountered this lovely rock formation with a fire hydrant in the foreground. Something tells me we are looking at the location of some future development (hotel or apartments ??)

Back on I-80 heading back to Rock Springs we ran across these tunnels going east and west. It was a high mountain and must have been interesting watching the constrution of them. Here's a website if you would like more information about the area:  www.TourWyoming.com.    

No comments:

Post a Comment