Oregon ButtesOn Wednesday Bonnie and I drove down the back way on the Lander Cutoff to South Pass. It was a cloudy morning, enough that I thought the day would get worse and maybe rain by afternoon. The breeze had quite a chill to it. There was a lot of road equipment working, and it was in many sections. We'd just get around one road grader and go a ways and there would be another. There were about 6 graders, several dump trucks and rollers (which I don't know the name of them). So for a while it was slow going. They are really getting the road into the best shape it has ever been. Not like the old days for sure - when it was narrow, dirt, rutted with pot holes and boulders. You didn't go there when it rained. We walked the dogs at Little Sandy Creek and there was a quite large camp of half a dozen trailers with horse trailers and more stuff around. We saw a girl riding her horse bareback with her dog alongside.
We got to the Atlantic Merc to meet Sandra just on time about noon. Took some photos both inside and out. We ordered burgers. Afterwards we followed Sandra out to her new cabin off the Ft. Stambaugh road. We stopped first at the small guest cabin. It was potentially really cute, but had been neglected by the former owners and mice were living in the oven etc. They are going to add on to it and fix it up next summer so it will be livable. It sits in a nice aspen grove. Then on up the hill to the main cabin. I'm so sorry I spaced out taking some photos of it, because it is so nice, lots of big windows for the view. It also sits in the aspens and has a deck on the back. Sandra has it fixed really cute too, with red curtains. The kitchen is perfect sized. We visited there for a while then thought we should start back, since we wanted to find the Willie Hand Cart Site and go to South Pass City Historic Site.
So back down to the gate, Sandra gave us the combination to get out - she kidded us that it was a gated community. We found that the signage to the Hand Cart Site which used to be there was non existent, but I knew we had to go to Rock Creek and that was on the sign. Driving through the landscape was beautiful, so remote feeling expansive and immense. It was beginning to clear off and my weather prediction of rain wasn't very accurate after all, the wind was still cold.
We came to Rock Creek where the LDS church has set memorials and monuments to the members of the Willie Hand Cart Company who died there in an early winter storm - 77 out of over 400, so about a quarter of them perished there. We walked around. Then decided to try and find two more nearby sites, Rocky Ridge and The Rescue Site. We drove toward them but could see no evidence of markers or signs. On the way back Bonnie spotted a tall monument over on a hill, but we couldn't see a way up, so didn't try to get there - maybe next time since it was getting late.
We drove back out and went over to the South Pass City Historic Site. Shopped a little at the gift shop, and when I went out to get my purse from the car Bonnie did a very nice thing and made me of gift of the things I picked out by paying for them for taking her around today and getting our lunch. Thank you for being so thoughtful Bonnie. And then went in to the South Pass City Historic Site Museum being restored by the State. It is really nicely done, but I'm not sure which way I like it better - all restored, or the way I first saw it in its more weathered state. We sort of hurried since it was already nearly 6 p.m. and we had the drive home. So we headed on home in the evening light, back across the Cutoff. All the roadwork was finished for the day, and the road was terrific. It was a wonderful special day, I really enjoyed it very much and especially was grateful to spend time with Bonnie and getting to know her better
