A Wyoming Discovery: Dinosaur Bone Beds

ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING – More than 100 million years ago, a fast-moving river crossed a plain. At some point, the river dried up and many dinosaurs died in the drought, including many that fell in the riverbed.

Then heavy rain came, and a flood washed all the bones of the dead dinosaurs down the river. When the water slowed, the bones collected in the mud and sand at the bottom of the river, in a sort of dinosaur bone “logjam.”

This “bone logjam” then petrified. In 1909, millions of years later, a paleontologist discovered it in the hills near the town of Jensen, Utah. In 1915, Woodrow Wilson declared it a national monument. It is now known simply as “the dinosaur bone beds.”

Here we are today…

(Entrance is free with a national park pass. A shuttle service takes you to the bone beds. And the bone beds are indoors and air conditioned.)

Another Day… Another Campground…

Last night, we camped in a small town called Rangely, Colorado. We slept in the town park for $20 a night.

Today, we packed up, left Rangely, and spent the day on very desolate backroads. This is Scenic Byway US-191 through the Flaming Gorge Reservoir…

Tonight, we’re camping in a town called Rock Springs, Wyoming. We’re sleeping at the county fairgrounds. Our camp costs $11 a night.

(We love camping in small towns… either in the town park or the county fairgrounds. It’s as close as you can get to “urban camping.”)

Rock Springs must be a big deal because the county fairgrounds here are enormous.

There’s no event happening this week, so the vast campground is empty. (There are several hundred campsites but only three campers here, including us.)

The bathrooms are decent, and we have electric and water hookups.

The Wi-Fi is the best thing about this campground. The whole fairground has been wired up with high speed Wi-Fi and so, for the first time in a week, we have access to the internet.

The kids are so happy and want to stay here a week.

There’s only one downside. There’s no shade anywhere and we don’t have A/C. It could get pretty hot here during the day tomorrow. We’ll see…

– Tom Dyson

P.S. Today I had to change the tire on our trailer. It suddenly became threadbare. This is odd because it happened so quickly, and it did not happen to the tire on the other side of the trailer. The wheel must’ve fallen out of alignment? I don’t know, but hopefully we’ll get another 5,000 miles on the new tire…

P.P.S. Dinosaur National Monument is so remote, it’s an officially designated “International Dark Sky Park” with over 4,500 stars visible to the naked eye at night.

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

One reader is surprised at the empty campgrounds Tom found in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and suggests the Dysons try geocaching… but another reader offers an explanation… an alternative winter plan…

Reader comment: I can’t believe what you experienced with no one in the campground. That’s a shame, only because people are missing the beauty of our country. At least they may have a good vicarious experience via your travels!

Maybe your kids should do some geo-caching on the road? Readers could follow, participate, and help enrich your blog.

I know you don’t write from a political angle and I appreciate that. There’s enough hate in America right now to make us all choke, and my continued prayers are that – through openness, dialogue, and honest debate – we can, maybe, get to a place where all views are appreciated, and the freedoms of our Constitution are respected.

Reader comment: I went camping in Canyonlands years ago in July and there was no one around either, more than likely because it is about 103 degrees every day this time of year. Summer in Canyonlands and winter in British Columbia? You’re a little unusual! My wife won’t go for those temps.

We go to Moab most years in late September and October to mountain bike. It’s ideal and you can boondock on Bureau of Land Management land for free. We go to southern Baja and kiteboard for the winter season, December through April, and then back to the U.S. in the spring to Arizona and Utah. It’s a terrific scene there in La Ventana, with a load of great folks wintering there year after year.

If you can’t get into Canada, you might want to come down there and take kiteboard lessons. It’s loaded with really great Canadians.

Meanwhile, another reader disagrees with someone who recommended that Tom “listen to Dr. Fauci”…

Reader comment: I read every postcard and commend you and your family for what you are doing. I also commend you all for NOT wearing a useless mask. One person commented to listen to Dr Fauci. I am guessing you know better. I personally love Colorado and Utah. Such beauty and different terrain.

A reader believes the Utah terrain Tom referenced in “Spending the Night Alone in a Martian Landscape” was actually created in the aftermath of the Biblical narrative of Noah’s Ark…

Reader comment: Love the Postcards. I have been reading since China. But I have to laugh every time I read that it took millions of years for these formations to happen. Imagine the worldwide flood spoken of in the Bible. Tectonic plates splitting, mountain ranges being created (some now hidden below the oceans). As the water receded, the earth became cooler with so much volcanic ash in the air. Noah and his family exited to a world where the north and south poles had much more ice than now (the Ice Age). But God allowed the Ark to land at the warmest part of the planet.

This basically means that a tremendously violent thing happened to the Earth a few thousand years ago and we are just witnessing the recovery from that event. Check out videos that discuss Mt. St. Helens incident and the landscape changes that have happened in only a few years. Just food for thought.

Finally, others share new travel recommendations for the Dyson family’s road trip…

Reader comment: Hello Dyson family. Thanks for the journal and photos of the incredible Dyson family journey. Like many others have expressed, your adventures trigger my own memories of travels – the photo of the kids swimming in the Colorado River reminded me of a similar experience with my sons.

You are heading north to Yellowstone country now. Might suggest two stops, amongst the many possible, to consider in Wyoming. The first is the Buffalo Bill Center for the West in Cody. It is a world-class museum with any number of educational, kid-friendly activities. It can be an all-day visit.

The second recommendation is a visit to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. This is a reminder of irrational sentiment run amok (not unlike the COVID paranoia going on today) directed toward American citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. Nearly 150,000 Japanese American citizens were forcibly relocated from their mostly West Coast homes by executive order of President Roosevelt in 1944 to various relocation centers, located primarily in the intermountain West. Heart Mountain Relocation Center is one of the most preserved of these centers and is memorialized by the National Park Service, with an interpretative center detailing this sad event and time in American history. The center is located off Highway 14 and is about 14 miles northeast of Cody.

Then there is Chief Joseph Highway which merges with the Beartooth Highway – one of the most spectacular drives in America – heading to (or from) the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. And while in the area, check out Red Lodge, Montana. That little, off the beaten-path, gem of a ski town could possibly be a “plan B” for your winter layover should Canada not open to Americans. Safe travels!

P.S. Winter comes early to Yellowstone country. Almost a guarantee there will be measurable snowfall in September – I’ve seen it as early as Labor Day. Plan accordingly!

Reader comment: Hi Tom and family – I really enjoy reading Postcards from the Fringe – and all your family adventures. The article of the couple that ski their “faces off” during winter and paddle rivers in summer strongly resonates with me!! Your prescience in late 2018 relating to buying gold is highly impressive.

Tom’s note: As always, thanks for the messages! Please keep writing us at [email protected].