The Powder River Basin lies between the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountains. Some of it lies within the Thunder Basin Grassland, although I'm not sure what that management designation does or does not represent. There are cattle and bison, prong horn and sage brush, crude oil and bituminous coal.
The sky is huge, the floor is olive gray, and the horizon is a continuous circle. Mesas and buttes and rolling prairie and occasional sandy river bottoms compete for space. I zigzagged my way from Casper north and east to Gillette and then southeast to Newcastle - I think I was trying to get a better sense of the wide-open multi-use landscape. And just lots of chances to observe antelope, drag lines, oil rigs, and trains, along with lots and lots of sage brush and short-grass prairie and the American Steppe.
2 comments:
Enjoying these posts and photos. Thanks. You appear to be traveling part of my old Gig Harbor/Iowa City commuting route, Seattle-Sioux Falls-Council Bluffs-Iowa City. Lots of memories.
My posts are running three weeks behind - not exactly live. You may recognize some other familiar places by the time I get us to Red Wing and turn around and come back! Maybe by this weekend.
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