Guernsey State Park and the Silt Run is on

The lake is down as far as it can go with the silt run in full force. No good for water sports but still a great time to watch wildlife or hike the trails. Also nice time for a picnic in one of the old time CCC shelters. Looks like the lake will be full by the end of July, and water sports time again.

 Family  heading to  the shelter at Long Canyon for a picnic

From a recent hike in the park - Near Brimmer Point

The view from Sitting Bull Shelter

Love watching the Bluebirds in all the new houses in the park

While the lake is nothing more than a river this post has a few shots I took in the park the past couple of weeks. 

Nice little one - yearling Mule Deer

Small Rattlesnake crossing the road

Cost to Build the Dam

The Dam as seen from the top of Spotted-Tail Mountain

Planning the dam at Guernsey took the Bureau of Reclamation several years, and when it was ready, the project stayed a blueprint for nearly ten years. At long last the sixty-eighth Congress of the United States allocated $800,000 for the construction. The bill was passed December 5, 1924, and the works were in place for construction.

Guernsey Lake - Photo from near the boat trailer parking area for the main boat dock

 Utah Construction from Salt Lake City was the only bidder.  Their bid of $1,200,000 was accepted and signed in early May of 1925. By late May, the company was at work. The work was started and the additional $400,000 needed was picked up by the Bureau until Congress appropriated more money for the completion of the dam later on in the session. By the time the dam was complete, the cost had run to $2,344,000.

Power Plant - Dam - and Gatehouse Spillway, below the dam

Read more about the park in my book  - See it here. 

Golden Eagle

Watching and taking photos of wildlife in Wyoming is one of my favorite pastimes. This week I was more than excited to find a pair of Golden Eagles. I have a few photos of Bald Eagles from the park but these are the first goldens I have seen.

 They are spectacular.

 These photos are from about 300 yards, closest I could get in the rugged area.  I was able to snap about two dozen photos, but heavy breathing from this older and somewhat out of shape man left several pretty fuzzy and unusable. I should mention it was a great hike.

Color enhanced

Frost in the Park

Nothing like a wonderful frosty morning in the park. I love summer when I can go out in shorts and a teeshirt, but winter does afford some views of nature that cannot be reproduced in areas without the four seasons we have here in Wyoming.

Below the dam the red cliffs are spectacular in the morning light

This morning's trip was along Lakeshore Drive on the east side of the lake. 

The view from Sitting Bull Shelter built by the CCC in the 1930s and still stunning

If the weatherman is correct I may have some deep snow photos coming this week.

Turkeys in the frosted grass

From the boat dock - Look close and you can see Laramie Peak

Frosted Sagebrush

Art on the ice

A Bit of Snow and Lakeshore Drive

Three or four inches of snow last night, guess it was time. Most is melted this evening which means we will be out for a hike in the park Thursday or Friday. 

Meanwhile, work continues along Lakeshore Drive as workers seal cracks and asphalt patch several areas.

It’s still a great time to visit the park, for us, 50-degree hoodie sweatshirt weather is a perfect hiking day.

The new wall on Lakeshore Drive is terrific - The men of the CCC would approve

Fall also brings some of the year’s best sunrises and sunsets. I have only heard of the sunrises, but I am witness to some great sunsets. 

Anything Floats and the Slit Run is Coming Up

We enjoyed watching the anything that floats, boat race last weekend at the lake.

Fun, funny and great weather. Sponsored by Tri-City Parks and Rec and the Guernsey State Park staff the race has been going on for several years and is always a crowd pleaser.

Not much time left until the annual silt run and the lowering of the lake. It’s a nice time to get out and enjoy the park. And after the water is lowered - enjoy the trails, picnic shelters and the Museum.

The enchanting CCC steps of Red Cliff Trail

Take a look here at my new book on Guernsey State Park.

The book is available on Amazon, from my blog site and in Guernsey State Park's CCC Museum. Check it out, nearly 200 photos with lots of park history, folktales along with things to do and see in the park.

A park must see - View from the Castle

 I like the looks of the book much better than the eBook, would look great on your coffee table or at the office.

A park for all ages to enjoy - On the path at the Castle

A Few Hours on the Lake

Raindrops on the water

Leaf on the water

Often beauty can be found in the smallest of things. We spent a wonderful afternoon at Black Canyon Point recently and I snapped a few photos of everyday things.

Playing Fetch

Small wildlife in the park

Wonder what stories this old campfire could tell?

Hard at work in the park

Love watching these guys dive and then pop back up

Guernsey State Park 100 Posts and Still Kicking

The Wonderful Civilian Conservation Corps steps on the Brimmer Point to Newell Bay Trail

I started this blog in January of 2014 - this is blog post number 100. Another 25, or so,  page openings and the blog will hit 3,000. Not bad, an average of 30 views per post. Hope these pages get a few more people excited about spending time in Guernsey State Park.

This evening we took a wonderful hike on Davis Bay Trail, starting at the Brimmer Point Bridge. After the hike, we drove over to the west boat dock to catch the sunset.

Now that was a pretty nice evening, and  a good way to work out my considerable aches and pains from spending too many hours bent over working on the lawn and garden today. I will do anything to come up with an excuse to head out to the park.

That's it post number 100.

As I mentioned earlier this week the wildflowers are spectacular this year

I have always found this rocky knob interesting - looks like a spot for a medieval fortress

View from Davis Bay Trail

The Sunset - Goodnight from Guernsey State Park

Guernsey State Park and the CCC

My book on the Civilian Conservation Corps and the building of Guernsey State Park looks like it will be available late next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I had to reformat after looking at the first proofs (I didn’t like the way some of the photos were placed and with over 200 hundred of them it was quite a chore) and it took me about fifty hours – ouch.

I will post more next week when the book will be live and for sale.

In the process of walking in the park, pretending to do research for my book, we found a number of long forgotten CCC camp sites. Fun to find, and it often took a bit of research to date things back to the 1930s. From this site, we were able to date a bottle to authenticate the time period to the CCC in the park.

We leave all artifacts, as found, but I do take many photos. Fun stuff. Hope you enjoy this little secret in the park.

When they start circling its time to go home

Brimmer Point

Brimmer Point

We took our first trip of the year up to Brimmer Point a few days ago.

View of Newell Bay from the bridge on Brimmer Point Trail

 I never get tired of the views from the point, spectacular in every direction.

The view from the Point

It always adds to the fun when some of our kids and grandkids who were up for the day come along.

The Vultures have been back in the park for about two weeks now. My wife and two granddaughters hiked down the trail from Brimmer Point to the trail bridge. This guy must have been hoping they wouldn't make it, they fooled him.