3 mile walk for nothing

9/14/2020

But first.

This morning for a few steps, I followed in the footsteps of those brave westward looking pioneers from years gone by.

We stopped at Scotts Bluff National Monument this morning where starting around 1850 pioneers by the thousands passed through Mitchells Pass.

Before then they used a pass about 8 miles away, Mitchell’s Pass cut off about 8 miles, that may not sound like much in today’s terms but back then that could have been an entire day of travel and when your talking about a months long journey, that needed to be completed before winter set in, 1 day could make all the difference in the world to you.

Here the Oregon trail narrowed down to a 1 wagon wide pass. It was here in this narrow pass that we walked a few paces. It was interesting to think on all the thousands of hardy people that walked this pass before me. There are no “WAGON RUTS” here the ground is to soft, the sand and small rocks picked up by the wagons and thousands of feet, both man and animal, were just blown a way by the ever present wind so all that remains is a 6 ft deep cut in earth. Most wagons had 4-6 oxen and the larger freight wagons may have had as many as 20 oxen pulling the heavy loads.

We were fortunate in that the wind was not blowing so hard that we had to lean forward just to keep from being blown over or that it wasn’t raining and the ankle deep mud was not pulling at our shoes with each step. These are just 2 of the many hardships the pioneers had to endure on their westward trek.

The pioneers had to wait in line for their turn to travel up and over the pass. Sometimes 200-300 wagons a day would travel through the pass. You couldn’t give up your place in line for anything, you might never be allowed back in the line.

The vistas are stunning from the top.

The area was much more interesting than I first imagined. I don’t know about back then but now the only trees were growing on the steep sides of the hills. At different high places in the surrounding area, the pioneers would climb to some high point and carve their names in to the soft rock, sadly most of the names have been eroded away by wind and rain.

A 3 mile hike for nothing, Falls of the Ohio it’s NOT!!

After leaving Scotts Bluff area we rode on up to a place called Agate Fossils Beds. To get there we drove on what must be the loinest road in Nebraska, we drove for miles and miles, no houses, only met 2-3 cars. No trees just miles and miles of rolling hills and fence on both sides of the road along with a few cows.

We had planed on stopping here with the motor home tomorrow but with enough time on our hands we decided to check it off the list early. We’re glad we did to, to say we were disappointed would be a great understatement! To start with by the time we got there the temperature was rising, the sun was shining bright without a cloud in the sky.

The sign said it was a 2 mile walk, according to Mary’s app thingy we walked 3 miles. Like I said was the temperature was rising, we were walking on a concrete path with the concrete and dry brown ground reflecting back on us. Sunburn was a concern of mine.

Anyways, we finally make it to the top of the hill, did I mention that is was up hill?

No?

Well it was. The path was not all that steep and one could probably get a wheelchair to the top without to much trouble , but the fossils bed is at the top of the hill. They had 3 covered benches along the way and we took a break at each one, we did pass by the middle one on the way back down. Zilch nada none, no shade other than the 3 benches.

We each had a bottle of water and it the path had been much longer that would NOT have been nearly enough by the time we made it back to the jeep.

Well, we finally make it to the top and instead of seeing a fossil bed, it’s where back in the early 19oo’s, they excavated fossils . Not a single fossil to be seen. I’m sure there are more in the hillsides but, by our way of thinking we were expecting to see actual fossils.

Our feet were tired and on the verge of getting sore by the time we made it back to the Jeep, we both felt like this “easy” walk took more out of us than our 1 mile, round trip, hike to the 10,000+ ft  the lookout the other day. Then to get to the top and see nothing but some signs pointing out where some bones were quarried out was a serious let down.

Back at the Jeep we decided to just eat our lunch in the comfort of the A/C instead of in the hot shade of some picnic shelters.

Ever wonder where your sugar comes from? It’s quite possible it came from sugar beets. We never did see a field where they were harvesting them but we did see several semi’s hauling them and on our way back from the fossils beds we found where they were going. They had 3 big piles like this and I think this is just the beginning of the sugar beet harvest season. I don’t know about Nebraska but in the Dakotas a lot of full timers will work the sugar beet harvest working 12 hours a day for 6 weeks, no days off, and earn enough to support them for 6-12 months. It can be a very COLD job working outside in all kinds of fall weather.

And this Silage? it was next to a feed lot and there was another one across the road, a little further down.

The End