nice campsites, couldn't hike near the campground because it was turkey mating season. A herd (flock?) of wild turkeys came through in the morning, very cool!
It pays to call the ranger! I called about spring flowers on these riverside trails (not yet he said), and as long as I was there asked about staying overnight. He said the all the other parking areas were day use only, but the one at the end of the road - Perry Riffle (cool name!) - allows it. So here I am, feeling very pleased about life.
Beautiful place, quite surprising with hundreds of miles of flat farmland and prairie before and after. Bison, Elk (so they say), and a prairie dog town conveniently next to a parking area.
Took me a bit of wandering down unmarked gravel roads to find the camping area, but I'm very happy I did. There's a toilet and a picnic table. Drive a little, there's boat access, a couple of trees, and a grassy area which I think is the official camping area, then the road wanders half-way around Lake 13. Nobody used the grassy area. The rain had made it a mosquito-infested bog. I parked at a wide spot in the road by the entrance, and at least one bunch of fishermen spent the night on the far side of the lake. Super nice place!
Migratory birds. long auto tour, beautiful setting, short hike up the ridge at the Vis Cen, camping at Lava Beds Nat'l Monument. Next to Lower Klamath NWR. August: Coots, Buffleheads, and Clarks Grebes - love those grebes!
Warm, clear fall day. Mostly pintails, with a sprinkling of shovellers and American wigeons. Some snowy egrets and one great heron. There was a large flock of snow geese in their southeast corner. The tolerated me until I was about halfway past, but then somebody spooked and they took to the air by the thousands. The night heron posse was at their usual hangout on the east side of the creek on the way out. I got a good long l;ook at some kind of raptor. I'm guessing red tailed, but maybe a Cooper's hawk - it was more gray-ish than reddish ...
Unexpectedly wonderful place! Alligators, zillions of birds, nice hikes
Boysen State Park takes up much of the land around Boysen Reservoir and the river creating it. There are many campgrounds spaced far apart. This is the second or third on the river instead of the lake, and the last one heading towards Thermopolis, right on the edge of the Indian Reservation, where the fishing rules change. Nice shady cottonwoods to hang out under. US 20 is too close and tonight there are way too many bugs.
very remote, no camping nearby, not like the NWRs I'm used to. Lotta driving to individual cool little habitats tucked away, one big pond and a couple of really beautiful cold springs.
gotta drive 20 miles of gravel to get here. Right across the road from Ruby Lake Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, on a hill looking over the whole Ruby Valley.
expensive, but quite nice really. great beach, little nature trail through the swamp, gazebo.
Elevation 9,800' No wonder I'm a huffin and puffin A real gem of a campground, at the edge of a high mountain meadow. Today there is one a-hole running his totally unshielded generator all afternoon. Other than that, a really, nice, almost perfect campground. A google comment says the Continental Divide Trail runs through the campground. Explains those two "Trail" signs.
ring-necked pheasant many, many red tailed hawks, most intimate ever for me a coyote a noble 10-12 point mule deer buck, then later a whole herd of lesser mule deer northern harrier Northern Spoonbill, (I think) buffleheads and redheads Sandhill crane (couldn’t stop to get a good look ):