'Tis A Sad Day

When I woke up this morning and turned on the television I saw where Ted Kennedy had passed away. I immediately went into mourning and even work a black shirt and pants to work, as well as my black clogs. I was so distressed. NOT!

Then when I arrived at work and glanced at the front of the newspaper I'd stuck in my totebag, I discovered the following newspaper article:

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

“Bam Bam” has a new home.

“Bam Bam” the Sinks Canyon State Park Bighorn Sheep ram, who has gained local and internet fame in recent months, was moved to a new home in the Wind River Mountains, far away from roads and, hopefully, people.
The ram had become something of a celebrity because he was so tame. Visitors from around the world saw the animal up close and personal, usually a rarity with Bighorn Sheep. The ram even starred in a “YouTube” video charging a truck.

One of the last surviving animals from the Sinks Canyon herd, the sheep had become habituated to people over the years. People petting and feeding the animal didn’t help and Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Sinks Canyon State Park staff attempts to get him to stay away from roads and other populated areas didn’t work.

“He is still a wild animal and had become more aggressive as the summer went on,” Sinks Canyon State Park Superintendent Darrel Trembly said. “He had started chasing people, cornering them against fences and butting vehicles. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt or he got hit by a vehicle.”

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department lured him into a trailer early in the morning last week and then transported him to his new home. “It went as smoothly as any transplant could,” said Kent Schmidlin of the Wyoming Game and Fish Lander Region Office. “Now hopefully he can be with other wild sheep and live like he is supposed to.”

Say it ain't so! This is the bighorn sheep that I wrote about in an earlier blog (July 19, 2009 "More Wild Animals"). We saw Bam Bam getting up close and personal with a parked white van and we kept our distance while sitting our car. Now I'm really in mourning! I'm just so glad that Joe and I had the opportunity to meet "Bam Bam" before he was sent away.

Sinks Canyon State Park

Sinks Canyon State park is located south of Lander. Sinks Canyon is so named because the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie, a rushing mountain river, flows out of the Wind River Mountains and through the Canyon. Halfway down the canyon the river abruptly turns into a large limestone cavern, and the crashing water "sinks" into fissures and cracks at the back of the cave. The river is underground for 1/4 mile until it emerges down canyon in a large calm pool called "The Rise" and then continues its course into the valley below.

Where the water goes while it is underground is unknown. The sinks narrow to small, unexplorable log and rock jammed fissures. For many years it was unproven that the water flowing into the Sinks was the same water flowing out at the Rise. Dye tests have proven it is the same water but have revealed other mysteries: it takes the water flowing into the Sinks over two hours to reappear at the Rise. It's kinda like the mystery of the socks in the dryer. You know how a sock will disappear seemingly forever until the day after you throw the odd sock away? Then you have to throw away the newly discovered missing sock, too. Geologists speculate that while underground the water circulates up and down and through many narrow, winding passages and pools until it resurfaces. It was also discovered that more water flows out at the Rise than goes in at the Sinks. The additional water may be coming from underground springs or other sinks formations in the area. It is unknown exactly how old the Sinks are although they are likely an Ice Age feature thousands of years old. The massive glaciers that carved the canyon exposed the soft limestone and the millions of gallons of water from the melting ice helped erode the underground passages.

Native Americans knew of the Sinks for generations. The first white men to see them were fur trappers in the early 1800s. The name Popo Agie comes from the Crow Indians and means Tall Grass River. "Agie" means river in the Crow language and "PoPo" means tall grass or tall rye grass. The Crow named the river this because of the tall bunches of rye grass that grew along the banks of the river in the valley.

This is the path that we had to walk down and then back up to get to the water below. Doesn't look like much of a "path" does it?

Unfortunately, Joe slipped down and fell on his butt on one of these rocks and is suffering a very sore derriere today.

This was the wonderful toilet facilities available for use. I have learned out here though when traveling, to take advantage of any restroom facilities you come across as there may not be any when you need them!