[Sweetwater series] all trails lead to....

Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Overland Trail, Cherokee Trail, Pony Express Trail, 1861 transcontinental telegraph line, Overland Express stage line and the 1868 transcontinental railroad, they all lead to Rock Springs, Wyoming.

I moved to Rock Springs, Wyoming in May of 2009. I had never heard anything good about Rock Springs with many referring to it as the "armpit of America." I'm here to tell you that it just isn't true (the armpit is Rawlins). When you get off the pavement, Sweetwater County has so much history, beauty and wonder to show off.

Welcome to Sweetwater series, I'll focus on one unique thing about Sweetwater County (I'll probably throw in some Sublette County too since that is my area for work) in each post of the series. This one is a little sneak peek of some of the things that are up for blogging in the future.

This post has a few shots that I have taken around the county while doing field work for my place of employment, USDA Farm Service Agency. The farmers and ranchers that I have the opportunity to work with each day are some of the hardest working folks I know. These are some of the scenes where they are day in, day out. There are many others that are hard at work throughout this county and I hope to touch on those industries, but I am not around them as much so this will probably be a little lopsided.

So this is where I now call home, right along I-80 about 100 miles from the Utah border. Its a high mountain desert and is 73% public land. The land is rich in natural resources from grazing to coal, from soda ash to wildlife, from sand dunes (second in size only to the Sahara) to oil, from rivers and The Flaming Gorge to crystal clear blue skies under which wild horse herds fill the desert landscape.

The crystal clear blue sky in southern Sweetwater County on a beautiful winter day in February.

A band of sheep out on winter range. Many ranchers, both sheep and cattle, run year-round grazing operations. Some travel as far as 300 miles round trip in a year, trailing from the Colorado state line up to northern Sublette County. Sheep camps can still be seen throughout the desert today.

The best cowdog in McKinnon, making sure those cows get fed on a cold December day.

Come see what southwest Wyoming has to offer you! I have an extra bed and I love visitors!

ps. I took all these pictures.....yay me!