Day 75. July 20, 2019. Henry Unit #1. Uinta County Wyoming

It's Day 75...It's also 7/20,2019 and we're at The Henry Unit #1…Uinta County WY

Henry Unit? Number 1? haha...that's what the sign said.....google maps added the Uinta County Wyoming Part.

From our overnight stop near the Muddy Creek Switchback we would continue our travels across this southwestern corner of Wyoming. We would pass through miles of wide open prairies...at elevations nearing some 6000 feet above sea level...up and down winding mountain passes when we would eventually pass through a place called Lymon Wyoming....population 2100.....Uinta county is named for the Uinta Mountains which can be seen from many places across the county. The county itself spans an area of just over 2000 square miles....and is the smallest county in Wyoming...even so...it's twice the size of Rhode Island....giving one a pretty good idea of the wide open spaces we've driven into. And just as with every time I pass through one of these small towns that seem like they are in the middle of nowhere....I am always curious....who lives here....and why? A stop at a rest area just outside lymon for breakfast would lead to some time on the internet learning that folks in Lymon have access to basic shopping needs and eateries...and...as with most of these small rural communities.... they would have to drive some 40 miles or so for serious shopping or medical needs....so why live in Lymon? In this towns case....it is likely because of just that.....the opportunity to live in a rural setting and enjoy all life out here has to offer....with larger areas like Evanston...population around 12k... or Rock Springs...population some 23k..... well within reach. The area in general would be settled in the late 1800's....first founded as a mormon agricultural community. the fertile lands, in particular along the rivers in the area were found to be perfect for cattle ranchers and farmers alike....making it a player in the agricultural community early on.

And Mormon Settlement...I wondered. I would learn that in the mid 1800's.....like much of the population back east....folks would set out to head west and find their fortunes. Mormons in particular were departing the Illinois area in search of not only their fortunes and future...but religious freedom as well. In the years leading up to their migration west....Mormons faced acceptance challenges...even pursecution as the result of their differening religious belief's.

Heading west...earliest of Mormon settlers would first land in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah....where...as we all know they maintain a dominant presence to this day...with the church's headquarters still based in Salt Lake City.

Over time...the faith would continue to push west in search of new opportunity..and their presence would soon be established in this area of Wyoming. Some 120 years later....their presence in this area is not as strong as it once was...but there are still plenty of examples of the decendants of these early settlers s living in, and propering in the area.

While agriculture remains the dominate driver in the areas economy...In more recent years.....attraction to the Lymon area....might be a little bit because of a mineral....called Trona. 2 hours ago I didn't even know what Trona was. But now....I know that a couple of different companies plan to invest nearly 6 billion dollars in mining facilities in the Green River Wyoming area...just some 50 miles or so up the road from Lymon. It is estimated that over 600 million tons of Trona will be mined in Sweetwater county Wyoming...production is expected to peak in 2025 employing over 4000 people.....odd's are a few of those folks might just call Lymon home.

And this Trona...it's a naturally occuring mineral that is primarily used to produce soda ash ...technical term...sodium carbonate...didn't mean much to me until I read that this soda ash....is used in the manufacture of glass....as well as being used in water treatment and chemical production of all sorts....making it a very high demand product in the world of global commerce we live in today....And....Wyoming just happens to host the worlds largest known deposits of Trona....accounting for 90 percent of the countrys annual usage of soda ash. Here's a quick listen to a video published by the University of Wyoming Extension office discussing Trona Mining in Wyoming....they do a much better job of explaining Trona than I do

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We would continue out of Lymon when scenery began to shift a bit from those wide open high mountain prairies...to more rocky and mountainous looking areas. We had just climbed up through to an elevation of around 7000 feet when we dropped down from a bluff when it happened again....a gravel drive to the left...and a cattle guard....stopped in the middle of the two lane...not like traffic was building up behind us.... in fact...turns out we would spend the next 4 or 5 hours here and not see a single car pass by. Man I love it out here!

Anyway....sat there on the road for a couple minutes inspecting.....well...I didn't know what I was looking at. It was a gravel driveway...down off the two lane and into a large leveled out and graveled area....with a bunch of ..."stuff" on two sides of it. A massive generator was running at one end of it....a whole bunch of pipes....and three pretty large holding tanks of some sort on the other side.

No gate....so signs telling us to keep out.....just that cattle guard.....I told ya....cattle guards....equal good stuff...seriously!

But here....I was eyeballing....and concerned with the drop. We would be pulling ...down....into a slight ditch like area....and then back up into the area on the other side of that cattle guard...I wasn't sure if the tail end of the 32 foot RV would clear ....not to mention the little electric car we got behind us...as the front end of it started to climb back up.....so I figured....just go slow....if it looked like we wouldn't clear....just back back out onto the road....soooo here we go!

The front of the RV dropped down into the driveway....then as it started to climb back out I studied the rearview closely....looked like the back end was getting pretty close to the ground so I stopped....threw her in park and hopped out for a look.....dropped down for a peak underneath the rear of the RV and saw ..... we were close....but....I also saw...wheels? There were wheels...attached to the frame of the motorhome....like...casters? Definitely heavy duty casters....and the wheels on these casters where just about to touch the ground. I laid there on the dirt....in the middle of nowhere Wyoming figuring out that these caster thingy's would hit the ground first and maintain clearance between the ground...and the rear bumper of the RV as we climbed up out of that drivway. I have no idea why I was so excited to learn at that moment that situations just like this one had been thought through and incorporated into the design of this 30 year old badboy of ours....and that perhaps....we could maybe even go more places than I had even imagined. I quickly hopped back into the drivers seat and continued our decent into....and then our climb back out of that driveway across the cattle guard....stopping a couple of times to ensure that we were clear....we were...and then pulling out into that big leveled out space in the middle of all that stuff.....I could hear those caster thingy's rolling across the gravel doing their job.

Across the cattle guard...did a big turn coming back around faceing the same direction we were traveling on that two lane road just above us now....and a massive 60 or 70 foot tall wall of what looked like some sort of Limestone rock maybe? Towering above on the mountainside behind us.

And yet again...we had found a perfect place....to spend a few hours...having some lunch....and learning about what was all around us....and what exactly...this place called Henry Unit 1 ... does?

The first thing I had to google was what the heck these things under the rear of the RV were called...now that I knew they were there....and what they did..turns out...they are called RV skid rollers. Their designed to prevent trailer drag which means not only are they protecting the rear bumber of the motor home....but the tow dolly behind us as well. Huh....who knew....I most definitely...and instantly.....knew our RV skidrollers would be put to very good use in the foreseeable future!

And....bonus....we are far enough away from the road.....the road that apparently only we had chosen to use this day....that I could just throw open the door and let both boys out for some exploring. We would all check this place out...albeit different objectives. As Billie sat....and carefully studied Dougies antics running around the perimeter....I walked around studing all this heavy duty industrial looking piping...that massive generator and those holding tanks surrounded by catwalks. Read enough on the signage here and there to know pretty quick that whatever we were looking at had something to do with Natural Gas.

And after lunch...some reading would tell the story.... And par for the course....I would be nearly immediately immersed in subject matter....that just minutes before.....I have never even given a thought...or even knew existed for that matter.

Things like....Over 30 trillion cubic feet of Natural Gas is pumped from the earth year in the US....if in liquid form...that would equal over 6 quadrillion gallons? Thats a million.....like 6 Billion times that's a lot.....And....even with all that production in the US.....the country nearly meets its annual consumption needs but we do still sometimes import natural gas on top of that...mostly from Canado.

Pretty nutty to think through why we need so much natural gas. Unlike gas....when I'm reminded of how we use oil every time I stop at a gas station....Never really considered that natural gas is consumed in nearly 60 percent of all households in the US....and there are over half a billion households in the US. Meaning....that over 300 million or so households use Natural gas for at least one utility service. In addition....natural gas is used across industry in the US in varying forms of production. And ..... it's even used in the manufacture of electricity.

All this from a fossil fuel that started out millions of years ago, just like oil, as organic material on the surface of the earth being buried by layer upon layer of non organic material during various geological activity shifts on, and from within the earth. The difference would be that various geological conditions would create areas of extreme compression above this once organic material....pushing it closer to the heat from deep within the earths core....and ultimately vaporizing the material and creating a layer of methane gas....which we now call Natural Gas.

All this leads to a place like where we are sitting today....It is called a Compressor station....sometimes referred to as a Condensate Station. As Natural Gas is pumped from the earth....it reaches the surface with a certain level of condensate in the mix.....the result of changing temperatures as it rises through to the earths surface. This combination of methane gas....and condensate is an extremely volitile, explosive and dangerous material. At the pump head on the surface, the material passes through equipment that separates the condensate from the gas...moving the gas through extremely high pressure pipelines to it's next destination. As the gas moves through these pipelines....changes in temperature can provide opportunity for condensate to form once again. Compressor Stations just like this one are Strategically placed along these pipelines to manage the condensate levels in the gas as they move through....explaining the large holding tanks....along with a series of equipment that works to filter out unwanted condensate and maintain proper pressurization levels in the pipeline. A constant power source is needed to run this equipment so a combination of solar, and gernerator equipment have been installed to meet power needs. The generators used actually run on Natural Gas....and are directly tied into the product moving through the station meaning that there is an endless supply of fuel.

While Natural Gas Pump stations do exist in Wyoming...they are far from the top of this list when it comes to Natural Gas Production......On that list.....you'll find places like Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisianna, West Virginia and Oklahoma.

Sitting in the middle of all this modern day equipment....and learning about how Natural Gas Happens....and how it is used today....fascinating to learn that the use of natural gas dates back some 6000 years or so. Ancient writing and petroglyphs indicate that natives in places like Persia and China discovered natural seepage areas in which when ignited by an external source....the resulting neverending flames would be used for all sorts of religious rituals...as well as continuing mans experimentation with the different ways the power of flame could be harnessed. Similar activity is documented among Native Americans in the Lake Eerie area of the US. The first documented well would eventually be drilled in China...as man continued to look for new sources of this magical gas....in the US...the first Natural Gas Well would be drilled in New York .....

Closing the laptop for some lunch...and another walk around the space....this time focusing on....and studying this massive rock wall behind us....it looked as if an artist had taken a sand colored canvas.....carefully, and thoughtfully brushing light pastel lines through it.....folding in greens....blues....reds and even light pinks here and there. All bringing this millions of years old, Precambrian rock formation to life somehow.

When the truth is....there was artistry involved. But it would be the artistry of geological events spanning those millions...even billions of years. Moving the landscape I am looking at ... at this moment.....from periods of rock formations .... to periods in which it would spend millions of years under water.....then subject yet again to shifts between multiple eras of ice age activity....interupted by volcanic activity.....and the cycle would repeat....each time revealing a new landscape. Gazing into the rock....I'm left feeling pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of time....staring at this work of art we call a mountain.....and wondering how many millions of years ago it was shuved up from beneath the earths surface....and just how much time had passed....how many sunrises and sunsets had this rocksided mountain taken in....before this curious human rolled onto the scene to spend a millisecond of time taking it all in. And how much longer would it be.....until human presence as we know it....becomes just another layer of organic material for this mother earth to absorb into the layers....and spend another billion or so years working on the next work of art....a work of art I'll never get to see.....so I'm making sure to enjoy this version....the version I got to see...

About 20 miles outside of Lyman WY we saw another opportunity too good to pass up. At the bottom of a bluff of what looked like some sort of limestone or shale, was a natural gas pipeline access and maintenance facility. I would later learn these are called Condensate stations and are located all over Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado. They are basically access points that collect condensation from the natural gas pipelines and maintenance companies can work on, and check the operations of the facilities that keep millions across the western united states firing up everything from their natural gas heaters and stoves to fireplaces. Solar Panels keep things connected while a massive natural gas generator of some sort sat miles from anywhere chugging along unaffected by the passing cars, the intermittent rain showers, or anything else the 100 degree day in the making would throw its way. I imagined it sitting there purring along melting snow off itself during the intense blizzards it surely witnesses during the winter months. The perfect spot to have some lunch and do some exploring!