Day 73 - Friday, August 6
Ups and downs…
Lucky has not been able to go to the bathroom for two days and has not really been eating, I’m sure the two are related. Even so, he had to go out with me this morning and we had a great 15 mile run from Broadwater to Bridgeport.
He is definitely low energy and anytime we stopped he would lay down on the pavement to rest. In addition he has been sleeping when we are not on the road nonstop.
I on the other hand continued on through the high plains towards Chimney Rock. After two strong days and a solid morning I hit my own speed bump today…the last 15 miles of the day I was out of energy. I’ve been really hungry last few days and my tank went empty. I made it to Chris and weighed myself as I always do at the end of day and learned I had gone from 174 on day 1 to 162 yesterday and 156 today. I haven’t weighed this much since High School! This is becoming a real challenge because I’m too tired to eat as much as I need…no joke.
Once settled and after eating ahi tuna steaks, Mizzou Vet let me know we need to image Luckys abdomen. On a Friday at 3pm I looked up 4 vets in Scottsbluff NE. First one I called let me know only imaging person is independent and need to ask when she can see us. I explained we are moving westward and she asked me to hold for a minute. She got back on to let me know that Lucky can be seen Monday at 1pm. I asked if the doctor was there and she said yea but she was leaving. I asked her to check if we came right now could she do it and she said yes…we were 30 minutes away. Chris picked up the rig-unplugged power, water, stabilizers, etc and drove like the wind to get there.
We are shocked to learn that Lucky’s cancer is back in his liver and colon. We are trying to process our next steps as we head back to camp.
All for today - thank you for your support.
Sadly,
David.
Long road to Chimney Rock
Plenty of wildflowers along the way
Welcome friends sign…and first person on my trip to deny Lucky some water. Wanted to know where I came from and then told me to get off his property… He was not posing for the picture!
Located near present-day Bridgeport, the Courthouse and Jail Rocks are the erosional remnants of an ancient plateau that bisected the North Platte River. The rocks sit at over 4,050 feet above sea level and rise more than 240 feet above nearby Pumpkin Creek. Like Chimney Rock, these rock structures have long been recognized by pioneers as prominent landmarks on the transcontinental journey west. The Courthouse and Jail Rocks were the first monumental rock features that emigrants would encounter heading west. The rocks also served as an important crossroads, where two major trunks of the Oregon and California Overland trails merged.
Like Chimney Rock, the Courthouse and Jail Rocks went by a series of names before arriving at their current designations. Because of Courthouse Rock’s grand and imposing appearance, many emigrants described the rock in terms of a large public building, naming it the Castle or the Courthouse. When viewed at distance from the east, the Courthouse and Jail Rocks appear to merge into a large, single unit, and descriptions sometimes referred to them as a single formation, the Solitary Tower or the Lonely Tower. Once travelers approached Courthouse Rock, however, the second, smaller escarpment, the Jail Rock, became visually distinct. Though travelers applied various titles to both features, by the 1840s, most people used the names Courthouse and Jail.
Apart from their historic significance as landmarks on overland trails during the 19th century, the northwest side of the rock complex boasts a Dismal River archeological site. Dismal River archeological sites have been found throughout western Nebraska. Artifacts obtained from the sites have helped archeologists document American Indian people believed to have migrated into western Nebraska c. A.D. 1675. The remains of the Courthouse Pony Express Station, the first station west of Mud Springs, lie on the southwest corner.
Chimney Rock has become one of the most famous landmarks in the American West. The first recorded mention of Chimney Rock was in 1827 by Joshua Pilcher. He journeyed up the Platte River valley to the Salt Lake rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain fur trappers. The first non-natives to see the pillar were probably the Astorians of Robert Stuart in their eastern journey from the Pacific Ocean in 1813.
In 1941, the 80 acres containing the site were transferred to the Nebraska State Historical Society by the Roszel F. Durnal family. In 1956, Norman and Donna Brown deeded additional land to the society. In that same year, Chimney Rock was designated a National Historic Site by the federal government.
During 1800’s, Chimney Rock served as the most noted landmark along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. As the emigrants passed by this rock, most of them noted in their diaries or journals that they were glad to see that they are going the right direction and it spired to the heavens. So intrigued were the emigrants that thousands climbed up the cone to carve their names on the tower. Though no inscriptions are known to survive today, there is ample written testimony that thousands of names once adorned the rock.
In 1830, Warren A. Ferris offered the first known estimate of Chimney Rock’s height. Ferris wrote, It’s a half mile in circumference at the base and rises to the height of 300 feet.
Chimney Rock 1906
A coyote on the plane? Itsjust Lucky!