Note
Most days when you do the usual things, you also see and experience the usual things. But some days are odder.
Today I headed up to do some mapping, and driving by the Tie City parking lot, I noticed the far end was completely filled edge-to-edge with large pickups and even larger flatbed trailers. I had never seen anything like that up there before. It looked like a construction site, except there was no construction activity visible anywhere, nor any construction equipment, survey marking, or workers.
A few miles further along, and now on dirt roads, I understood what was up. I passed a considerable number of smaller, older tractors, all going in the opposite direction (headed back to the parking lot, no doubt), and all festooned in the Stars and Bars and garlands and such. I've never seen a tractor ride before--I suppose that what it was--and it seemed very strange, all those tractors, puttering along at about 5 mph. One might have guessed that it could have something to do with festivities around the home opener Wyoming football game, except the game was already just underway at that time, and being played down in the stadium, and not up on the Forest Service roads. But maybe it's no stranger than a bunch of people getting together up there over the prior weekend to run orienteering, at least not in the eyes of folks who know nothing about orienteering.
Then, a little later, as I was pulling off to park, I noticed just a little further up ahead a number of vehicles were clustered together, some off the road, some in the road. Lights were flashing. There was a tow truck and something that looked like an ambulance. Most of the other vehicles were law enforcement, and quite a few officers seemed to be standing around. Right after I parked, one of the officers closed off the road from my direction with with pylons and tape. It looked like whatever had happened had taken place long enough ago for all these vehicles to have responded, but still probably not all that long ago. In the middle of the road and right in the center of where all the vehicles were, there was something on the ground. It was far enough away from me that I couldn't see it well enough to be sure, but I had the feeling it may have been a body.
I went off to map. When I returned, some of the vehicles and law enforcement people were still there, but the pylons and tape were gone. They were all in the process of leaving then, and by the time I was ready to leave, they were all gone.
I checked the news when I got home, but couldn't turn up anything.