Intermittent Spring, also called Periodic Spring, is located in Swift Creek canyon in Star Valley, near Afton, Wyoming. [1] It is the largest rhythmic spring in the world.
The great great grandfather of Rulon Gardner is credited with the discovery. Gardner says, "He was up there logging. He went up and found a nice little place to get some fresh water. It was intermittent. It went, and stopped. So it was pretty amazing". [2]
The theory is that as groundwater flows continuously into a cavern, it fills a narrow tube that leads out. As it pours over the high point of the tube, it creates a siphon effect, sucking water out of the chamber. Eventually air rushes in and breaks the siphon. Kip Solomon, a hydrologist at the University of Utah, said, "We can't think of another explanation at the moment". [2]
When the University of Utah conducted and finished their studies, Solomon concluded that "The spring water's gas content has now been tested at the University of Utah. The data strongly suggests the water was exposed to air underground; strong support for the siphon theory." [2]
Coordinates: 42°44′40″N110°50′55″W / 42.74438°N 110.84850°W
The Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kansas and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The western half of the trail spanned most of the current states of Idaho and Oregon.
Rich County is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 2,264, making it the third-least populous county in Utah. Its county seat is Randolph, and the largest town is Garden City. The county was created in 1864. It was named for an early LDS apostle, Charles C. Rich.
Sweetwater County is a county in southwestern Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 42,272, making it the fourth-most populous county in Wyoming. Its county seat is Green River. By area, it is the largest county in Wyoming. Its southern boundary line abuts the north lines of the states of Colorado and Utah.
Afton is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,911 at the 2010 census.
Jackson is a town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 10,760 at the 2020 census, up from 9,577 in 2010. It is the largest town in Teton County and its county seat. Jackson is the principal town of the Jackson, WY-ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Teton County in Wyoming and Teton County in Idaho. The town, often mistakenly called Jackson Hole, derives its name from the valley in which it is located. Jackson is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the ski resorts Jackson Hole Mountain, Snow King Mountain, and Grand Targhee, as well as Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
A siphon is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, above the surface of a reservoir, with no pump, but powered by the fall of the liquid as it flows down the tube under the pull of gravity, then discharging at a level lower than the surface of the reservoir from which it came.
The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of the U.S. states of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is 730 miles (1,170 km) long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing through Wyoming and Utah for most of its course, except for a short segment of 40 miles (64 km) in western Colorado. Much of the route traverses the arid Colorado Plateau, where the river has carved some of the most spectacular canyons in the United States. The Green is slightly smaller than Colorado when the two rivers merge but typically carries a larger load of silt. The average yearly mean flow of the river at Green River, Utah is 6,121 cubic feet (173.3 m3) per second.
The Bear River is the largest tributary of the Great Salt Lake, draining a mountainous area and farming valleys northeast of the lake and southeast of the Snake River Plain. It flows through southwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Utah, in the United States. Approximately 350 miles (560 km) long it is the longest river in North America that does not ultimately reach the sea.
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about 1,600 mi (2,600 km) across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail followed the same corridor of networked river valley trails as the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, namely the valleys of the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater rivers to Wyoming. The trail has several splits and cutoffs for alternative routes around major landforms and to different destinations, with a combined length of over 5,000 mi (8,000 km).
Rulon Ellis Gardner is an American retired Greco-Roman wrestler. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won the gold medal in 2000, defeating Russia's three-time reigning Olympic gold medalist Aleksandr Karelin in the final. Karelin was previously unbeaten for 13 years in international competition. Gardner won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games. In 2010, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.
Star Valley is located in the United States between the Salt River Range in western Wyoming and the Webster Range of eastern Idaho. The altitude of the valley ranges from 5,600 feet (1,700 m) to 7,000 feet (2,100 m). Three major Wyoming rivers, the Salt River, the Greys River and the Snake River meet near Alpine Junction at Palisades Reservoir. Numerous towns are located in the valley, including Afton, Thayne, Bedford, Etna, Smoot, Fairview, Osmond, Freedom, Grover, Auburn, Alpine, Nordic, Turnerville and Star Valley Ranch. Star Valley was settled in the late 1870s by Mormon pioneers. Primary sources indicate Star Valley was proclaimed the "Star of All Valleys" for its natural beauty by a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The name was later shortened to Star Valley. Another less supported theory about the origin of the name comes from Starvation (Starve) Valley, a name the area gained during bitter winters in the late 1880s.
The geography of the U.S. State of Colorado is diverse, encompassing both rugged mountainous terrain, vast plains, desert lands, desert canyons, and mesas. Colorado is a landlocked U.S. state. In 1861, the United States Congress defined the boundaries of the new Territory of Colorado exclusively by lines of latitude and longitude, stretching from 37°N to 41°N latitude, and from 102°02'48"W to 109°02'48"W longitude. Starting in 1868, official surveys demarcated the boundaries, deviating from the parallels and meridians in several places. Later surveys attempted to correct some of these mistakes but in 1925 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the earlier demarcation was the official boundary. The borders of Colorado are now officially defined by 697 boundary markers connected by straight boundary lines. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are the only states that have their borders defined solely by straight boundary lines with no natural features. The southwest corner of Colorado is the Four Corners Monument at 36°59'56"N, 109°2'43"W. This is the only place in the United States where four states meet: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
Archibald Gardner was a 19th-century pioneer and businessman who, with his knowledge of lumber- and grist mills, helped establish communities in Alvinston, Ontario; West Jordan, Utah; and Star Valley, Wyoming. In his lifetime Archibald built 36 gristmills and lumber mills — 23 in Utah, 6 in Canada, 5 in Wyoming, and 2 in Idaho — greatly benefiting the lives of those in the surrounding areas. Archibald also built hundreds of miles of canals to introduce the flow of water to the mills' apparatus.
The Emigrant Trail in Wyoming, which is the path followed by Western pioneers using the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails, spans 400 miles (640 km) through the U.S. state of Wyoming. The trail entered from Nebraska on the eastern border of the state near the present day town of Torrington and exited on the western border near the towns of Cokeville and Afton. An estimated 350,000 to 400,000 settlers traveled on the trail through Wyoming between 1841 and 1868. All three trails follow the same path through most of the state. The Mormon Trail splits at Fort Bridger and enters Utah, while the Oregon and California Trails continue to Idaho.
A rhythmic spring is a cold water spring from which the flow of water either varies or starts and stops entirely, over a fairly regular time-scale of minutes or hours. Compared to continuously-flowing springs, rhythmic springs are uncommon, with the number worldwide estimated in 1991 to be around one hundred.
Freedom is an unincorporated community in both northeastern Caribou County, Idaho, and northwestern Lincoln County, Wyoming, in the United States; the Wyoming portion of the community is also a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 214 at the 2010 census.
The Grand Loop Road is a historic district which encompasses the primary road system in Yellowstone National Park. Much of the 140-mile (230 km) system was originally planned by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early days of the park, when it was under military administration. The Grand Loop Road provides access to the major features of the park, including the Upper, Midway and Lower geyser basins, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Fall, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Lake.
The historic 2,170-mile (3,490 km) Oregon Trail connected various towns along the Missouri River to Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was used during the 19th century by Great Plains pioneers who were seeking fertile land in the West and North.
The Star Valley Wyoming Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Star Valley, Wyoming. The temple was opened in 2016. The intent to build the temple was announced by church president Thomas S. Monson on October 1, 2011. The temple was announced concurrently with the Barranquilla Colombia, Durban South Africa, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Provo City Center temples. When announced, the total number of temples worldwide increased to 166. When dedicated in 2016, it became the 154th temple of the church in operation. This is the first temple in Wyoming.