Wow, What A Day!!! Badlands, Canyons,
Raging Rivers and a Moose, Oh My!
Left the nasty campground in Casper and
headed west on Route 20. Cattle and more cattle. It was a fairly boring drive until I got to Hell's Half Acre – true badlands. Unfortunately, it was surrounded with chain link fencing and it was cloudy, but I still managed to get some decent photos.
I continued west on Route 20 and as I
approached Shoshoni there were occasional hoodoos (like Bryce Canyon)
and some ancient sand dunes that are now partially covered in grass.
No place to stop for photos.
Snapped a photo of one of these signs – I have seen them on every Wyoming road. I am also seeing some white tailed deer and
pronghorns – look something like a deer, but are super fast.
Here's what I learned from a convenient roadside plaque: They can
sprint almost 70 mph and are second only to cheetahs, but unlike
cheetahs they can run 30 mph for 15 miles! They migrate long
distances throughout the Rockies and west, having to cross roads,
highways and fencing.
At Shoshoni, the road turns north and
skirts the pretty Boysen Reservoir and through the spectacular Wind
River Canyon. The Wind River at the bottom of the canyon runs north
due to some strange geological happenings eons ago. The road and
railroad runs near the river with 2500 foot high walls towering on
both sides. The various rocks are identified as I drove through the
canyon with some of these basement rocks over a billion years old and
every color and structure you can imagine. The drive includes three
short tunnels that go right through bedrock.
In one spot there was road construction
where they repairing a massive mud slide that had completely closed
the road for days. Across the river, the railroad was repairing
sections of track from multiple mud slides. Wyoming just isn't made
to handle this much rain, but it sure makes what is normally vast
drab brown/gray rangeland green and pretty.
Towards the end of the canyon, dramatic
red sandstone cliffs appear and stay with me as I drive into
Thermopolis. The Indians used the natural mineral spring waters here
and deeded them to the U. S. Government with the provision that they
maintain free access to them. So I took advantage and had a nice
soak in the stinky 104 degree waters. There are at least 27
different minerals in the water, with the highest concentrations
being Bicarbonate, Sulfate, Chloride and Sodium, plus silica,
calcium, potassium, etc. Guess I can skip my vitamin pill today.
The pool had only two people when I arrived and only five when I left
– a nice, relaxing way to end a beautiful drive.
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| Mineral Springs that feed the pools |
After my soak and lunch and a
conversation with Jack (as I did not think I would have phone service
later), I continued north on Route 20 to Worland. I was going to
stop at their local museum, but it was getting late, dark clouds were
beginning to form, and I was a little museumed-out. So I skipped it
and headed east (yes, East! making a long detour to make a loop through the
Big Horn Mountains in northern Wyoming) on Route 16 through Ten
Sleep. Ten Sleep was the lush camping spot for the Indians that was
ten sleeps between Fort Laramie and Yellowstone.
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| Snow-capped Bighorn Mountains |
After the town of Ten Sleep, the road
began following the river and I was again in a beautiful canyon –
yup, Ten Sleep Canyon. The road began to climb into the southern Big
Horn Mountains and is known at the Cloud Peak Scenic Highway.
Although the wide road with shoulders is in excellent condition, it
climbs steeply, using lots of switchbacks – a beautiful drive.
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| The river can just be seen through the trees |
My plan was to get a campsite at one of
the first Big Horn National Forest campgrounds, but the first one was
deep in a valley next to a raging stream that was already over its
banks and more rain was forecast. So I skipped that one and
continued up and up and came across a gorgeous campground at 8,000
feet. Nothing here but tress, the raging river about 50 feet below
the end of the RV and a couple of other campers. I backed myself
into a space, only having to get out twice and walk around the RV to
make sure I wasn't hitting the tree branches or backing too far and
going down the bank into the river. It started sprinkling and as I
looked out into the adjacent emtpy campsite, was a moose – big and
brown and a bit mangy munching on the uncharacteristically green
grass everywhere.
It started to thunder and lightening and a steady rain came down for about an hour, but nothing violent. The clouds started breaking up
about 8, but did have a little more rain during the night. Other
than the constant roar of the stream, I spent a quiet night in the
forest.
Whew, long post but it was a Big day...
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