Blog #3 - Wyoming
Thursday, 9/6
Today was all about driving as far as we could into Wyoming. We crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Crest - elevation 11,312’.
About 2pm we left Hwy 50 in Pueblo, CO. We had been on Hwy 50 since Carson City, NV - 1038 miles! Total mileage as of today is 1804 and today alone we covered 468 miles.
We passed into Wyoming a bit after 6pm and ended up in Wheatland at a city park that offers free RV camping (with hookups even).
234 miles tomorrow should bring us to Devil’s Tower National Monument (that’s 3.5 hours at the speeds allowed here in Wyoming).
Friday, 9/7
Wyoming, at least where we’ve been driving, is wide open and mostly end-of-summer-yellow grassland. Along the road we frequently spotted small groups (harems?) of Pronghorn Antelope.
We also passed numerous small oil and natural gas extraction facilities (and one open-pit coal mine). The railroad tracks alongside the road were frequented by trains either empty or carrying coal depending on their direction of travel. These were seriously long trains - the two Serena counted each had 138 cars. In case there is any doubt about the major industry here, these are the slogans that were on display when we passed into a couple of towns:
Wright, WY “Energy, Community, Opportunity”
Gillette, WY “Energy Capital of the Nation”
The campground at Devil’s Tower National Monument is first-come first-served and we had lots of choices upon arrival. We are very happy about Jeff’s geezer National Park Pass. Aside from free admission to parks and monuments, we get half-price camping. After lunch we drove to the visitor center. Despite being in the 80s we decided to walk the 1.3 mile loop trail around the tower. It really didn’t feel that warm and much of the trail was shady.
Back at camp, we enjoyed dinner outside watching the sunset on the tower. And after dark we enjoyed looking up at the Milky Way and a huge starry sky.
Saturday, 9/8
Devil’s Tower National Monument is pretty small and this morning we hiked the 2nd of the three possible trails. “Red Beds” didn’t feature a lot of beds of red rock but there was some. The trail did get us close to the Prairie Dogs.
As we’ve been meeting other travelers some sights in South Dakota have been mentioned that weren’t on our list. We decided to leave right after our hike and see some of them. Check out “Blog #4 - South Dakota” in a few days to learn more.
Antelope
Sunset rays as we were driving through the grasslands of Wyoming
(thru the windshield as we drove so there is a bit of schmutz)
Devil’s Tower
Another view of Devil’s Tower
And the shady side (where there were rock climbers)
These climbers are easier to see (the two little light colored specks)
Hi!
Dinner time view from our camp
The local American Indian tribes call the tower The Lodge of the Bear. This painting by a former park ranger shows a bit of the legend and how the tower got shaped by the bear’s claws.
Red Beds
Prairie Dogs
Devil's Tower is quite impressive! I like the Lodge of the Bear painting. Starry nights are the best, so cool that you could see the Milky Way.
ReplyDelete