Buffalo and the Big Horns

 Another one of those places that we've driven by while traveling through Wyoming and wanted to spend time exploring is Buffalo and the surrounding Big Horn Mountains.  Buffalo is a charming town with roots in the old west, and the town works hard to keep the look of the 1800s.  The downtown area is small but busy with shops and restaurants.  

A visit to Buffalo isn't complete without a visit to the Occidental Hotel and Saloon.  It's a place that many of the famous and infamous visited; the guest list on their web site is impressive.  We opted for an evening burger in the saloon where everything is much the same as it was when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were here.  The bar has the original tintype ceiling and to put you in the mood, there's a TV playing old John Wayne westerns.

Our first trip into the Big Horn Mountains was to Crazy Woman Canyon.  It isn't known who the crazy woman was, but I'm sure we all have someone in our families who we think would qualify.  We started at the high end and worked our way down the winding, rough gravel and rock road.  Here's some of the scenery:

The next day we went further up into the mountains.  The roads here travel over an area from 7000' to 9000' elevation, and the landscape varies from forest to large, open meadows.  This is the view from one of the Forest Service campgrounds we visited:

Driving to the point as high as we could, we came across this fire lookout tower, closed for the season.  The sign in the parking lot said "15 minutes easy walk to tower".  At our age, there's nothing easy about a 15 minute walk at 9000' - especially if it's uphill.  So we didn't.

Even at this altitude, there were streams that were still running:

And at 8500', Meadowlark Lake probably is a bit cool to go swimming in:

We were, as always, looking for wildlife, especially moose.  Unfortunately, it was hunting season for moose and elk and they were nowhere to be seen.  But being in these mountains reminded us of the last time we were here, in the northern section during the spring, when it was too early in the year for the willows to turn green.  As a result, moose where grazing in the meadows.  We saw this young bull grazing, and because their legs are too long for them to bend over and graze, they get on their knees.  As with me, it was the getting back up that was difficult to watch:

We're heading for Montana and some new places to visit.  We'll be back soon!

A Trip to Star Valley

We plan on spending the winter on the Oregon Coast once again, but decided to take a trip to Wyoming to visit our good friends Don and Betty and make a stop in Montana on our way back.  We spent our first night on the road near Medford, OR, in the wildfire smoke-filled valley.  The visibility was down to less than a half mile and the air tasted of smoke and burned the eyes.  We drove east to Klamath Falls, where the air began to clear, and from there into Idaho where the weather changed and the smoke started to dissipate.  We spent a few days relaxing and shopping in Boise, one of our favorite towns, then headed east into Wyoming.  We turned onto Idaho 34 at Soda Springs and began a scenic drive over the mountains into Star Valley.  At around 6200’ elevation, it’s hard to believe it’s a “valley”, at least until you see the 9000’ mountains to the East. 
Don and Betty own a lot in the Star Valley Ranch, a huge RV resort outside the small town of Thayne and about 60 miles south of Jackson.  Besides the RV Resort, there is a housing subdivision, an area of small ranches, and two golf courses.  It’s an impressive development; you can read about it here.  And, it’s still growing!
With Don and Betty as our tour guides, we traveled down the valley taking in the sights.  We drove back into the mountains along beautiful wooded roads where the leaves were just beginning to turn.  This is an area where sheep are grazed in the summer, and we came across this sheepherder's wagon, complete with spare tire and solar panel.

Driving down to Afton one evening for dinner, Brenda suddenly yelled “Moose!”.  Sure, we thought…..but lo and behold, there was a moose running along side of the road!  We turned around to get a closer look and saw that he was a handsome young bull:

We had dinner that night in Afton, a town that leaves no doubt that you’re in Wyoming’s wild west:
We always enjoy our time with Don and Betty, but the weather was getting colder and it was time for them to get ready to return to Arizona for the winter, and for us to head for Montana.
We always manage a visit to the Missoula area when possible to see the friends we made while volunteering at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.  So after spending a few days visiting Idaho Falls, we headed up I-15 to Dillon.  On the way, we passed through an area of early snow in the mountains:
In Dillon, we came across this old or made-to-look old saloon with the mountains in the background:
From Dillon, we drove through over Big Hole Pass, across the valley, and over Lost Trail Pass down into the Bitterroot Valley.  The valley has been hit hard this year by wildfires, and we were fortunate to arrive just after rains had dampened the fires and reduced the smoke.  The mountains have a light dusting of snow, but smoke is still in the air and small areas of wildfire are still visible:
We spent a week here visiting friends and enjoying the area.  Since then, we’ve headed west over Lolo Pass and traveled down into the Clearwater Basin.  It’s an interesting place, and we’ll be posting an update soon on our travels – so stay tuned!

Sheridan and the Big Horn Mountains

Leaving the Black Hills, we headed west to the base of the Big Horn Mountains and Sheridan, one of our favorite stops. We settled into Peter D’s RV Park for a few days of exploring along U.S. routes 14 and 16 which cut through the towering mountains to the west.  The foothills this time of year are a brilliant green that often contrasted with the dark skies as thunderstorms developed in the mountains and moved through the plains. 
We’re always interested in the history of the West, and so our first stop was Fort Phil Kearny, a state historic site where one of the most memorable incidents involving the Army and Indian tribes occurred in 1866.  Ten years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, members of the Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne tribes, angered by the influx of settlers and the building of Army Forts to protect them, decided to act.  On the morning of December 21st, a wood-cutting party came under attack about four miles from the fort.  Captain William Fetterman, a Civil War veteran who boasted “Give me 80 men and I can ride through the whole Sioux nation"  (you know this is going to end badly),  left the fort with 80 men, mostly infantry.  Instead of following orders not to pursue the enemy, he and his men chased a number of Indian decoys over the ridge seen behind the monument.  There, over 1000 warriors waited – and within 20 minutes all 81 were dead.   Captain Fetterman would probably be more widely known if, ten years later, Custer had not led his troops into even a bigger debacle. It’s an interesting story of poor judgment and finger pointing – you can read more here.
Two routes cross the Big Horn Mountains, 14 to the north of Sheridan and 16 to the South.  Of the two, Route 14 is the one with the most difficult climbs, and most RVers use Route 16.  Route 24 climbs quickly and then levels out with wide meadows and distant mountains.  There are plenty of dirt roads to explore and they gave us great views of fast-running streams and distant snow-covered mountains.

We passed this interesting formation called Mirror Buttes – you can guess why:
We didn’t do any hiking on this trip; maybe because the temperature was in the low 40s and windy but also because of the altitude.  Just before the highway dives down into a valley as the mountains end, we stopped at this observation point, which wasn’t the highest point of our day, but may have been the coldest at 34 degrees.
We didn’t see any interesting wildlife on Route 14, but the next day on Route 16, which is more heavily wooded, we came across these Mule deer, still shaggy from their winter coats:
And not much farther down the road, we came across this pair of moose, one a mature bull with just the stub of his growing antlers
We always enjoy a stay in Sheridan.  The town is just the right size with ample shopping and dining, but without traffic jams or pollution.  And how could you not be in a good mood walking around town with the friendly people, rolling green hills in the distance, and snow capped mountains on the horizon?
We’re still traveling – check back and see where we’ve been!

Stoppin’ in Sheridan

We’ve driven by Sheridan, Wyoming a number of times in our travels, and always promised ourselves that some day we’d stop and explore the area.  Finally, our schedule allowed for a three day visit on our way to Montana.  We chose Peter D’s RV Park because we couldn’t resist the message on his web site:  “Peter D’s has nutritional value – if you don’t stay here, Pete don’t eat”.  Who could resist?   Peter turned out to be a delightful individual with a great sense of humor, and Sheridan turned out to be far more than we expected.  We started with a trip to the downtown area, and were impressed that almost every store front was filled.  We saw the old-fashioned sign for a J.C. Penney Store, and hey!  It really was a J.C. Penney store!  With it’s tin ceiling and portable fans for air conditioning, it was like stepping back into the 60s.  There were a number of typical strip-mall stores, like Maurice’s,  that also occupied downtown stores.  Everything was neat and clean, there was a nice variety of restaurants, and even the trash containers had wildlife statues on them.  They would have had one less had Brenda been able to get the moose loose. 

A few blocks from downtown is the newly restored historic Sheridan Inn, built in 1894 and originally managed by Buffalo Bill Cody.  The original inn had 64 bedrooms, but after being restored over the years the inn reopened this spring with 22 rooms, each with a historical theme of  a key characters in Buffalo Bill’s life.  You can read about the history of each room’s character on the web site – it’s interesting reading.

Peter D recommended we visit Trail End State Historic Site, and we’re glad we did.  The home of John B. Kendrick, governor and US Senator was completed in 1913 and is without doubt, the most impressive restoration we’ve seen.  With ten bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, eight fireplaces, ballroom, and servant’s quarters, the mansion is huge, and the rooms have been renovated with clothing and furniture taken from original photos.  The house was wired for electricity, had indoor plumbing, an intercom system, an elevator, and, believe it or not, a central vacuum system.  Located in the basement, the vacuum is about the size of a refrigerator, but it worked! 

The master bedroom was huge, and as the custom of the day, there were separate beds, each laid out with clothing identical to original photos:

Their teenage daughter’s room would be the envy of today’s teens:

The parlor wasn’t exactly cozy, but was comfortable looking:

And on the third floor, the ballroom and musicians room:Building the mansion was quite a feat – everything had to be brought by rail.  Montana granite, Missouri clay roofing tiles, and custom made furniture from Michigan.  The total cost at the time was $165,000 – at a time when a three-bedroom house in town could be purchased for $4000.  This is an amazing place to visit, and if you’re ever in the area, don’t miss it!

Sheridan sits at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, and US Highway 14 has always been a route that RVers are told to avoid.  So off we went in our CRV to check it out.  The road climbs quickly and passes a number of rock formations like this one, the “fallen city”.  Once into the mountains, it’s a fairly level area of meadows and forest, with snow at the higher elevations.  Driving along the highway the views were stunning, from sandstone cliffs to alpine forest and finally, a view of the valley on the other side.

Brenda was, as usual, hoping to see a moose, but the usual habitat, willows along the creeks, were still bare.  Then suddenly, next to the road in the meadow, stood a cow and bull moose, grazing quietly and paying us no notice.  The bull, a young one, we think, was having trouble grazing;  moose necks are short and they prefer to eat the tender shoots and leaves shrubs at eye-level while standing in water.  He couldn’t reach down to graze without spreading his front legs wide.  That stance looked very uncomfortable, and he finally did something we’ve never seen – he kneeled and walked around on his knees while grazing. 

He was a fine looking guy, and seemed to enjoy the attention:

We’re so glad we took the time to stop in Sheridan and the Big Horn Mountains.  It’s an amazing area – don’t miss it if you’re in the area!

Next stop Missoula and a visit with our friends from our volunteer days at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge – and a surpirse for Brenda!  Stop back and see!