My “now” page has been updated. More trip posts to come (almost done!).
Categories: now
@seansharp
We left the wilderness and headed to the lovely small town of Thermopolis, Wyoming. Thermopolis is known for the thermal spring that the town has set up to fill several soaking pools for anyone who wants to indulge. The temperature is 104 degrees F., and is fantastic. Following this we headed to Dubois, Wyoming where we stopped for a visit in the National Museum of Military Vehicles, a 156,000 square feet large history lesson. It was truly amazing. Get this: the ticket allows for two days of entry, it is that large and expansive.
The springs run off into the river with this nice suspension bridge set up for people to walk across.
The large hill in the background is where the hot water comes from.
This is one of the exhibit spaces in the museum. The museum was created by Dan Starks to show off his collection.
Another of the many sets that have been created. Each one gives a small piece of information about what you’re seeing and the context in which it was used.
We could have spent way more than three hours here.
I took a lot of photos of this place. What perhaps struck me most about it was that it was very even handed about how it presented the conflicts and the pieces in the museum that were connected to those conflicts. I was quite impressed and I recommend a visit if you ever get to the least populated state in the nation.
Kurt and I left YNP and headed east. Onto Cody, of Buffalo Bill fame, and then to the Bighorn Mountains where we backpacked into the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area one of 803 Designated Wilderness Areas in the US. Wilderness areas have one requirement: nothing with wheels can be used to get there. Legs and feet only, and if you’re a horse, the same applies.
We backpacked for 5 nights and 6 days, covering almost 60 miles. We had a bull moose stroll through our camp, met some super nice people, saw several horse packing groups and only had to deal with biting black flies a bit. Wildfire smoke was minimal and I did not eat enough. Nothing really beats being the backcountry, however.
At about 10,350 feet, the sunset was beautiful.
This fella strolled through our camp in the morning.
A few days later, we had a rain storm start up to the east and the sun was setting to the west and this rainbow appeared. It was a beautiful way to end the day.
Into Montana, with a brief stop in my mom’s hometown of Butte, then onto Yellowstone where we camped and did some day hikes in the area. It truly is magical. And crowded with people from all the world. Still, quite beautiful and stunning and it brought back so many memories . . . .
A slice of downtown, where Copper Kings once roamed . . .
Our first hike back in Yellowstone, along the Yellowstone River, near Gardiner, Montana.
One of these guys is 20. The other, not so much. 🙂
Norris geyser basin in the morning was full of bright steam and sun.
Norris
In the evening after dinner we hiked in Hayden Valley, finding a sizable heard of bison. The moms looked upon us with some suspicion. After a bit, we heard a pack of wolves howl, from just up the hill to the left. We did not see them, but they sounded very close to us. I’ll try to post the audio at some point.
Sunset behind the lower falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was a beautiful evening for a walk along the rim.
The next day we took a hike up to Observation Point in the Upper Geyser Basin, where Old Faithful is located and managed to catch an eruption. They are simply beautiful.
This is from inside of Old Faithful Inn, looking up at the “Crow’s Nest,” where Teddy Roosevelt used to sit. The Inn was built in 1909 and 1910 and is still as beautiful as ever.
Old Faithful Inn has three levels that ring the main floor. On many evenings I would spend time up here reading and hanging out with friends. It was lovely.
Continuing on the trip, we left Idaho and headed into Montana, stopping in St. Regis for some food. It was a truck stop type of place and the western vibe was ever present: paintings of bison, western clothing, cowboy hats – the works. It was a nice little stop as we figured out where to drive for the rest of the evening to find a place to camp. Stopping at 1:00 am we slept under the stars to the sound of a creek near the Anaconda / Pintler Wilderness Area near Anaconda, Montana.
Looking out on the Pintler Mountains in beautiful Montana. The winds picked up and we got rained on a bit, but it was still a lovely hike.
From near the top of the pass, up past Storm Lake towards Storm Peak.
Looking back towards where the photo above was taken – you can see the trail on the left and the saddle is where we were.
Wildflowers were out at this elevation which was about 9500 feet above sea level.