@seansharp

Heading West – Sacajawea’s grave

Posted on September 13, 2024

From Thermopolis & Dubois, we were going to head up over the mountains to Jackson Hole, but the road was closed due to wildfire. So we headed south to Lander, Wyoming. Lander is a bit of a backpacker’s hub where a lot of hikers land for a bit between trails. It was a nice small western town where we had a nice meal and a rest before moving further west. The trip was a good one. Wyoming will always have a piece of my heart and I look forward to visiting again someday . . . .

This is the memorial to Sacajawea, the woman who travelled with Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the ocean back in the early 1800s. Her gravesite was nearby.

Indian cemetery seemed so alive with how people added items of importance to the graves to remember their loved one. A sad note was just how young so many of them died. The evening light was beautiful as we visited.

Wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail. The land just goes on forever, it seems.

Categories: travel, wyoming

Thermopolis & Dubois

Posted on September 7, 2024

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.

Categories: friends, travel, wyoming

Wyoming backcountry

Posted on September 6, 2024

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.

Categories: friends, nature, travel, wyoming

Montana / Yellowstone National Park

Posted on September 3, 2024

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.

Categories: friends, life, nature, travel, yellowstone