Devils Tower

Leon only had three specific things on his list that he wanted to see on our sojourn and today we visited one. The man who was sent to confirm reports of gold in the Black Hills in 1875 named the towering laccoliths that the Indians called Bear Lodge.


The Indian legend was that a boy and his seven sisters were playing when a bear appeared where he was so the sisters ran to the stump of a great tree. As they climbed the tree it rose into the air but the bear scored the bark all around with his claws. The sisters became the stars of the Big Dipper.


The tower rises 867 feet and covers 1.5 acres at the top. We enjoyed a 1.3 mile walk on the asphalt path around the base. The small plants that grew among the boulders at the base provided some color.


Several folks were climbing it as about 5,000 do each year. What! You don't see the orange shirt about half way up? A ranger a few days ago set a record by climbing to the top in 17 minutes.


The Tower became a meeting place for the area ranchers in 1896 and they still convene for Old Settlers Day on Father's Day.Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it the first national monument in 1906. Black-tailed prairie dogs live near the entrance to the monument.


Since it was early afternoon we decided not to camp there in their campgrounds. What if the aliens landed! The 91 degree temperature may have influenced that also. As we were leaving I spotted this deer trying to escape all the tourists.

Cowboy up

The theme of the rodeo in Sheridan this year was cowboys and Indians and the Indians were quite well represented. Slack rodeo in the mornings was a good time to avoid the crowds. I have always adored the Budweiser Clydesdales and spent some time in their stable area. Chip seemed to have the run of the place.

The Clydesdales were treated like royalty by their keepers. Bath time coming up.  This girl is 5'10" so you can imagine how tall this horse is.

Then they get walked around the area for exercise and visiting. This group came from Ft. Collins, Co. Another group is on the east coast and one in St. Louis.

In the meantime Chip rested for his evening performance, and perform they did. The Clydesdales could turn that beer wagon on a dime. It was late for my camera to pick up the action.

On Thursday night everyone lines their chairs up for Friday's parade. What a sight to see. That is my yellow chair at the end. I say do like the locals do. 

After a visit to the YMCA we enjoyed the pancake breakfast and the bed parade. These were the winners of the fast paced bed race where someone lay on the bed while the guys raced down the street.

The rodeo parade followed and what a parade it was including cowboys, Indians, the 7th Cavalry Drum and Bugle Corps, lots of floats and kids and horses.

Following the parade the powwow took place with a large group from Yakima, Washington and a group from the Crow Nation in Montana. I visited with some of the Crows. They all seemed so friendly.

This ribbon dancer was graceful and elegant. The last dance invites anyone to join in.

The 7th Cavalry Drum and Bugle Corps is a favorite in the town and we saw them perform at the Vaudeville Show on Thursday night. They got Congressional permission to wear the uniform of the 7th Cavalry of Custer and Little Big Horn fame and they perform all over the country.  Everyone goes a little crazy during rodeo days and after the parade they march around town stopping in to entertain and visit with the crowds at the restaurants and bars around town. Lots of folks join in and follow them from bar to bar. Hello!

And then there was a first class rodeo! The weather for this day is often 100 degrees and sunny but we were fortunate to enjoy overcast skies and cooler temperatures.  Our favorite of the evening was the Indian relay which involved races around a track by Indians who switched horses each lap for three laps. The switching of horses was no easy feat. The horses acted as if they hadn't been broken but I don't know the story; however, to leap on one bareback seemed a challenge.

The Clydesdales put on a fine performance showing how they could maneuver the beer wagon with some beautiful footwork and some fancy sidestepping. It got too dark for my camera to catch the action! And then of course there was all of the normal rodeo action which included many world class performers.

Well, woman's work is never done. It is time to move on and plan the next adventure.

Buffalo, Wyoming

Buffalo is another charming town in Wyoming, even smaller than Sheridan, with less than 5,000 people. At a viewpoint along the road from Sheridan we came across this horse traveling from Oregon to Ohio. It is a replica of a Friesian that the owner showed all over the country.



The growth of sheep ranching in the late 1890s brought Basque to the area as the Bighorns reminded them of the Pyrenees Mountains of their homeland. They still practice the tradition and yet we can't find a Basque restaurant in Buffalo. But the cattle preceded the sheep and there is quite a history of cattle rustling.


The Occidental Hotel caught my eye immediately. It is still an operating hotel full of antiquities. Margaret Smith was the proprietress for many years after her husband won it in a poker game. It is strange that her clothes are hung on the walls between the upstairs rooms.


It is supposedly the only restored old hotel, which began in a tent in 1879, in Wyoming. True Magazine named it "The Best Hotel in the West" in 2007. I am not sure I would want to stay there but had Leon not had a summer cold I would have enjoyed a drink in the saloon and dinner in the Virginian restaurant, so named for the book that Owen Wister wrote while staying at the hotel.



The 1908 back bar in the saloon is handsome. Guests have included Teddy Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill Cody and many other dignitaries shown in pictures hanging on the walls. The wall painting in Crazy Woman Park let us know that this is not a one horse town.


I found a little humor in this sign posted on the creek to gauge water levels. The town had suffered a flood in the past and obviously knows what to do.


The town also has a number of early 20th century bungalows and a few mansions. We of course drove by some before heading back to Sheridan where we encountered several wanderers from the Rainbow Gathering in Montana recently. Had they had a front windshield they would have moved on. Where are Barbara and Ron when we need normal people?

Bighorns again

Highway 16, the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway, crosses the Bighorns further south than 14 and is a popular route to Cody and Yellowstone. The temperature at Powder River Pass at 9,666 feet sure beats the 96 degrees in Buffalo, Wyoming (which feels like 84 at home). We drift with the weather usually but have bought tickets for the rodeo in Sheridan so this seemed like a great stop for an afternoon nap.



This is where I would hope to see Bighorn sheep if there were any in this area.


At one overlook we had a fine view of several eleven and twelve thousand foot mountains. If only the camera could capture the beauty I saw and the mosaics created by the different areas of trees below.



At one point I stopped in the road to catch a better glimpse of these antelope. Leon is really learning to ignore the scenery and look in the rear view mirror when I am driving. I appreciate his warnings of approaching cars.



I wondered what this little structure that looks like an old double car garage built out of stones in the side of the mountain was. I may never know but i envision a Basque sheep herder living here while he tends his flock.



This van also breaks for wildflowers. The forest was thick with blooming blue lupins and I enjoyed them to the fullest.



When we arrived back in Buffalo the thermometer had gone in the wrong direction but it didn't feel all that hot to me; I had a town to explore.

Bighorn National forest

The Bighorns seemed a logical location to escape the rising temperatures in Sheridan for a couple of days. After lunch and a great visit with Barbara and Ron we retuned to the bank to get Leon's ATM card from the card eating machine we visited on Sunday and headed west. The temperatures dropped as we ascended into the forest.

Located in north-central Wyoming just an hour from Sheridan,  the region has a diverse landscape including lush grasslands, alpine meadows, crystal-clear lakes, glacially-carved valleys, rolling hills, sheer mountain walls and many creeks and streams. We settled into a spot at Prune Creek where Leon soon spotted his first moose and ventured out to get a closer look. Back and forth the two cows and their calves went through the creek and into the meadow and the next thing I knew they were wandering through the campground. Most of the other campers slept through it all.

The Medicine Wheel is a sacred site to the Indians and we were required to walk the final 1 1/2 miles to visit the site, but it was worth it. The scenery along the way was gorgeous and obviously all the snow had not melted.

The circular arrangement of stones is over 700 years old and 80 feet wide. It has 28 spokes that extend from the central hub with six smaller rock cairns arranged around the rim. Experts disagree on its traditional purpose. Offerings adorn the pole fence that encircles the wheel. 

The wildflowers blooming on the sides of the road are magnificent and are all shades of blues, pinks, yellow, lavender and white. The blue lupins are in full bloom everywhere it seems.

The roads fork near Burgess Junction, which is really just a wide spot in the road where there is a lodge and gas station. Four wheelers were everywhere as there must be ample trails in the forest to ride. At times I wished for my quad and my fly rod. The streams are full of trout while the forests are full of deer, elk, and moose. Shell Falls and Shell Canyon are on 14, the Bighorn Scenic Byway, so we made a trip down to this lovely area. These didn't compare to the falls in Yellowstone but they were nice in their own right. Shell Creek cuts a deep gorge though the towering cliffs of granite and limestone all viewed from lookouts above. 

The land in the forest is parceled and fenced and leased to ranchers to run sheep and cattle. This is the first week that cattle can be brought into the forest for grazing so we met our fair share of cattle trucks. The open range made the going in the right lane slow as they don't know the rules of the road yet,  but we like it that way and we sure don't object to people having fun on quads. 

I wondered what life must be like being a sheep herder when we passed this guy. I think I would get very bored.

I can sure see why my friends have spent so much time in the Bighorns fishing along Prune Creek and enjoying chilly nights and warm sunny days. I wish they could have joined us. 

Sheridan, Wy

My goodness, we have packed in a lot in a short time. We explored town a little on the first day, visited the YMCA, used the wifi at McDonald's, and joined twelve other campers at Walmart for the evening. An early morning trip to town on Saturday put us right in the middle of a car show so we wandered among the cars and shops.



I like exploring a new town and being able to walk right down the middle of the street to check out the town. I could not believe this tribute to wounded warriors on display by a man from Ohio.



And then there is the truck that hauls it.



I felt like this butterfly as I flitted around town looking at the many sculptures. I think their goal is to have one on every corner.



This is one of my favorites but you can't see the water dripping from the hat and missing his mouth to land in the pond below. It is in a lovely park, Whitney Commons, with statues, a garden, water features, a bike trail, a webcam, and more.


We picked up a few new geocaches including one at this well known bar...


And ducked in and out of shops such as this well known store that makes saddles and ropes.




The rodeo is in town this week and there are cowboys everywhere mixed in with the car enthusiasts. It looks to be a fun time. This town has a Y, wifi, Walmart, free overnight camping, dumps, water, cell service, a movie theater, good restaurants, bike trails through town, and delightful people. What more could we want? And if you need a cowboy hat..well take your pick.


Night two we spent in Washington Park adjacent to the bike trail so it seemed fit to start the morning with a nice bike ride. It was as if we had the streets to ourselves on Sunday morning. We stopped at the old Sheridan Inn which was opened in 1893 with Buffalo Bill as part owner. A run of bad luck with a recent owner has the bank owning it now. How sad!


There just happened to be a geocache there and there just happened to be a bench on the porch where Leon waited.


After an afternoon movie marathon we settled in at the park again under the tall Cottonwoods. We laughed at both The Heat and Lone Ranger at the theater.


The temps appear to be rising during the week so we think we will head to the mountains today.