Month: July 2021

Sunday I stayed in to make some more blog posts, organize and backup my photos and watch the NASCAR races from Charlotte in real time (which were on two hours earlier since I am in Mountain Time Zone). Monday I made some local scenic drives in the immediate Lander area and there was nothing remarkable to show (although they were very nice). Tuesday I headed up to Cody WY to attend the rodeo that night. It was my second “overnight” trip and I booked an Airbnb in the little town of Powell, about 30 miles east of Cody.

The drive up was scenic and pleasant. I drove through Wind River Canyon again (if you didn’t look at that post you should. WordPress shows me how many times a post has been viewed and that post, as well as the one of Thermopolis, haven’t had any viewers, although there are a few people who I believe look at everything I post). Here are some more photos from Wind River Canyon taken at a different time of day than the ones I posted previously:

I also spotted some folks rafting down the Wind River, which I learned flows south to north and not the other way around.

I continued north and eventually drove through the little town of Meeteetse, “Where Chiefs Meet”.

The bar’s motto is a takeoff on the town’s motto. In addition to establishments for adults I was pleased to see a facility geared towards underage individuals, giving them a much needed place to go on their own:

It wasn’t open when I was there but inside I could see pinball and other arcade games, a foosball table and other things kids could do for entertainment.

Down at the corner I found this bear, patiently waiting to have his picture taken with someone:

Bear spray not needed in this instance…

I finally arrived in Cody. I posted some photos of smoke from two wildfires I saw, which both turned out to be in nearby Montana, previously. I drove west of town to check out the rodeo grounds:

The rodeo didn’t start until 8pm and you will see lots more photos in subsequent posts.

Next I drove east to check in at my Airbnb since I knew I wouldn’t be getting there until late in the evening. These are some mountains I saw off to my right as I drove towards Powell:

I arrived at my Airbnb and while my hostess was showing me where my room was her young son came in and stood next to her. I said “Hi, I’m John” and he proudly held up four fingers and proclaimed “I’m four”! In subsequent interrogation I learned that he had just turned four in May, that he had created some of the chalk drawings I had seen on their driveway, and that his name is Brodie – which he carefully air-spelled: B-r-o-d-i-e. NOT Brody like Cody, but Brodie. I got their joint permission to show his handiwork on the blog:

This is Brodie on his bike:

This is Brodie running through the sprinkler:

This is an airplane (I figured that one out on my own):

And though he didn’t explain what this one was I’m thinking maybe dinosaur?

His mother had some drawings of her own but I’ll let Brodie keep the spotlight.

Next post – my night at the rodeo. Cowboy Up!!

After I returned to Lander from my excursion to Laramie, Cheyenne WY and Fort Collins CO, I took Friday off to do laundry and post my Laramie and Cheyenne photos. My brother and sister-in-law were away for the weekend but my brother suggested we take their truck and drive the “loop road,” a continuation of the road through Sinks Canyon State Park and the Shoshone National Forest which I had previously tackled on my own in two parts. The section which continued on past the “switchbacks” was now open all the way out to Highway 24 but was a little too rough to traverse in my Altima. My nephew, Sam, volunteered to drive and of course we took Ellie, my brother and sister-in-law’s corgi which Sam was taking care of in their absence.

Before we departed I had driven in to town and discovered that there was a car show being held in Lander in the bowling alley parking lot. I sent these photos of a 1968 Camaro to a co-worker back in Durham who loves Camaro’s:

The engine was clean enough that you could have eaten off it (I didn’t):

There were also old and new-model Dodge Challengers, a car I have always thought to be attractive:

As I was taking those photos a Wyoming State Trooper stopped his cruiser next to the parking lot and got out to take a look at the cars on display.

Before he got out I leaned in the window to ask the trooper if he was there to show off his “ride” and he said no, he was just interested in looking at what was on display. I heard another spectator tell him he couldn’t enter his vehicle in the show if he hadn’t modified it himself. Yet another person, the owner of the orange Challenger, playfully tapped her car and asked him if he wanted to race (a bold move, I must say!!). The trooper politely declined her offer and after he had driven off she admitted that she wouldn’t have taken him up on it anyway because his car was “supercharged”. If it hadn’t been though…………

Sam and Ellie arrived just as the show’s prizes had been awarded and it was starting to disband so we went back to the house to get the truck and headed up to the Loop Road. The trip itself was ok, but I was glad we had taken the truck.

The area was more heavily wooded that I was expecting so there wasn’t much to see, though we did stop at various lakes and reservoirs. I did take this photo of Sam and Ellie to send to Stephen and Jen to assure them that Ellie was in good hands, literally.

My two most recent “relatively real time” posts (not counting yesterday’s post about the American Pika) were about my same-day, half-day visits to Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming back on June 9. I had driven down from Lander that Wednesday morning but because of the distance I made it my first overnight trip away from Lander. I decided to spend that night in Fort Collins, Colorado, about 45 minutes south of Cheyenne, because the next day I wanted to travel scenic Route 14 west of Fort Collins and take other scenic roads back to Lander.

The next morning, as I started my trek west on Route 14 (which I made several posts about back in 2017), I was distressed to discover that much of the area had been damaged or destroyed in a wildfire. When I reached a ranger station later in the morning I stopped to ask when the fire had occurred and discovered it was just last year! The Cameron Peak Fire was first reported by several hikers on August 13, 2020 and quickly spread to more than 10,000 acres in just three days. On October 14 it became the largest wildfire in Colorado state history, eclipsing a record set just 7 weeks earlier in another part of the state (and THAT fire eclipsed a record set out near Grand Junction even earlier in 2020). The CPF ended up consuming over 208,000 acres, including part of Rocky Mountain National Park, and wasn’t considered 100% contained until December 2 (and wasn’t completely out until January 2021, with the help of snowfall).

I was so bummed that I didn’t even stop to take any photos but have decided that I will go back and drive the route again next month and post photos. I may even go back in my archive and see if I can find “before” photos from my 2017 trip.

During this trip, and shortly after I had passed the road on which I had taken several photos of moose (and marmots) in 2017, which is near where the fire had first been reported last year, I arrived at Cameron Pass, at an altitude of 10,249 feet:

I continued on my way towards the popular ski village of Steamboat Springs and these were some of the things I saw along the way:

Soon I arrived in the little town of Walden, the “Moose Capital of Colorado”. I didn’t see any moose but I did find this tiny trailer parked next to the road:

It was for sale, asking price $12,500, and I have the contact information if you are interested. It actually got me thinking…. but then I would need a bigger vehicle to tow it and *poof,* there goes my gas mileage.

I stopped briefly in Steamboat Springs for gas but found the town unremarkable (sorry SS). I continued on to Craig, Colorado where I turned right and headed north, back to Wyoming. Once I got on the road which took me back to Lander I stopped and took a photo of the road and mountains behind me, which I posted “silhouette” photos of in the Laramie post earlier in the blog. They were now lit up by the sun and looked very different than they had the previous morning.

First, my apologies for the long delay in posts. After leaving Lander, Wyoming I headed west for a few days in various parts of southern Idaho which is where the “heat dome” of excessive temperatures found me. It decided to latch on and follow me around as I start venturing further south, and the near daily 100+ degree temperatures really drains my energy.

As I post this I am in Las Vegas, where it was 119 yesterday after I arrived and completed my two (thankfully, indoor) afternoon activities, 99 at 730 this morning local (Pacific) time, and 117 as I write this at 550pm Saturday. Garth Brooks is performing in town and the big McGregor-Poirier boxing rematch is tonight so the town is hot in more ways than one.

But enough whining – before leaving Cedar City, Utah Friday morning I made an early morning trip back up to Cedar Breaks National Monument and FINALLY saw an American Pika! When I stopped at the Monument Wednesday afternoon after visiting Bryce Canyon I learned from the signage that the American Pika can be found there. I tried spotting the elusive pika a few years ago in Colorado while at Rocky Mountain National Park but was consistently denied access to their “hangout” near the Alpine Visitor Center. I still plan to go back there later in this trip and try again.

The pika is a small, rabbit-like animal about the size of a chipmunk. They are VERY sensitive to temperature and can die when temps get in the upper 70’s! For this reason they are found only at high altitude, and their numbers are dwindling as the worldwide temperature trend continues to rise. They are all but extinct in California now, where heat from wildfires further complicates things.

I left the house at 6am Friday (which I do about every day) and headed up into the mountains east of Cedar City. Cedar Breaks National Monument is amazing, and it features four overlooks, all of which are 10,000 feet or higher in elevation, a perfect environment for the pika. I had asked several park rangers where I might have the best luck and I arrived at the most frequently mentioned spot, a rock wall near a walking path. I found a good vantage point, stood silently and waited. Like prairie dogs, pikas live in colonies and warn others around them of predators, then hide until the danger passes. So I had to be very, very quiet and not make any sudden moves.

Sure enough, at about 715 one came out and started moving quickly around the rocks. It would stop briefly to look around, then dart to another spot. Their fur allows them to blend in with the rocks so the key is to look for movement. They are very small so I had to raise the camera and zoom in to wherever it was sitting at the moment. It took about 45 minutes but I finally got a few good photos.

I hope see more pikas when I get back to northeast Colorado in early August.

I will be booking more Airbnb’s for late July and in to August later this evening but since the temperature here in Las Vegas isn’t going to improve any, tomorrow I may stay in and get some more posts made before moving on to Arizona on Monday. Their appears to be some much-needed rain in the forecast for the area around the Grand Canyon next week so we’ll see what affect that has on my travels and activities. It also sounds like the temperatures may moderate a little bit, back to normal for this area (which I expected to be hot, but not THIS hot!)

Thanks for your patience and please stay tuned. I have lots more pictures to post.