A little slice of WY.......

[BIGGUY]

I read Max's Wyoming adventures thread and it inspired me to do a little exploring in some of the areas around me that I hadn't been before to see what was basically right on my doorstep. I usually spend time down along the border area of WY, UT, and lately CO. I had a trip planned a few weeks ago and for different reasons, including a land slide, changed directions. I had been through the areas on the main highways, but never off and actually exploring them. I'm glad I took the time to finally check them out.

The first few pictures are up in the area of WY near South Pass City, Atlantic City and Louis Lake. I didn't get many in the towns as there were a lot of tourists in and about them and I couldn't get to a lot of the buildings. I'll head back up when things quiet down at the end of the summer.

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[BIGGUY]

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[BIGGUY]

The next trip I took was up to the area around La Barge, WY and the Bridger National Forest. There was a historical sign along the way in the first picture. It was hard to get the shot through the fence, but if you look close you can read, "Jim Bridger, Trapper, 1844."

I took some scenic shots of the area and the wildflowers. Most of the photos are from a second trip a week after the first one. The first time I went up I came to a flooded section of road and decided to turn around as I wasn't familiar with the area and it is remote. I had only passed 3 vehicles, 4 motorcycles, and 2 ATVs on both trips until I got well passed the flooded area. After turning back that first time I took another cut off road that dropped down to a state highway on the west side of the mountains. I ended up turning back on this route also. I had crossed through 6 snow drifts and could see at least 4 more before the road made a turn and this was in the first 2 miles. I once again took another cut off that came out 22 miles north of where I had entered originally. It came out at Big Piney, WY. I need to go back up and get some photos of this route as there are a bunch of historical signs, graves, etc. This is the route of the Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail. It saved the pioneers 7 days of travel from the normal route. They had the extra work of crossing the mountains, but there was the big bonus of lots of water and forage for their animals.

I was about 35 miles from town with 30 miles of dirt roads to go when I saw two road racer type motorcycles coming at me. I pulled over to let them by when one of them flagged me down to talk. He asked me if I could help them as they were lost. I told him that this was my first time up there, but that I would try and asked him where they had come from, and where they were trying to go. He said they had left Jackson Hole, WY and were told that this was a short cut to Kemmerer, WY. I told him that it would take them out to the highway they needed, but that I had turned around from the snow. He looked at my FJ and said that if I had turned around, it would be best for them to do the same. I had an idea of where they were from because of their accents, but I asked just to be sure. They were both from Australia!! I met them in town at the gas station and they took photos of me with the truck to show their buddies "The guy who saved us from being stuck in the snow in the wilderness." Really nice guys. The shortcut they were on would probably have been okay in a normal year, but this is the second wettest spring in something like 110 years here and the snow pack was in the range of 130-140% this year.

My camera battery died on the first trip because I read the gauge wrong and my spare wasn't charged up as I thought it was...I will go back and take that section of the route again and get photos.

 

[BIGGUY]

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[BIGGUY]

I missed getting a picture of the sign and the stream just before this. It was about half the size and the sign read, "Greys River, Watch Me Grow."

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[BIGGUY]

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This is a shot of the Box Canyon Trailhead. The actual trail starts about 50ft down the road to the left. You can see the sign to the right of the road in one of the next photos. I stopped here and ate lunch while looking at my maps the first trip as the flooded area is right down the road. I turned around and came back and parked here. Behind me is a primitive camping area.

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I wasn't sure about the depth of the water or the condition of the road underneath. I looked things over and went slow. To the right side the water was only about 4" deep but on the left and in some of the "pools" it was from 1ft to almost 3ft deep. There were a couple of holes and ruts under the water and then the washed out area. The deepest part was the last "pool" before dry road. When I entered I could only see water in front of me and the road then turned to the left and the last picture is of that section of the road. A little ways down the road after this was a Ranger station and then after that there was a Ranger and two guys with a backhoe and dump truck who had just filled in a 50ft section of the road that had washed out. It surprised them that I had come through the flooded area and they hadn't went through there yet. They asked me about the conditions there and then I went on my way.

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Oh........remember that little stream and the sign that I mentioned saying, "Watch Me Grow." Well.........

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[BIGGUY]

After I left this area I hit the highway at the town of Alpine, WY which is right next to Alpine Junction. You can go into ID or up the Snake River Canyon to the Hoback Junction south of Jackson, WY. I took the third route which was south through Afton, WY and down to Evanston, WY. Just outside a little town named Woodruff just north of Evanston I hit a black cloud of bugs. What a mess. You can see the results starting with the second photo below.

I'm really happy that I decided to take the drive up and explore this area. I've lived in WY for many years and there are so many places that I haven't seen and this is one beautiful one that I will return to. There is also a lot of history in the area around me as the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails passed through. Fort Bridger is to the east of me and played a part in this history too. There is also a section of the "Outlaw" Trail that runs down by me and to the south through CO and UT. A lot of neat places to see.

Here's a shot of my vehicle. It's a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with a few goodies on it.

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BUGS!!

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[PirateMcGee]

awesome! thanks for sharing, it's great too see a bunch of signs that haven't been shot to death

 

[BIGGUY]

I was a bit surprised that they were in such great shape myself. I live near a main highway and the signs on it are all shot up not even a mile down the road. People move into the area for work from several places and think it's still the Wild West out here without any rules and they don't have common sense either.


Glad you enjoyed the photos.