Summer 2025 Road Trip - Roll with the punches

[welikecamping2]

The "Love Shack", the original summer camp. A Bed and a bathroom.



While there, we stayed in the Love Shack, the kids stayed in the little camp and our hosts stayed in the big camp. It was 3 days of absolute heaven.

Private beach, perfect weather...



We had a couple of days of absolute glass. paddling was awesome. Chilling on the beach was awesome. The last day, smoke from fires in Canada affected the sunrise


Alas, we had to depart this secluded oasis and head back to reality. The people in Laramie told me that the trailer should be ready in a couple of days. We decided to hammer-time the 1200+ miles back to Laramie. At this point in our trip, we were supposed to go back to Iron River airport, a private airstrip where we would camp for the night, then, on to Little Sand Bay in the Apostle Islands. Missing that was disappointing.

 

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The next three days we drove 400+ miles each day to get back to Laramie by Sunday evening. We would pick up the trailer in the morning, and start the real camping part of this trip. While in Laramie, the wife did some research and we found out about the Snowy Range Scenic Byway which leaves west out of Laramie and heads right up into the Snowy Range, that did not disappoint.

As close as we got to the Apostles, just east of Duluth. perhaps next time...


A stop in Sioux falls:


Picking up the trailer in Laramie


All of our social obligations met, we were finally back in the camper, ready for the woods.

 

[welikecamping2]

Before returning to our camper, we had an opportunity to explore the UP. We toured Marquette with it's interesting semi-industrial harbor and we had a chance to take the Pictured Rocks Boat tour. Pictured rocks are an interesting series of sandstone cliffs that are slowly eroding into the lake. Superior being fickle, our cruise was marred by early fog that sorta cleared up on the way back






There is a hiking trail above the cliffs for a bit, and people can backpack to secluded beaches for camping. Kayaking and Paddleboarding is popular, but you have to be careful and constantly monitor local conditions, it can get snotty fast.


After our boat tour, we headed back to Marquette for some late afternoon wandering. This is an ore dock. Those big old freighters you see on the lake will sidle up to one of these to get a load of Taconite, or semi-refined iron ore pellets

Taconite pellets

Here is an active ore dock, with a freighter taking on a load


We got very lucky and caught an awesome sunset/moonrise from Presque Isle

 

[dstefan]

We like the area up there, and have been thinking about heading up again in the summer (only been in the early fall in the past). Haven’t been there since the CA fires started to be an issue. You mentioned some high haze, but there have also been some times last year and this when I look at the smoke maps and it looks like that area around Marquette had some significant smoke. It’s so hard to tell from the smoke maps and the media how much impact on the ground there is. Did you have any days up there were the smoke was noticeable either visually or smell at ground level?

 

[welikecamping2]

The last day that we were there, July 11, the smoke affected the sunrise, and with the glassy water made for some nice pics. We rolled out around 10:00 and headed west along 41. It looked foggy, but it was definitely patches of smoke drifting through. I'd say it cleared by the time we hit 141 and it was not bad at all. Even on the coast, and this was the only day we experienced it. It is really beautiful and we, too may be back next year.

 

[welikecamping2]

After picking up the trailer, we were ready for some camping. We headed west out of Laramie for the Medicine Bow mountains, aka the Snowy Range. This 26-mile scenic byway was designated in 1988 as the nation's second designated scenic byway. Leaving Laramie, you begin a climb through a large high-elevation valley. The entire area is an offshoot of the great plains, called the "Laramie Plains". This scenic byway started as a wagon road in the 1870's, widened and bladed in the 1920's it became the "Great Skyroad" Finally paved in the 1930's, today it winds over and through these beautiful mountains during a few short months in the summer. This is definitely the country we like.

Approaching the range, you travel 25 miles to cross this basin that contains the largest deflation canyon in North America. The "Big Hollow" is a meandering valley nine miles long, four miles wide and in places up to 200 feet deep. Created by wind erosion It has no natural drainage. Once you cross the basin you come to the "ghost town" of Centennial. We just drove right on through. Medicine Bow peak is just over 12k feet and the pass is at just over 10K feet. The new truck growled as it climbed as if to say "Piece of Cake"





Recently we learned that Golden Retrievers like to fish for rocks. Finley will wade out to chest-deep, then try to reach down and grab a rock off the bottom. When he is successful, he is very proud of himself.


Finley also got to meet snow for the first time in his life

 

[welikecamping2]

The Medicine Bow mountains are beautiful. Historically, these mountains were a resource for the Plains Indians and their ancestors dating from about 8,000 years ago. More recently, it was a shared resource for the Oglalla Sioux, Northern Arapahoe, Northern Cheyenne, White River Utes and Eastern Shoshone were known to harvest lodgepole pine for their shelters, and other woods for weapons and tools. Game was plentiful and the hot springs along the North Platte provided comfort. Mining occurred off and on for a variety of minerals, gold, copper, platinum, zinc, etc. whenever market price made it worthy. There is an old miner's cabin and a bit of assorted equipment strewn along a short hiking trail from the trailhead. We didn't do the hike, but we did meet this nice couple:



So, turns out that we met Ken and Cathy early on when we had truck trouble and camped in the city park at Meeker. They were right next to us. When we pulled into our campsite at Ryan Park, they arrived shortly afterward and camped right next to us. We were both staying two days at Ryan Park, and the second day is when we ran into them at the trailhead. After this, we had to catch up. They didn't know anything after Meeker, they went north at Craig up 13 to Baggs, then east to the Sierra Blanca's and finally where we met them at Ryan Park. What a small world. Cathy is an artist that works in Batik and Oils. she has some beautiful paintings of mountain scenery inspired by hikes in New Mexico. A very nice couple.

Ryan Park campground is on the west side of the range, around 8k feet. It is a large campground, dirt access and I don't think any sites were level, at least none that had any tree coverage. Our trailer is on the large size for this campsite, with tight turns and small parking areas


We settled into a drizzly afternoon, perfect for a hot cup of tea and some relaxation. Ryan Park is the site of a WWII POW camp that housed German and Italian prisoners. These prisoners were put to work running a local sawmill and I read somewhere that despite minimal security, there were no escape attempts. I can believe it, who would want to leave here? Anyway, there's really nothing left of the camp, just a big overgrown meadow with little white painted posts that are numbered corresponding with a map. You really need to use your imagination to visualize a POW camp here. There are a couple of creeks that run through the campground and we took several hikes enjoying them


And a nice sunset


Our new friends, Ken and Cathy told us about a campground in the next range over, the Sierra Madre's. It was the way we were going, so we noted it. There is plenty of dispersed camping in these mountains, pretty much find a forest road and go for it. Something we will be looking at the next time we are in these mountains.

 

[welikecamping2]

Heading west out of the snowy range on 130, we drop to a junction with 230 just after crossing the North Platte. at Riverside, we veer off on 70, which leads us to the Battle Pass scenic byway. This byway is 57 miles from Encampment to Baggs. Lots of copper mining in this area and lumber harvesting around here. In the 1800's, Encampment was a rendezvous point for trappers and traders. Copper prices created booms and busts for the town and today it is a remote tourist destination and ranching center. Heading up to 9000 ft+ Battle pass, we again enter the deep, high elevation forests. Battle was named for a famous battle between Indians and Fur Trappers in 1841. This is also where you cross the continental divide.

Our friends that we met in Meeker and again at Ryan Park gave us a tip about a small campground in these mountains. Lost Creek cg has about 13 sites and maybe 3 would work with our trailer. The website indicates trailers under 22'. I was dubious that we would fit in, but the wife insisted, so I relented. It was a good thing, this was absolutely one of the best campground camps I've had.


A mostly level site, we backed up to the meadow following a stream up into the mountains. Here is a big reason why I like a toyhauler (sans toys)

The sites are well-separated and the bathrooms are clean. We could let Finley wander off-leash except when...

The deer showed up. Finley of course, assumed he was faster than the deer.


But when they returned, you could hear them giggling.

This little guy, best I can tell is a Wandering Gopher snake

We spent a couple of days here, chilling out and enjoying the firewood that I dragged over half the country.

On our last day, the deer came down again to send us off


From this point, our plan was to head west to Baggs, then south to Craig, then again west into Utah. My original route followed the Green River down to Flaming Gorge. I found a dispersed spot in the Ashley NF about 30 miles north of Vernal. After discussing our options, we decided to bag camping in the Ashley and instead we opted for a scenic ridge that we knew of in the Manti-La Sal.

 

[welikecamping2]

In order to make it to our next camp while it was still daylight, we had to make an early departure. Heading down the mountain toward Baggs we passed a woman walking along the side of the road. As we passed, she began flapping her arm up and down. Of course I slowed, thinking there may be wildlife ahead. Around the next corner we come to this

This was only part of the flock. As w stopped and waited for about ten minutes, we got to watch the dogs work the sheep. Some of the dogs were clearly for security, and the guy chilling in the middle of the road stayed there until the sheep were moving off the road.


It was pretty cool watching the coordination between the dogs and the sheep-herder. After about ten minutes or so, the sheep had cleared enough that I felt safe to pass. The next quarter-mile was literally a minefield of sheep excrement. Wheel wells, tires and side-steps were all covered in sheep dung. I found out later how difficult it is to remove this stuff. Seems like as it got wet, it got stickier. There are still some little chunks in my wheel wells. Rolling out of the Sierra Madre's, we dropped down into a valley to follow the Little Snake River all the way to Baggs. This was typical ranching country. Rolling hills covered with grass, dropping into tree-covered ravines.

Baggs is a very remote town. Just a stop sign at the junction, and it pretty much looked like a ghost town. Not a place you would want to get stranded. We headed south from Baggs into more ranch land, mostly empty, but I did see a few Bald Eagles hunting from roadside fence-posts. At Craig, we again turned west toward Vernal, which would get us back onto the original track. This was a long day of driving, but we were familiar with the destination and looked forward to arriving. Eventually, we rolled onto the Energy Loop Scenic Byway. Many years ago we stumbled onto this spot, and the views are epic.



The way the road looks like it just goes off the edge...It is around 6000 down to the valley in the distance. On the other side is the Uinta NF. We never get tired of this view. Sunrises were spectacular


And so were the sunsets

So, we found this spot almost exactly to the day in 2021. Back then we had Beau, the absolute best dog in the world.

So we tried to recreate the image, using Finley

 

[welikecamping2]

He was mostly cooperative

 

[welikecamping2]

As we relaxed in the mountains, we started planning for our next stop. We originally intended a stop in Bryce, then a final push for home. Fires at the North Rim prevented us from taking the southern route into AZ, so we went through Page instead.

So, we made the stop in Bryce, spent a quiet night, then pushed on to our final destination.



What an epic voyage we had. Now all I need to do is figure out how to pay for that truck....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Great trip report. I especially enjoyed all of the dogs pictures. Thanks for making the effort and taking the time to share with the rest of us. Expedition Portal needs more of this in my opinion.....

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thanks for posting! Great job with the + outlook. Things can always happen, and the bet we can sometimes do is control how we react.

It was great to see parts of my old Wyoming home.

The large white dogs guarding the sheep, do only that: Guard. They are great Pyrenees, and not only are the good at what they do. They take their job quite seriously. Not to be messed with. They stay with the sheep 24/7. Vs the herding dogs, ( border collies, and the like) who are only with the stock when they need worked or moved. As left to their own devices they would run the stock to death.

 

[NCSKI]

Yes, as the others said, Thanks for the posts. The wife and I have done a lot of those roads on our Harley over the last 30 years. Now it's time for the heated seats and windshield wipers in the 1975 Toyota FJ40. She is almost done and ready for a "breakin trip" to Glacier NP in Sept. to see if at 70ish we can still set up the Tent and enjoy the dirt backroads the Harley could never go on.

And we thought we were the only ones who ever broke down on the road! Glad to see that the trip ended better than the start.

 

[welikecamping2]

Thanks, all. Saying a prayer tonight for the people of Meeker.