DOJ1
Member
We got tired of the normal summer heat and both wife and I put in for some vacation time.
The big truck has been ok for a couple 1 night stays but we wanted to see (what else we need for longer trips)
We wanted to see some of the mountain ranges closer to Yellowstone ecosystem and see what places we might go to in next couple years.
!st we did fine, stayed married after 6 days and no major mishaps.?
Day 1 we traveled from our home base Sheridan,Wy over the Bighorns via route 16 from Buffalo to Tensleep.
Both 14, and route 16 are fantastic scenic routes over the Bighorns. note 14a is quite steep and both full routes have runaway truck ramps and have recorded fatalities. We live here and are used to the roads but they are steep and eat brakes often.Traveled this time from Buffalo to Tensleep through Worland and cut across to Meeteetse Wy.
Took a few photos in the morning and stopped at Gooseberry Badlands on the cut across from Worland to Meeteetse .
Hwy 16 to Hwy 20 to Hwy 431,
Meeteetse was having the annual Labor day weekend Rodeo, Parade and extravaganza. So the little town was hopping . Tried to get a burger but they sold out while we were in line so we made a quick chicken soft taco in truck and away went down the wood river to ghost town of Kirwin.
The river got up this spring and also a few slides had hindered people early in the year but all that was cleared.
River was down and forging water crossings was easy. Road is tight we are just under 24ft so we watch, 10ft tall and good ground clearance. drug spare a little at main river crossing. Note: in spring and spring is June here ..you need 35's and 3 inch lift on this road. You will travel well over 1/4 mile in water. You have been warned. Meeteetse museums in summer give guided tours and there is alot of history. On the way in is perfect Bighorn sheep country and the outfitters were busy several trucks and trailers just across main river crossing then it gets to tight for trailers. Some waits for utv groups to clear as road is one lane in a lot of places. It is also prime , i mean prime Grizz country. You must carry bear spray and follow and think about that. Man was mauled this summer above Kirwin.
This is the area in late summer the bears dig for moths in the shale on the steep cliffs. We went exploring in some of the buildings, semi leveled the truck and spent the night at 9200ft. No one else was anywhere around.
Sometime in Morning wife got a chill and i fired up diesel heater and we cooked breakfast took some pictures and worked our way back down from high country. It was dry and about 3/4 way down truck wanted a regen so we stopped and stretched legs. There is an outcropping on one of the feeder roads called the wall, I wanted to see it so we turned and found about 400 Buffalo or Bison in a nice valley and so we took a photo.
We were dragging behind a little so filled up in Meeteetse and boogied down to Thermopolis and grabbed lunch.
I wanted to stop at a petroglphs site on the way but time was short. There is a back way instead of main hwy 120 then 20 in Thermopolis that cuts across reservation but road goes to primitive and i want to run it first in a utv or offroad small rig. We got stuck in May and had to sit in middle of blm road so wife is out on being stuck.
We got out of Thermopolis and ran windriver canyon (fantastic views) over to Riverton and then to Dubois. Hwy 20 to hwy 26. It was hot and wind was blowing truck started running a little warmer so we stopped once and cooled off, picked up a new two burner stove in Riverton because the old one had leaked some at breakfast after past 20 years of use, i guess we can buy a new one.
We really wanted to get to Dubois and go to Double Cabin but time was running low. Looked at some town campgrounds in Dubois were all full of people- Not our style in summer, Dubois is super nice they have a nice military museum and all kinds of shops, We have stayed in winter downtown and it is a lot of fun. No people with Nice overlooks of the badlands when it snows. It is beautiful in winter. Our alternate stay was up near whiskey mountain country at one of the lakes behind Torrey lake. We found a nice spot leveled the truck and crashed right at dark. Diesel heater was problematic in morning, cooked breakfast , hopped on electric bike for a potty run and took pictures, There are alot of petroglyphs in the area some on private land but some on national Forrest and blm . Worked up to trailhead to Louise lake definitely coming back here with canoe. Note: All the bighorns in this area got sick a few years ago and now they are coming back but it's going to be awhile. Selenium deficiency: you can google that or read book called The light in the High Places. Beautiful country.
Caught a osprey on Nest and a working coyote in a field leaving and cool rocks, alot of moss agate and fools gold if you look. This is day three and I am going to post a few photos and pick up here in a few lines because next section is a handful.
The big truck has been ok for a couple 1 night stays but we wanted to see (what else we need for longer trips)
We wanted to see some of the mountain ranges closer to Yellowstone ecosystem and see what places we might go to in next couple years.
!st we did fine, stayed married after 6 days and no major mishaps.?
Day 1 we traveled from our home base Sheridan,Wy over the Bighorns via route 16 from Buffalo to Tensleep.
Both 14, and route 16 are fantastic scenic routes over the Bighorns. note 14a is quite steep and both full routes have runaway truck ramps and have recorded fatalities. We live here and are used to the roads but they are steep and eat brakes often.Traveled this time from Buffalo to Tensleep through Worland and cut across to Meeteetse Wy.
Took a few photos in the morning and stopped at Gooseberry Badlands on the cut across from Worland to Meeteetse .
Hwy 16 to Hwy 20 to Hwy 431,
Meeteetse was having the annual Labor day weekend Rodeo, Parade and extravaganza. So the little town was hopping . Tried to get a burger but they sold out while we were in line so we made a quick chicken soft taco in truck and away went down the wood river to ghost town of Kirwin.
The river got up this spring and also a few slides had hindered people early in the year but all that was cleared.
River was down and forging water crossings was easy. Road is tight we are just under 24ft so we watch, 10ft tall and good ground clearance. drug spare a little at main river crossing. Note: in spring and spring is June here ..you need 35's and 3 inch lift on this road. You will travel well over 1/4 mile in water. You have been warned. Meeteetse museums in summer give guided tours and there is alot of history. On the way in is perfect Bighorn sheep country and the outfitters were busy several trucks and trailers just across main river crossing then it gets to tight for trailers. Some waits for utv groups to clear as road is one lane in a lot of places. It is also prime , i mean prime Grizz country. You must carry bear spray and follow and think about that. Man was mauled this summer above Kirwin.
This is the area in late summer the bears dig for moths in the shale on the steep cliffs. We went exploring in some of the buildings, semi leveled the truck and spent the night at 9200ft. No one else was anywhere around.
Sometime in Morning wife got a chill and i fired up diesel heater and we cooked breakfast took some pictures and worked our way back down from high country. It was dry and about 3/4 way down truck wanted a regen so we stopped and stretched legs. There is an outcropping on one of the feeder roads called the wall, I wanted to see it so we turned and found about 400 Buffalo or Bison in a nice valley and so we took a photo.
We were dragging behind a little so filled up in Meeteetse and boogied down to Thermopolis and grabbed lunch.
I wanted to stop at a petroglphs site on the way but time was short. There is a back way instead of main hwy 120 then 20 in Thermopolis that cuts across reservation but road goes to primitive and i want to run it first in a utv or offroad small rig. We got stuck in May and had to sit in middle of blm road so wife is out on being stuck.
We got out of Thermopolis and ran windriver canyon (fantastic views) over to Riverton and then to Dubois. Hwy 20 to hwy 26. It was hot and wind was blowing truck started running a little warmer so we stopped once and cooled off, picked up a new two burner stove in Riverton because the old one had leaked some at breakfast after past 20 years of use, i guess we can buy a new one.
We really wanted to get to Dubois and go to Double Cabin but time was running low. Looked at some town campgrounds in Dubois were all full of people- Not our style in summer, Dubois is super nice they have a nice military museum and all kinds of shops, We have stayed in winter downtown and it is a lot of fun. No people with Nice overlooks of the badlands when it snows. It is beautiful in winter. Our alternate stay was up near whiskey mountain country at one of the lakes behind Torrey lake. We found a nice spot leveled the truck and crashed right at dark. Diesel heater was problematic in morning, cooked breakfast , hopped on electric bike for a potty run and took pictures, There are alot of petroglyphs in the area some on private land but some on national Forrest and blm . Worked up to trailhead to Louise lake definitely coming back here with canoe. Note: All the bighorns in this area got sick a few years ago and now they are coming back but it's going to be awhile. Selenium deficiency: you can google that or read book called The light in the High Places. Beautiful country.
Caught a osprey on Nest and a working coyote in a field leaving and cool rocks, alot of moss agate and fools gold if you look. This is day three and I am going to post a few photos and pick up here in a few lines because next section is a handful.
