Almost two weeks covering Denver, Winter Park, Steamboat Springs, the Wind River Canyon, and the Bighorn Mountains. Our original plan was to camp two more nights in Teddy Roosevelt National Park, but both the boys came down with bad colds, so we headed east towards home instead and will camp there on a future roadtrip.
This country is amazing to see by car. The hugeness of the sky on the prairies, the twisty roads in the mountains, and all the different kinds of rocks and trees and flowers is just awe inspiring. Nature (and man made infrastructure) is just so cool to see. We can’t wait until next year’s trip!
The obligatory family selfie when we pulled in the driveway. Jeff drove the whole time and did great!
As we left Thermopolis, we drove through the Buffalo range in the Hot Springs State Park. Lots of trails around too, but it was way too hot to go hiking right now.
As we drove, the rocks began to change. Less red and more jagged. We drove on the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway on state highway 16 to get to our campsite at Sitting Bull Campground in the Bighorn National Forest. The views were breathtaking! As we climbed higher and higher, it went from semi arid sagebrush, to lodge pole pine tree forests.
Our campsite was huge! At least triple the normal size site at most campgrounds. There is a view of a meadow with the mountains in the distance that was right down the path. And lots of wildflowers including purple lupine everywhere!
Jeff made steaks and then we relaxed with no cell signal to be found. The hammock was set up and a small squirrel came to investigate. A deer walked up to us too, a second after I got up and walked away from my phone of course, so I couldn’t get a picture before it took off.
Overnight there was an incredible thunderstorm. No wind or hail, but lots of lightning and thunder that was incredibly loud and sounded different than any other thunder I’ve ever heard. It must have been echoing off the mountains all around us.
The next day we went in to Ten Sleep to get lunch and to check in with the world. As we turned onto the highway, a moose crossed the road. I did manage to get a photo of that!
After we got back to the campsite, Jeff went on a hike to the lake across the highway while the rest of us relaxed. The temp was only 75 degrees up here, even though it was 98 down in Ten Sleep.
Unfortunately we had to leave this peaceful paradise and move on with our vacation, but this area is definitely one we want to come back to again. As we drove to our hotel in Glendive, Montana, the temperature hovered around 100 degrees.
Carson and I thought this gave off “Radiator Springs” vibes. The trails are beckoning, but not this time. They have their own buffalo herd including 2 babies this year. Very cool scenery Wow! Pictures can’t show how awesome this looksLupineSerpent grass. Food source for lots of alpine animalsPenstemonTrying to decide if the hammock (and me in it) is a branch to run onCarpet phloxRocky Mountain Groundsel View from hammock Cute cafe for lunchThis quilt was in the resaurantGood reminder! A 3.75 mile hike!View from the bathrooms at the campgroundSunset was at my back behind the trees .Sunrise from inside the camper (too cozy to get up)Multiple spots with steep grades Oil or coal refinery? The rocks changed again as we head north and east.
It was a layover type day, as we took care of life things like catch up on appointments and email, clean out the cooler, etc. We stopped to get ice and I even went to the quilt shop in town.
In the afternoon, I decided to venture out in the 95 degree heat to go explore the state park across the street and I am so glad I did! Did you ever want to experience a little bit of Yellowstone without all the people and animal traffic jams? And even be able to soak in the hot springs? Then book a stay in this town and explore!
I first saw Teepee fountain, which was actually man made, as a way of venting out some of the piping for the hot spring pools in the park. Then I walked along a boardwalk on the travertine, just like at Yellowstone. I half expected a buffalo to amble over the ridge. It smelled like Yellowstone too. There is a suspension bridge that crosses the river too, and lots of trails I didn’t take because it was a million degrees out and I was by myself and not prepared to do a hike in the back country.
I did find the hot spring though. Pretty awesome with the red rocks in the background. Long ago, there was a treaty between the Shoshone and the State of Wyoming that the hot springs would be available for everyone. Wyoming stuck to that treaty since then and so there is a public hot springs pool that is open daily for anyone who wants to use it. There are also 2 longstanding companies with hot spring pools with water slides.
I made it back to the hotel room without dying of heat exhaustion and enjoyed the AC with the rest of the family. Then we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant that is full of mounted trophy animals. The owner of the hotel had been a trophy hunter for years and years. As the ethics of trophy hunting changed, he changed with the times too. In his later years, he shot the animals with tranquilizer darts and got his picture, and then a vet would band and check the animal and then it woke up and went back to living. The tourism dollars still went to the people in Africa where he hunted, and the animals would get checked over for health and research purposes. I thought that was very interesting.
A great quilt shop! A statue celebrating the treaty that gave the hot springs to the State of Wyoming.Teepee FountainWater runs off in the trough and goes into the nearby riverShowy milkweedSide view of the mineral terrace.Inside of one of the mineral pools. The public mineral bath house. You get a 20 minute soak for free. Water temp is 104 degrees.View from the boardwalk on top of the terrace. All the different colors are different microbes and mineralsThe spring that is the main source of the mineral ponds in the park. So many dead animals on the walls! The rhino isnt real. It is a replica made after they tranquillized it and took measurements.
Kline Road Trips 