A Scenic Loop Through the Bighorn Mountains

So here we are in Montana and I'm revisiting Wyoming. Sorry for the lag. While we were in Sheridan we took a day trip through the Big Horn Mountains and found a hidden gem that I want to share before I forget. 

We'd driven through the Bighorns before, but we took a slightly different route this time.  From Sheridan we headed north on 90 to Ranchester where we picked up 14 West. That took us through Dayton and gradually up into the mountains, through beautiful verdant foothills...  

,,,punctuated with occasional rock outcroppings,

...and up to the high green plateaus.

There were still pockets of snow here and there...

...but more wildflowers than snow.

Forget-me-nots

After we switched to 14A toward Lovell, we passed a sign for the Medicine Wheel historical and cultural site, but the well defined trail leading away from the sign dead ends at this attractive pile of granite, which is not the Medicine Wheel. Don't be fooled like we were! The actual site is located near the top of nearby Medicine Mountain, which you can see from the sign, if you read it carefully. The site can be accessed by a 3 mile dirt road, followed by a 1.5 mile hike that we didn't think Honey could handle, so we kept going.  It was a nice leg stretch and a beautiful view anyway.

Once over the pass, 14A takes you down the very different west side of the Bighorns. Here the rock is exposed and there is very little vegetation.  This is the view looking back at the Bighorns from near Lovell, WY.

As we continued into the colorful valley, we crossed Bighorn Lake, created by the dammed Bighorn River. Just north of this is the Bighorn Canyon in Montana, which we've heard is another incredible place, but haven't visited. 

In Lovell we turned south on 789 and travelled along this multi-tiered, multi-colored ridge running parallel to the Bighorns.

At Greybull we got back on 14 heading northeast and very shortly came to a tiny sign pointing north toward "Devil's Kitchen."  Never heard of it and had no idea where or what it was, but we thought we'd risk it. The road took us across Shell Creek, through some farmland...

...and into what looked like a no-man's land - a fitting locale for a Devil's Kitchen. We were imagining a little bubbly mud hole somewhere out in the desert, and were ready to let it go, but another sign encouraged us.

What a surprise! The dirt road led us right up to the edge of a hidden badlands, rich with eroded layers of purples, reds, pinks, greys and golds.

Although smaller, it was every bit as interesting as what we've seen in various national parks. It seems to be on private land, but there are no fences, no facilities and no admission fees. 

Honey on location

Continuing on 14 led us through the scenic area around Shell, WY...

...through a canyon, and back up into the Bighorns.

More wildflowers.

It's a very scenic, winding road...

...with a few nice pull-offs for photos.  It also passes by Shell Falls, a gorgeous stop. 

At one pull-off there is an explanation of tree loss in the area caused by a tornado in 1954! Still hasn't grown back.

Back on the east side of the Bighorns it got increasingly green again.  

Our last stop was this dramatic rock outcropping surrounded by rolling green, wildflower covered hills. I was just wishing for a picture like this.

See you back in Montana soon.

Father Memories in Wyoming

While we were in Wyoming I was feeling kind of down - but didn't know why. Duh. Fathers' Day helped me realize why. Wyoming was my father's home until he went away to college (Denver University) and then married my mother and moved to New York City, where I was born. He passed away almost 20 years ago, and being in Cheyenne, his home town, seeing his childhood home reminded me how much I miss him.  (I think I was also avoiding writing a blog post about Cheyenne for the same reason.)

As we did in Colorado, we searched for the old family home. My father's house was less than a block away from the Wyoming State Capitol building in Cheyenne, and was pretty easy to find.

 2015

My father's home circa 1945

Unlike the Roy A. Davis home in Colorado Springs, this modest home had not been lovingly cared for over the years, and had lost much of its original character in the process of modernization with vinyl siding and new windows.  I remember small but well tended flower beds and planters around the house, but those are gone.  Here's my dad standing in front of the house...

Circa 1960?

Cool duds huh? This picture was probably taken on Frontier Days in Cheyenne - the biggest rodeo in the west. I don't think my dad would be caught dead in a cowboy outfit at any other time, but I could be wrong.  I knew him when he was a city guy. 

Just to trace the father line back a bit further, here's a picture of my paternal grandfather, holding my dad in their backyard in Cheyenne...

...and another of Grandfather and my dad, with Grandmother looking on lovingly. What a lucky baby.

Those of us who have, or have had loving fathers in our lives are so fortunate. 

They pass on so many things. In my case, a sense of adventure, for one. When I travelled to France as a teenager my father taught me one phrase, that translated as "I am never lost." So true. He passed that feeling on to me.

He gave me a sense of stability and security. I knew I could always turn and return to him.

He conveyed an appreciation for, and skills in the arts, music, writing - all aspects of culture.

Me playing the autoharp and singing with my father

What a blessing that he lived long enough to pass those things on to my son as well.

My mother and father, with my newborn son.

My father and his grandson playing music together.

Happy Fathers' Day Dad.  I love you. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A Sign From Above Must Have Brought Us to Sheridan, Wyoming

Well, that's a bit dramatic, but it fits this picture of a very unusual eastern sky (a reverse sunset - the sun was setting on the opposite horizon) over the RV Park where we stayed while in Sheridan: Peter D's. That's their sign for the park.

It's a place I'd recommend highly, run by the nicest owners we've ever met. Peter and Barbara demonstrate the kind of integrity and people skills you hope to find at every RV park, but rarely do. Their place is spotless, well run, homey, convenient, and they are always available to make something right if it isn't.  

The park is on the edge of town, surrounded by quiet, pastoral green hillsides. I hope these pictures and our highest praise will bring lots of people to their happy little spot in Wyoming.

Sheridan is a smallish city of about 18,000. It's close enough to the Big Horn Mountains, and Big Horn Canyon for outdoor adventures. It has many interesting and historical points of interest, plus all the practical and fun shopping you might want to do in a thriving downtown.  A few deserve special mention: Sackett's Market - a real old fashioned, quality butcher shop; two great shoe stores - Foot of the Big Horns and Brian's Boot & Shoe Company; and the daddy of them all, King's Saddlery.

OMG, hold on to your wallet. Not only does this place have an incredible selection of western wear and accessories, but it also has the very best fancy rodeo gear anywhere.  This is the kind of stuff you don't see very often, even out here in cowboy/girl country. Seriously, look at those spurs and chaps.

And for those who are more practically minded, there is a huge selection of fine riding tackle including saddles, (new and used),  blankets, bridles, bits and who knows what else...

...plus ROPES.  This is the home of King's Ropes. Who knew there were so many kinds of ropes! I thought places like the Big R and Tractor Supply had a lot of rope. Nope.  

Now if you aren't overwhelmed with all that, even if you're broke from buying too much rope, head on back to the museum, one of the very best we've been to, and I don't mean just the best saddle museum, I mean best museum period. (Right up there with the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.) It really helped that we had just watched an episode of How It's Made TV about saddles. Layers upon layers of shaped leather go on top of wood and even metal form layers, topped off with carved detail finish work and cushioned shearling underneath, even on the basic saddles. So just imagine the work that goes into the Championship Saddles that are the rodeo trophies, some of which were on display here. We were duly impressed.

It's called the Don King Museum, after Don King, a master saddle maker and leather artist who lived here in Sheridan. He and his wife collected the saddles and other cowboy related artifacts displayed here. This is not an art museum per se, but it is chock-a-block full of some of the finest artwork you'll see. In fact, you may be lucky enough to meet one of the artists, James F. Jackson, whose workshop is in the museum.

We had no real idea of how leather was carved. The artistry that goes into this kind of fine leather working is so elegant and amazingly detailed. These are examples of Mr. Jackson's belt patterns. (Special order only.)  I think Rick may be getting one for Christmas, but don't tell.

These are leather carving tools made by Don King. Mr. Jackson says Don King was the master at making leather tools, which were and still are in very high demand.

Leather tools made by Don King

On display are examples of sketches made by Don King and other leather master craftsmen and women such as Al and Ann Stohlman. 

This is the workbench of Al Stohlman, a master leather artist who was a formative contributor to the Tandy Leather line of tools and leather patterns. He made all the wooden pictures on the workbench in patterns that he also made in leather.  His wife Ann was a leather artist as well, and some of her unique saddles are on display.

So even if you aren't a horse person of any sort, I think you'll be amazed at the quality of this collection of saddles and leather art (as well as some pretty interesting taxidermy).

We aren't horse people either of course, or even history buffs necessarily, but we enjoyed a couple of other historical points of interest in Sheridan. The first is The Historic Sheridan Inn. The dancing couple out front caught our eyes.

The Sheridan Inn just reopened after being non-functional for about 50 years. We felt really fortunate to be able to see it inside and out. It has 69 gables!  

Anyone can go in and look around the bottom floor, where you'll find the stunning Buffalo Bill's Bar, named after Buffalo Bill (aka William F. Cody) who actually lived here and managed the hotel for awhile. 

The smaller dining room....

The required buffalo head... Perhaps one of the hundreds that good ol' Buffalo Bill shot.

The Inn is a fully functioning hotel, restaurant, bar and special event location in addition to being a very impressive restoration and historical landmark.  

Spring is in full bloom here in Sheridan, and the peonies are popping in everyone's yards. Sheridan has received plenty of rain (and a few floods) this season, so everything is lush and green.  These beautiful peonies were in Trail End's yard, another historical location in town.

Trail End, or the "Kendrick Mansion" was built by John Kendrick, former governor, U.S. and state senator of Wyoming. 

We don't visit history museums that often, but we do like to visit historical homes. They give you a perspective of history that is grounded in every day life rather than facts and dates.  Trail End is in it's original state, as it was well taken care of by the Kendricks family even though they lived here for only a short time.  Almost all the furnishings and decor are original, with only a few replacements matching the originals.

All three floors are accessible to visitors.

The master bedroom, as it might have looked with the family living there.

The staircase to the third floor, doubling as library and family gallery.

The entire third floor was a ballroom with exquisite wooden floors and a little balcony for the musicians. What a cool (well, maybe hot) place to have a contra dance, or more likely a square dance or fancy dress ball. 

The stairs looking down three stories. 

We really liked Sheridan Wyoming a lot. It even had a big dog park with shade, water, picnic tables and grass, that Honey liked a lot too.