I made a foray to the east coast in March but that didn't work out very well. So I was back at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area a week after Mother's Day, whenever that was. Flaming Gorge exists because the Green River was dammed just south of the Utah/Wyoming border. This created a reservoir 60-70 miles into Wyoming with many sandstone bluffs and cliffs along the way as well as numerous camping locations on both sides of the reservoir. The weather was extremely windy with lots of rain the whole time I was there. I was lucky to get out on the water once a week.
A quick trip to Boulder Lake in the Wind River Range near Pinedale, Wyoming in early June proved to have too many mosquitos as did an earlier trip to the Elkhart Trailhead.
Fontenelle Reservoir is 20 miles west of Rock Springs on I80 and about 50 miles north. The Green River is damed there also creating a fair sized lake. Unfortunately the wind and rain continued there. I camped a few places along the Green River below the dam. The most exciting thing there was the river kept rising and I had to keep moving. So back to Flaming Gorge.
I finally got roasted out of there in late June and headed north. I spent 4th of July in the Salt River Range west of La Barge on the La Barge Creek. Pretty nice and not too crowded. ATV's weren't too bad either. I camped one more time on the way out at about 10500 feet. I had a snow bank 2 feet deep right beside the van while I camped.
A few days in the Grand Tetons Natinal Park was as enjoyable as always. Paddled 2 days near Signal Mountain; truly one of the great paddling experience in the U.S. Another day at Colter Bay was almost as good.
Just drove through Yellowstone National Park this time without stopping on my way to the Big Horn National Forest. Stopped off at the Big Horn National Recreation Area headquarters in Lovell on the way.
One of my goals is to keep cool during the hot summer months. The Big Horn National Forest, 60 miles northeast of Cody, Wyoming has a base elevation of bewteen 8000-9000 feet. This usually results in temperatures about 20 degrees cooler than surrounding areas at 5000 feet. This year was colder than normal with lots of rain and wind. I think every night was a 3 blanket night, one of them down filled. If the sun was out during the day and you could get out of the wind, you had a nice day. The day I left I had to scrap ice off the windshield.
Up into Montana to the northern end of The Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area. Custer's last stand on the Little Big Horn is nearby.
Rivers flow south to north in this neck of the woods which takes a little getting used to. The Big Horn River flows up through 60 miles of Canyons. I tried paddling upstream (south) but strong winds only allowed me to go 1 mile. This would definately be worth another effort, depsite 90 degree weather.
Popped back down into the Big Horn National Forest to cool down for a few days. Cool down was an understatement. I lasted 2 days and had to leave. Woke up on a Saturday morning with it pouring rain. After 4 hours or so it turned to hail/snow. I wasn't in a good place for wet roads and got myself out of there after some problems. On the way out fog was so dense they had pilot cars to lead us down off the mountain.
Then back into the southern end of the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area in Wyoming. Barry's Landing is 36 miles from Ok-A-Beh put in at the northern end of the canyon. Horseshoe Bend is 58 miles. Black Canyon @ mile 5 has some campiing. Other than these 3 areas I'm not aware of any other camping areas along the canyon. The canyon walls are about 200 feet high with short, steep, rocky slopes at the bottom leaving few camping spots.
I paddled around Horseshoe Bend a couple of times. One side is all deep red sandstone making for some very nice paddling. Several short trails lead to some spectacular overlooks of Bighorn Canyon. Back up in the Bighorn Mountains to cool off again and then on to South Dakota.
A brief stop at Mount Rushmore hoping for a better photo than I have but T. Roosevelt was in shadows. Crazy Horse is just down the road. I could see an Indian's head and a big block carved out, presumably for Crazy Horse's body and that of his horse from the highway. I thought I'd seen pictures of a (almost) finished monument. If it was there I couldn't see it from the highway and kept going.
Wind Cave National Park is a little ways south. Its claim to fame is a series of caves with some cool ceilings of different stones and colors. There are several tours. The easiest has 150 steps and I didn't feel up to that.
The town of Hot Springs has the Mammoth Site, a National Landmark. This is an archeoglical dig that has been preserved in-situ with the head, tusks and bones of manny mammoths. Pretty cool.
Nebraska yeilded the Agate Fossil Beds which, like many other fossil areas consisted only of a visitor center and some exhibits. That made the Mammoth Site that much more imppressive.
A stright run to Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park and the wonderful elk with their enormous racks and then a visit with some freinds south of Denver.