On the Road with Maya: One week and counting...

Lake Louise in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness in the Wind River Mountains

Most people that visit Wyoming go to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks and until this year, David and I were no exceptions. While both parks are outstanding and should be on everyone’s list of ‘must see’ places, we are discovering that there is a whole state out there worth exploring. We aren’t just here killing time before the eclipse, we are having a blast.

Continental Divide National Recreation Trail at Brooks Lake near our campground

Since we don’t have a lot of time left this summer, we are concentrating our efforts in Wyoming’s Wind River Country. So far, we have hiked three great trails, two in the Shoshone National Forest, our nation’s first national forest, and one in the Bridger-Teton N.F. One of our hikes into the Fitzpatrick Wilderness required a little rock scrambling up to gorgeous Lake Louise with views of glaciers. Another hike took us high into the Teton Wilderness with nearly 360 degree views of mountain ranges in every direction. And the third hike was to Jade Lakes in the Absaroka Mountains with tall cliffs reflected in emerald green lakes. These last two hikes had some of the most beautiful wildflower meadows we’ve seen this summer.

Jade Lake in the Absaroka Mountains

Paintbrush field, Cindy and Jade Lake

Holmes Cave Trail, Teton Wilderness with Grand Tetons about 20 miles away

High mountain view from the Holmes Cave Trail in the Teton Wilderness

We’ve driven some great backroads into beautiful high-country areas with more glacier views. We’ve seen mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, golden eagles, hawks and a black bear. Not to mention lots of smaller birds and mammals. We visited the Bighorn Sheep Museum in Dubois and learned much about the iconic Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. I never knew that Shoshone meant ‘sheep eaters’ and that these native peoples were so dependent on the bighorns.

Wildflower field high in the Teton Wilderness

View of Washakie Wilderness from trailhead in Horse Creek Canyon

Maya was with us on this drive and we didn't hike this trail - looked too rocky for all of us!

The haunting Wind River near Dubois

We could have camped here for the eclipse
Believe it or not people will camp here - the campgrounds around Dubois are full.

There is so much history in this area. Driving to Dubois on WY Hwy 28, we went through South Pass, where many settlers came through on their way west. Without the discovery of South Pass, a relatively easy grade route across the Continental Divide, the history of the United States’ westward expansion might have been a lot different. A marker on Hwy 28, commemorates “Parting of the Ways,” where many emigrants said goodbye to friends they would likely never see again as some were traveling the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest and others went on to California or took the Mormon Trail to Utah.

Wildflowers near Jade Lake

We’ve found that Wyoming folks are just as friendly as Texans. The locals have been so welcoming to us and have told us about their favorite places in Wyoming to camp, fish, hike or just go and see. We won’t make it to all those places this year, it is a big state, but we will be back. And we still have six more days to cram in more sights and trails before the eclipse.