Sunday, August 21st 2011
When I woke up on Sunday morning I knew it was going to be a slow day. Any plans I had of doing anything remotely strenuous vanished by 9:00. As they say "My get up and go, got up and went." So I told Jen and emailed Scott I would probably just mosey up to Happy Jack Road, set up my lawn chair and take in the views. Even this turned out to be a bit more ambitious plan than what I ended up doing.
So, I settled into my webwork and then the hours flew by. And by the time Scott got home from work at around 2:00, I was still was in my night clothes. And I still felt unmotivated. Or, plumb tuckered out as I told Scott.
So, I finally resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be one of those "days off" as my dad called them when he travelled.
But, all was not lost! Scott came to the rescue with a plan to haul Jen, the kids and my sorry ass up to the Snowies to get a better look at what was left of last Winter. So, off we went - down the valley, and up past the now tourist town of Centennial, which has quite an interesting history.
As the Union Pacific Railroad was pushing west to link up with the Central Pacific Railroad, as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad, they sent logging crews into the Snowy Range, in the Medicine Bow Mountains, to cut down timber (mainly Lodgepole Pine) for railroad ties. A work camp was built on the site of the town. After they had completed most of their work and the workers started having conflicts with area Indians, the crews left the area. After the area was opened to homesteaders a few ranchers returned to the area.Source: WikiPedia
Click on the photos below for a larger image.
We have all seen it and heard it before. Someone hands you a snap shot and says: "If you look carefully you can see a dot in the upper right hand corner of the picture. It's a bald eagle!"
Well, my "bald eagle" is a moose and it had a mighty fine rack! So, if you look carefully in the center of this picture you might be able to make it out. Clicking on this photo to get the bigger one might help.
There were two of them. And, typically, they paid absolutely no attention to all the cars and people and cameras which lined the road hoping for a better look or photo.
This was my first moose siting, an a good one it was.
Our first stop was at the Libby Flats lookout off of Wyoming Highway 130 (Snowy Range Road). At this lookout you get views south to Rocky Mountain National Park, west toward Medicine Bow Peak, the Sierra Madre Mountains, and Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area, and east toward the Laramie Mountains. To say the least the view is quite expansive. But, did I take a snap of the view? No, I was too busy taking pictures of snow, oddly shaped trees and Spring Wild flowers.
By-the-way, the snowy peak you see here is the very same one seen from Scott and Jen's back door.
Although tamed by the automobile this is still rough wilderness for most of the year. Remember, this is the middle August and the snow is still laying is some areas.
See those weird trees? The ones with low branches that spread out like a ground cover? And the branches on the main stem seem only to be on one side. That is caused by the nearly constant wind which turns these trees into the so called "Flag Spruce". However, I think the one shown here are not Spruce but Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa).
Here is the stone lookout point at Libby Flats. It was not far from here that a tragic plane crash occurred in 1955.
United Airlines Flight 409 was a scheduled flight departing from Denver, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah on October 6, 1955. The aircraft registration number was N30062, a Douglas DC-4 propliner. The aircraft crashed into Medicine Bow Peak, near Centennial, Wyoming, killing all 66 people on board (63 passengers, 3 crew members.) The victims included five female members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and military personnel. At the time, this was the deadliest airline crash in U.S. commercial aviation history. In August 2001 a stone with a bronze memorial plaque was placed just west of the Medicine Bow Libby Flats lookout off of Wyoming Highway 130 (Snowy Range Road), in an area called the Miner's Cabin turnout. The location faces the mountain where the crash occurred.
Source: WikiPedia
Here, Scott, Jen and the kids accommodate the shutter bug.
Guess who?
The elevation here is at 10,000 feet and the snow continues to melt and the wild flowers continue to bloom. My knowledge of alpine plants is close to zero and I had no field guides with me. So, your guess is as good as mine.
If anyone has any names for me, please send them on.
It would be easy to spend the whole day here just wandering around. There was much to see.
The kids had a good time walking on the remaining snow fields.
Fabulous scenery.
Obviously some little critter was busy under the snow. Probably one of the many chipmunks we saw scurrying about.
We were also lucky to come across 3 Marmots, which are alpine ground hogs.
Our next stop was Mirror Lake just a few minutes down the road.
Now this plant I did recognize - Indian Paintbrush.
The silvery sheen of this dead snag looked quite picturesque. But, scenes like this will soon dominate the landscape as the millions of beetle killed trees drop their needles and shed their branches.
That canoe was really getting around!
It was hard to quit snappin'.
Last shot at the Lake. There was a family set up lakeside hoping to catch dinner.
Speaking of dinner - when we got back we all walked down the street and enjoyed a cook-out with the biggest hot dogs I have ever enjoyed. The weather was perfect - warm and breezy.
Quite pleasant.
Monday, August 22nd 2011
Monday I felt a little perkier so I drove east to Vedauwoo for a hike and look around.
Turtle Rock trail is a 2.8 mile loop which circumnavigates the main rock outcrop. It is an easy hike and will take one through conifers, aspen and open rocky areas.
Rock climbing is popular here. This vehicle belonged to one of the climbers. Note the unusual use of the wheel clamp on the bike rack.
At an altitude of 8,000 feet, Vedauwoo is a rather secluded rocky oasis in southeastern Wyoming, filled with dense pine forests and aspen groves. It is surrounded by a seemingly endless expanse of high plains and lies under a dome of intense cerulean blue sky. Views from the tops of the crags are stunning, and one can see from Wyoming's ragged mountains clear down the Continental Divide to Long's Peak, some 75 miles south in Colorado.
A multitude of free-ranging animal species are commonly found here, including small mammals, antelope, moose, deer, cattle, climbers and an occasional black bear or cougar. Today, climbers and others come here from nearly everywhere to indulge themselves within a setting of alien rock formations and scenic valleys found only at Vedauwoo.Source: VedauwooResource
See that little white dot in the middle of the picture? That's a rock climber.
The trail winds through some nice stands of Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) which will provide some much needed shade.
The Turtle Rock trail passes by several beaver ponds where I saw lots of little froggies.
I struggled trying to get some shots of the rock formations, but without a sense of scale I knew they would not convey their size and grandeur.
But, just near the end of the hike some people wandered down the trail and I was able to get this shot. Now, you can see the size of the rocks.
The slabs and cliffs of the Vedauwoo rock formation, comprise over 10 square miles of weathered Sherman granite. The area reminded me of a combination of the Alabama Hills in the Sierras and Enchanted Rocks in Texas.
When I finished up the hike it was around noon so I went on over to Happy Jack Road and hiked a little over three miles on the Summit Loop trail. This was not a particularly scenic hike, but it is always nice to be out in the woods.
So, I had hiked 6 miles at elevations of around 8-9,000 feet. Admittedly, they were easy hike with little change in elevation. But, it gave me some assurance I could hold up to the change in elevation.
When I got back I chilled for a while then showered, changed and drove downtown to check out the Library. This Library serves beer!
I ordered a Kolsch and a Cobb salad both of which were mediocre.
I know Kolsch is supposed to be "light", but this was had little more taste than tap water.
The Cobb salad greens were 100% iceberg lettuce. Pathetic.
But, at least the beer was cheap - $2.25 for a 20oz glass. I have not seen those prices in a while!
Tomorrow I plan to visit Boswell Creek where Betsy and I camped out in 1997.