Wyoming Archives

Is that a Herd of Cows?

I’d just reached the open land of Elk Flat Ranch when I spotted a herd of something. The dark spots were scattered across the landscape. At first I thought they were cows, after all this is cow country. A lone car was pulled over while the driver scanned the horizon. Maybe there was more there than meets the eye so I stopped too. Good thing I did. I was about to see 3 of the major herd animals all in one place. The black spots I thought were cows were actually bison!

B is not just for bears

Not just for bears, B can be for Buffalo or more correctly Bison. Those dark spots I was watching turned out to be bison. As I watched them I saw some other movement in the herd that didn’t seem to flow with the bison. I’d forgotten to pack my binoculars so I grabbed the camera. Not as much magnification as I’d have with binoculars but better than my naked eyes. Right in the middle of the Bison herd was a small herd of Elk.

Elk on the run

The elk herd consisted of several females and at least 2 bulls. The bulls were a mismatched pair, one set of antlers much larger than the other. The bigger bull seemed to be bullying the smaller one. Both were running circles around the females. It was like watching a National Geographic wildlife special for real! But wait, there’s something else moving in that herd and it’s not a bison or an elk.

Prong Horn Antelope too

On the outskirts of the combined Bison/Elk herd I spotted two moving objects that were much lighter in color and moved very differently than the lumbering buffalo or the elegant elk. It’s a pair of prong horn antelope. Could this be where the “deer and antelope play”? The prong horns seemed to be with the herd and yet apart as they bounced around the fringes. Soon they would be joining other prong horns to start their annual migration.

From zero to 4 in 30 minutes

From no animals to 4 different species in about 30 minutes! Bears, bison, elk & prong horn. Not bad for the afternoon! But I still have about 50 miles to go to get back to the Teton Club. Maybe there’s more in store.

The last state on the list, #50, is Wyoming. You must have heard the phrase “You’re tried the rest, now try the best” or “Save the Best For Last”. I think Wyoming will fill either of those phrases nicely.

I was surprised to learn that Wyoming is considered one of the Great Plains States. I don’t know why that surprised me but it did.

I almost made a brief visit to Wyoming when we visited South Dakota. If we’d had more time we would have made the drive to Devil’s Tower. An enormous monolith in northeastern Wyoming, it rises from a fairly flat plain so it can be seen for miles. Northern Plains tribes consider it a sacred place and Steven Spielberg had his aliens land on it in Close encounters of the Third Kind.

Flowing north through Wyoming ranch country is the Bighorn River. A gentle flowing river winding through fields and pastures until it approaches the Montana Border, there the Bighorn begins to cut one of the grandest canyons in the northern U.S. Cutting through an uplift of limestone, it creates a ruggedly beautiful canyon. The river’s Yellowtail Dam backs up the river to create Bighorn Lake with bluffs rising 2250 ft, above the surface.

While in the neighborhood of the Bighorn Canyon you can enter Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range where you might be lucky enough to spot a band of wild horses . These wild horses are genetically unique and closely related to the original horses imported by the Spanish Explorers.

Grand Teton National Park surrounds Jackson hole with some of the youngest, craggiest peaks in the Rocky Mountains.

Jackson Hole is know for it’s winter skiing and snow sports while the surrounding mountains are known for their majesty. Nearby is an Elk Sanctuary where the migrating animals come to shelter and calve in the spring. By now you know just the Elk will put this high on my list. But Wyoming only gets better.

Perhaps the biggest draw in Wyoming is Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is the nation’s oldest and probably best known national park, first established in 1872. This is nature’s extravagant showcase! The largest of America’s national parks outside of Alaska crosses volcanic plateaus, forested peaks, 2.2 million acres of steaming hot springs, crystalline lakes, thundering waterfalls, and exploding geysers. Over 3 million people visit the park between June and September. Expect traffic jams if you visit during these peak months but also expect to see amazing geothermal curiosities and abundant wildlife.

If you can tear yourself away from the wonders of Yellowstone, you might want to visit the Big Horn Mountains and the Medicine Wheel. Three roads climb into the Bighorn Mountains, all designated national scenic by-ways but only one will take you to the Medicine Wheel, an 80 foot-wide wagon wheel of stone said to be over 700 years old.

Wyoming is the old west. From dude ranches to rodeos and cities with names like Cody and Cheyenne, Wyoming may be last on my alphabetical list but it certainly doesn’t deserve to be the last state you visit.

My final tally for this time in 2013 is : visited 21, Still to go 29.