The Wild West

Our continuing journey westward has taken us from the Black Hills of South Dakota into the state which is synonymous with the Wild, Wild West, Wyoming. Miles and miles of open range, lots of cattle grazing, and a lot of deer too. Mule Deer and White Tail Deer we have seen so far. Our first stop was just 8 miles into the state at the Vore Buffalo Jump. This active archeological dig was found in 1971 when I-90 was being built and is the site of buffalo harvesting by several different Native American tribes over about 300 years.

The tribes would lure the buffalo toward the cliff and then chase them until they toppled into the sinkhole where they would kill and process them and be able to feed the tribe for months. This was the only method they had for hundreds of years until the Europeans introduced them to horses.

After lunch we continued on to Keyhole State Park near Moorcroft, WY, where we stayed for two nights. This was a convenient place to stay to allow us to spend some time at Devils Tower National Monument north about a half an hour. The trip there and back was half the fun, as the GPS took us over some gravel roads and open range where cattle and deer were present in large quantities. The mountain was visible a short time into the trip although it was still about 20 miles away. As we approached, it was apparent we were in for a treat, as the skies were clear and the weather was cooler than we had had for a while. Our best find was a pasture where there were two buffalo grazing right in front of a perfect view of the mountain, making for a “post card” worthy picture.

We drove up to the visitor’s center and did some looking around. Unfortunately, the light was wrong from that angle as it was mostly behind the mountain. Geoff and Dave decided to take one of the trails down and around the mountain to try to get some better angles. It was about a mile but was pretty easy because it was mostly downhill. Geoff only had sandals on but they are very comfortable sandals so there was no problem. Ellyn and Myra drove the car down and met them at the bottom. The pictures came out great!

After our visit to Devils Tower (by the way, the name does not have an apostrophe due to a typographical error when the monument was registered), it was off to find lunch. Ellyn found a restaurant in the nearby town of Hulett. When we got there, we found the restaurant closed but the attached bar was open and they had food, so we were saved. It turned out to be a great choice. We had buffalo, elk, and asparagus fries and played the juke box (which was much more advanced a unit than you would expect to find in this little bar in rural Wyoming). The bartender and waiter was great and a local native who helped us a lot. However, stay away during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August because the place is packed.

Back at the campground, we sat by the reservoir for a while and watched the boaters, kids jumping in the water, and diving birds fishing. It was a relaxing afternoon and got us caught up on our rest for our next push across Wyoming to the ultimate destination of the Great Rolling Yellowstone Caravan.