8/14 Travel day to State Forest State Park

We reluctantly started making our way south east for the return drive to Denver.

As stated in the last post, the decision fatigue had set in deeply so even deciding on a route was hard. We stopped at a few potential campsites in Wyoming but nothing there felt right. Our plan B. was to make it to Walden, Co, then to decide from there. As we were approaching the state line we noticed a huge plume of smoke on the distant mountains, a sad summer reality coming home to your state on fire. We were able to secure a reservation for three nights in State Forest State Park (weird name for a State Park, anyone ever been?). Keeping an eye on that big plume and our trajectory on the map, as well as any evacuation notices for nearby areas since we obviously wouldn’t want to travel into any dangerous fire situations.

Our spot was at the Bockman campground, and it looked like the fire was happening one mountain range away. However, the campground itself was sparsely populated, quiet, and the smoke from the fire was traveling eastward so we had no problems with smoke or poor air quality. (Sorry to all our friends and family in the metro area who can’t say the same.)

It got cold once the sun went down, like really cold! We’re once again in our home element here. Pile on the layers and sleeping bags. Camping again at 9k’ is where it’s at!

8/15

We spent today driving what was accessible in and around the State Park.

We are all utterly exhausted and feeling run down. While our time on the road thus far has indeed been filled with a lot of adventure and beauty, it has also a lot of uncertainty and existential queries. That can take its toll on a family!

The bigger questions of where do we end up after all of this have yet to be revealed. (Guatemala is still calling, but it’s still unclear about when we can get there). We have gained a lot of insight on what to improve (storage, adding some shelves and removing the old furnace, making it all more streamlined), ways to get more efficient (packing much less, especially clothes since we wear the same week’s worth of clothes over and over, tools to make cooking and camp life run more smoothly), and ideas about our overall plans for the fall with kids starting homeschooling and staying in places longer than a few days, we’ll be doing a lot more homey things this fall and a little less far flung sightseeing. Going 6k miles in 6 weeks is plenty!

Now for some up close smoke photos as it was fascinating to watch the progression every day. We did get some nasty smoke and ash coming into our camp on our last day here as the winds shifted. We also spotted a mama moose and baby on our last day. Would stay here in the future if we’re ever in these parts again.

Surprisingly good times in Wyoming

8/11 Pools at Thermolopis

Zach has fond childhood memories of this place so we had to stop. It’s toted as the “world’s largest hot springs” I was always wary in his descriptions, but then we got there and I was beyond impressed. The pools are scrubbed clean every evening and the whole place was immaculately cared for. We all jumped off the hi-dive several times, rode some slides, soaked in the hot pools and steam room and enjoyed the first real pool day of the whole summer. There were very few people there so it was easy to stay a safe distance from others. If you’re ever through this part of Wyoming, definitely stop in Thermopolis and spend a few hours soaking in the pools!

8/12 Sinks and the Popo Agie River Trail Lander, Wyoming

We got to Lander, Wy this morning, a short drive from Thermopolis. We were looking for a park to stop in where we’d have full cell service in order to find our next camping spot. This was almost intuitive, but we went to the city park where people appeared to be camping so we walked around and decided we could do the same. The town was very friendly and inviting so why not give it a try.

After getting set up we drove up Sinks canyon to the State Park. There’s a pretty interesting geological feature in this park where the Popo Agie River disappears into an underground canyon system with rock fissures, then reappears about a 1/4 mile down the road. So we lingered in these two places for a bit to learn more, then drive up the road a few more miles to a hiking spot. We’d also heard rumors of a waterfall where you could slide and jump into the river so we were on the lookout. This hike was pretty strenuous, rocky, and uphill but the river views were worth the work. We arrived at the biggest waterfall feature thinking, no way anyone could swim here. The trail veered up further still, so we continued on and lo and behold, here was the slide. Four guys were there so we watched them take the plunge. We said the kids could do it too but nobody took the offer, instead we went just a little way back down to put or feet in the river sans swimming. Natalie and I had worn water friendly shoes and Zach took his shoes off. Camden was monkeying around the rocks which were quite slippery, even the dry ones. So his tennis shoe and sock got a bath. We stayed at this spot awhile to let things dry out before making our way back down the trail. After the trail work was done we went back into town to the🍦Scream Shack for our reward.

In expected Wyoming fashion, it got very windy in the afternoon so instead of cooking outside we ordered a delicious pizza and enjoyed it under a pavilion in the park.

The strangest sounds that night after more than a month in the woods was emergency response sirens in the background, you know, city sounds. The park however, was otherwise quiet and peaceful and a safe place to rest our heads.

8/13 Rest day in Lander

One of the pitfalls of our trip has been not building in enough rest days, we go go go taking in all the sights or doing camp chores until something or someone breaks. That someone this time was me. On the trail yesterday I started to notice my sciatica flaring up. I took it slow the rest of the way down and for the remainder of the day but it was a rough night sleeping and by this morning I was in a lot of pain. I attempted to get in with a chiropractor but none had any openings. So I iced, and sat, and stretched, and walked a little, and laid on my stomach, now I’m just nursing along until I can to get in with my chiropractor back in Denver early next week (we’re going back to resupply for the fall leg of this adventure, but keeping our social appointments pretty clear since we’re still in a pandemic and all). The kids and Zach have been super helpful and understanding, taking over my duties to keep everything running.

We’ve also collectively reached decision fatigue, so getting to Denver by Monday from Lander should be interesting…

8/9 Red Lodge and Beartooth Pass

With our camp being so close, we decided to venture east over Beartooth Pass. It was a magnificent drive and well worth the time. Very reminiscent of some of Colorado’s high mountain passes with alpine terrain, switchbacks galore, and 360 degree views that never seemed to end. We did a drive through of Red Lodge on the other side (the downtown shops looked cute, but way too crowded for our comfort level), so we washed all the dust and bugs off the car, then drove back over more slowly this time stopping in a few pullouts for lunch and short waterfall walks.

8/10 Last day in Yellowstone

Our final venture into the park was to hike near Petrified Tree. On the way there we stopped in Lamar Valley where three of us spotted a wolf through the binoculars! Several bison traffic jams also occurred en route. Again, this area was sparsely populated thanks (likely) to nearby road closures and a lack of many amenities in this part of the park. We welcomed those conditions and set to a long hike. After Lost Lake and deciding on a fork to take to make a loop we made our choice and marched on the easy flat terrain, after awhile I kept looking down at all the horse manure on the trail and thinking how lovely it would be to ride a horse in this particular area, it was easy going and we only saw one other person in this whole area. In no time at all we saw a corral full of horses, likely enjoying their summer break sans everyday tourist riders. We ate a snack at the completely abandoned Roosevelt lodge and cabin area, then went to find the remaining part of our trail loop. Upon further inspection of the map, we discovered we had been on the horse trail and not the regular hiking trial for the whole first half of the day. No harm, no foul, just added a couple more miles than we had originally anticipated. The climb back up was entirely different than the easy horse trail side with lots of steep switchbacks and all uphill. We were pooped! After the very full day we went back to camp to shower off the dust and sweat, and back into Cooke City for dinner at an Asian fusion place that was absolutely delicious. I’ll say it one more time, camping on this side of Yellowstone was so much more our flavor of camping from the hiking options to the elevation to the scenery, we are so glad we went back for this section so we could leave it with a better impression than the first go around.

8/7

Leaving Glacier. Our coldest day yet! It’s finally consistently feeling like the kind of mountain summer I was expecting. It rained late last night and we had already started packing up, including the awning, so I awoke in a start and scrambled to bring our shoes inside so we wouldn’t have soggy feet in the morning. We are heading back south today hoping to make it to north Yellowstone. Trekking all the way from north to south Montana is a long haul for us but we have reservations at a private campground for one night so we’re not scrambling for a place late in the day.

8/8

We got our laundry done at the private place (minus a load of dry since they had a strict no hanging clothes to dry policy 🙄), and headed south to Yellowstone’s northern entrance. We made a stop in Emigrant for some of the best breakfast burritos, coffee, and pastries to go. If you’re ever in that area we highly recommend Wild Flour Bakery and Cafe, if we’re ever through there again we will definitely stop for their lunch or dinner menu too.

The drive through the northeastern route in Yellowstone was full of bison traffic jams and we finally saw the big herds vs. the lone handful we’d seen on the southern end of the park three weeks prior. We made a beeline to some high altitude camping just outside of Cooke City and found an ample choice of places in the Soda Butte campground (first time in a month of having this kind of campsite luck!).

Since we were set up before noon, we had time to go back into the park to do a hike. While I’m certainly glad we saw the geothermal side of Yellowstone a few weeks ago, this side seems to be much more our pace with far less traffic and plenty of opportunity for exploration and solitude (with bear spray of course!). Since we’re finally camping above 8k feet it actually cools off at night and we can bust out the layering clothes and campfires.