Bridger-Teton National Forest drive to Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming

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Entry 32: Bridger National Forest, Wy. to Medicine Bow National Forest, Wy.
Monday, August 30, 2010

Western to Eastern Wyoming...

Leaving Bridger-Teton National Forest and the wonderful coincidence, I drove back through Alpine, heading north on Hwy 89. I could’ve headed south, but I had traveled down the very scenic Hwy 89 last year, traveling from the Tetons to St. Lake City. This time, I was heading eastward, so after swinging back around the northern-most portion of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Sophie the dog and I headed south down 189, splitting off on 191 for the final 100 miles of non-interstate pavement. Interstate 80 was my chosen route of the 3 available back east to Chicago, and since I’d never been through Laramie and Cheyenne, it was the perfect time.

Interstate 80 was light on traffic and cop-free. I made good time, driving all day, listening to music and crunching Costco mixed nuts (bonus: no peanuts). I thought that this might be the day for the “big push,” i.e. driving both all day and night, but as the day rolled on and the shadows became longer, I begin to lose the light. After finally passing Rawlins (which, although big on the map, was small), I set my goal for the somewhat easy access of the Medicine Bow National Forest, located about 30 miles to the west of Laramie.

It was also a bit sad when I realized that this would be my last national forest, as 100 miles past was Nebraska, with all its flatness (southern Wyoming provides the eastern end of the Rocky Mountains). It was all downhill from here…

At around 6 p.m., I exited at 272 on Interstate 80, heading past the wooden “animal guidance” fences that dot the landscape of the American West. The rolling hills were an excellent introduction to the higher hills in the distance. A dirt cloud followed the vehicle, which, for the last time off-pavement, took me back 12 miles into the forest. I surveyed the various roads darting off the main dirt road, trying to figure out their ultimate destination/potential feature. I could spy a big bowl of sorts, filled with green conifers.

The road casually flows south, gaining elevation. I chose an excellent, large spot on the “top” of the hill and on the rim of the bowl. The spot had smaller trees, and had been logged a bit. In the best example of a dispersed campsite that I’ve ever come across, a 2-foot tall 6-foot wide rock fire pit had been constructed, and someone had left a 4-foot long stack of split firewood. Two logs, ass-sized and bark-free, provided 2 chairs that encouraged excellent fire-side chats.

To take advantage of the 2 hours of available light, I put off setting up the tent, as I could easily do that in the dark. Sophie and I spent some time viewing at least 10 birds, woodpeckers, at the forest’s edges. Then, we crossed the dirt road and spent some time viewing the large calcium-looking large spires poking above the green plane. I could also see a large wall a short distance away—the mysteries as to where the formerly-seen roads might lead to were solved.

Cleaned, Pressed Chert...

I collected at least 5 colorful 2-inch examples of chert, often used by Native Americans to make arrowheads. I don’t often, in fact ever, make it a practice to take rocks, and would never remove anything from a National Park or Monument, but the specimens were almost hypnotic. I buried the rocks out of the way in the truck, knowing that I would be back in Chicago no more than 3 days from now.

I had intended to take advantage of a nice fire, but opted to leave the nice site as I had found it (well, minus the rocks…). I worked on photographs in the tent, which was on a small patch of grass 50 feet from the truck. Only 1 truck passed all day, and I slept well in what would be my last national forest of the successful 6-week 2010 summer break trip.

In the morning, after eating whole wheat pancakes, I took a photograph of Sophie next to an image of a dog on a can of dog food. Then, we set off for what would be a 2-hour hike down into the rolling canyon. Traveling down an old jeep trail, I got sidetracked viewing the 1000s of beautiful rocks. See so many nice rocks in their natural element, I resolved to not add these 2 to the “take home” stack, and, in fact, to return all the rocks back to the sweet allure of Medicine Bow.

I also collected trash from the canyons shallow caves, including 3 bottles’ worth of glass. The wind, as it had been the entire time, continued to blow (not quite howl, but definitely gust up), and the sun was nice and warm. I spent some time viewing the bowl and chasing my hat.

Return of the Rocks...

Back at the truck, which was packed and ready to go, I photographed the new rocks on the hood of the truck and set about trying to remember where I had stored the rocks that I was planning on stealing (in the ethical sense, at least). It took 15 minutes, but I finally was able to toss the rocks back into the bushes, throwing a sincere “thanks” to the giving Medicine Bow National Forest.

I wistfully looked at Sophie, but didn’t try to explain that today was the “big driving day.” It didn’t matter, though, as her ever-constant staring began almost immediately as we drove the 12 miles back out of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Thanks for reading the blog! Chicago Dave and Sophie

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