From Buffalo to Bluegrass

After climbing Independence Rock Friday, we drove on to our destination for the night, Lander, Wyoming.  We had tasty dinner then needed to walk it off a bit. We just took off touring downtown at dusk.  We found this sculpture, which I really liked.  Wyoming is full of buffalo depictions but so many of them have buffalo in violent scenes. This one just seemed quite peaceful.  Maybe that is why I liked him so much.

Lander is not a large town.  I think it is quaint and adorable.  We found a lot of people out walking and enjoying the perfect evening.

The next morning we drove just a few miles out of town to The Sinks.  I hope you can read this very informative bit of information about The Sinks, where water disappears underground for a few hours.

I think it is really cool down there.  The river flows down and just disappears.

This photo was Mike's idea. He likes planning out interesting shots like that.

The area is loaded with boulders.  I'd like to see that place in the Spring when the snow is melting on the mountains. It comes flowing over all those boulders at times.

A quarter of a mile down the way there is the area where the water reappears, The Rise of the Sinks. It is marked "no fishing".  People buy food there to feed the fish, though.  A family with little kids was there throwing fish food over, resulting in a lot of swirling and splashing with all those fish competing.

Do you see that sandbar down there by the fish? Magpies hung out down there. Apparently they like the fish food also.

The weird thing in that canyon is that the North wall looks like this,

And the South wall looks like this.  Why, you ask? Because the North wall gets the most sunshine and so its snow melts and is gone too quickly to grow much.  The South side is more shady so keeps its moisture longer.  Interesting, huh? Really, I was standing in the same spot when I took that photo above, then turning to take this photo below.  It is sort of a bipolar canyon.

After we left the sinks area, we drove on up into the mountains. We saw lots of people riding bicycles up the mountain. Why? Why do people do that? It didn't look like fun to me.

Then, we saw this guy hiking... ON CRUTCHES!  Impressive!

We went higher yet and found a lake.  Do you see those mountains in the distance with the snow on them, above the timber line even? That, my friends, is the continental divide.  

This is my guy.  I enjoy adventuring with him.

We headed back down into Lander and wanted to grab a quick bite before heading back home. We spotted a little bakery/cafe and stopped in. What a lovely surprise we found there!  There was a sweet bluegrass group playing. They were wonderful! I found out, from their mother, that they are a group of 4 siblings from Texas.  They are called the 4 Proches. 

We both really enjoyed listening to them play. The youngest brother could really go on that banjo!

Here's a link to one of their YouTube videos.

I hope you also find them charming.

Yep, More Wyoming Photos!

Bleak Destruction and Magnificent Beauty

I guess I should update you on our local fire.  It is now 100% contained and they are allowing most evacuees back up the mountain.  Unfortunately, 37 residences were destroyed, along with many outbuildings.  All human life was preserved but an unknown number of animals lost their lives as more than 15,000 acres burned.  I have not heard an official announcement but the word around town is that this was arson caused.

We all know that forest fires are scary and dangerous but also that they do some good... eventually.    Fires clear out debris that accumulates on the forest floor.  In time, new and more vibrant growth will erupt.  It will again be lovely.  Unfortunately, that takes a lot of time.

On Saturday Mike & I went to a wedding in Colorado.  Our friends getting married are both youth directors and have spent a lot of time at church camps.  Their wedding was held at one of those camps.  I was looking forward to a beautiful drive!

We drove many miles through the Poudre River Canyon not far from Fort Collins, Colorado.  Earlier this summer that area had also experienced a forest fire.  I remember hearing about it but I had NO IDEA of the level of destruction we were to see.  That fire burned more than 87,000 acres.  Because it is along a river flowing through a canyon, it was sort of a long, skinny fire.  The burn went on for miles and miles and miles.  The river, even now, has black sludge all along its banks.  I read that 259 homes were burned in that fire.

I admit, I did not take all that many photos of the fire area.  I had trouble seeing the beauty of it.

Finally, though, after an hour and a half drive, we got to the church camp.  There, beauty surrounded us!  

Is that not beautiful?  Can you see that little bit of last year's snow still up at the top of the mountain?  Although signs of Fall were everywhere, that day was hot.  The wedding was held at a beautiful outdoor chapel with mountains in the background.  It could not have been more lovely.  

I took this last photo on our way back down the mountain, just before we again approached the big burn area.  The photo doesn't quite give you the take-your-breath-away feeling but you get the idea.  Don't you just love the beauty of the mountains?

Vacation for a Day!

Monday Mike had the day off so we lit out on a lovely day trip through the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, down through Ten Sleep Canyon, over to see the Castle Gardens, checked out the towns of Worland and Thermopolis and left through the Wind River Canyon, passing by Boysen Lake.  It was almost too much for one day and DEFINITELY too much for one blog post (I took nearly 300 pictures) so I will sprinkle it out over several days... and yes, I will edit. 

These pictures are all from the Big Horn Mountains and Forest,

 including Meadowlark Lake.  The beauty surrounding us was breathtaking.  Getting to have Mike to myself the entire day made my heart happy.  He's been so busy, today was a real gift...

  

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