DAY TRIP

Cindy & I felt like getting out of town today so we decided to check out the Sinks Canyon Loop drive which starts outside of Lander, WY and is about 30 miles from home. It is so cool living close to such natural beauty.

The Sinks Canyon Loop winds through the Wind River Range. As you can see in this picture the paved and gravel road is full of switchbacks bounded by aspens and conifers, mountain lakes, streams, picnic & camping sites. It was beautiful. Also the temperature was in the 60's and sunny. When first getting to Sink Canyon the air was thick with smoke from a large forest fire burning some miles away.

 

 

We stopped off at numerous places to see what there was to see.

Once we reached the highway once again we decided to drive to South Pass. I had heard people mention it a great deal so I was expecting something special. Well, there was no Visitor Center with a perky young park ranger eager to tell us everything we would ever want to know about the site. South Pass is simply a pass through which wagon trains came through the mountains on their way West. It was an important discovery that changed the whole experience for travelers. The site was commemorated by some plaques. I was disapointed.

We headed toward home but decided to check out South Pass City historical site since it was close by. It turned out to be a ghost town built during gold discoveries from the 1860's. There were a number of booms and busts over the years. Today it is a State historical site with well preserved buildings staged with period furniture and accessories.

We did managed to see some wildlife along the way: squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, cows, antelope and a bear I was lucky enough to photograph. We were wearing a bear bell at the time. Of course it wasn't moving very fast and wasn't a danger.