More Bighorn

As soon as we got on the road back to Wyoming on Friday, I began calling to get reservations until Tuesday when we would be going to Gillette for the FMCA Rally.  I was a little concerned because we had heard that a lot of the campgrounds within a couple of hundred miles radius of Gillette were filling up with the thousands of motorhomes going to the rally.

We decided to try to stay around Sheridan, Wyoming, which would put us only a couple of hours away from Gillette and would allow us to see some of the Bighorn Mountains that we had not seen while we were in Buffalo.  I called Peter D's RV Park in Sheridan and was able to get a reservation through Tuesday.

Peter D is probably the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful campground owner we have met.  He gave me all this information of things to see and do around Sheridan.  He even drew out on a map where everything was.  The sites are a little close but the location is great and Peter D is very helpful!

Saturday morning, we decided do a day trip and take Hwy 14 across the Bighorn Mountains.  We had read how steep the grades are on Hwy 14 and how they were even worse on Hwy 14A so we knew we would not be making this trip in the motorhome.  On the way out of the campground, Peter D gave us directions to Hwy 14 and told us we will probably see some moose around the marshes up there.

We drove back up I-90 to exit 9 and could see Hwy 14 going up the Bighorn Mountains way off in the distance.

 

We began the ascent which reminded me of the steep grades on Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia last summer.

 

The grade on the east side of the mountain is about 18 miles long with 5% to 7% grades, 30-40 mph curves and a couple of miles in the middle with only 2% or 3% grade.  We were very glad NOT to be in the motorhome but saw many campers and even a couple of tour buses and school buses coming down the mountain.  There were several pull-offs where you could give your brakes, your motor, and your heart a rest.

It was a beautiful day.  We climbed up so high that I think we could see all the way to South Dakota.  :)

 

To the south we saw these long sharp ridges called "Hogbacks."

We continued going up and saw what was called "Fallen City"

We drove by Sibley Lake...

 

...and finally reached Burgess Junction where the elevation was around 8,000 feet.

 

At Burgess Junction, we had to decide if (1) we were going to take Hwy 14 down the west side towards Greybull or (2) take Hwy 14A towards Lovell or (3) turn around and go back.  We chose Option (1) because we anticipated that (like on Hwy 16) the west side of the mountain range would be even more  distinctive and beautiful and because we had read that Hwy 14 was the easier of the two routes to take down the west side of the mountains.

We drove across the top of the mountains for a few miles...

...before beginning our descent...

 

of 5% to 7% grade for the next 18 miles.

The purple flowers are everywhere and beautiful.

Part of the way down Hwy 14, is Shell Falls...

 

which had a lot of water coming over it.

Shell Falls has an average flow of 3,600 gallons per second.  That's a lot of water!

 

The force of the falls help carve the canyon below it.

There were several paths to where you could walk out to overlooks to see the falls and canyon below.  Chuck had to hold this big boulder up on this particular path to keep it from falling below.  Look how heavy it is.

 

He got tired so I had to take over.  I don't why he thought it was so heavy.  :)

 

As we continued around the path, we could see different views of the canyon.

 

See that crack in the rock way over there.

 

I wonder what is inside that crack?

 

Rocks.  (I was hoping to see a mountain lion.)

 

This little tree was clinging to dear life to the side of this rock...

 

...hoping that big boulder would not work its way loose and fall on top of it.

 

The range of rocks in the background are called "Elephant Rocks".

What we thought was cool was the way the layers of the rocks with the trees growing in the layer cracks curve up and over.

 

This is called "Copman's Tomb"...

...but I couldn't see anyone in the "tomb."

 

As we continued descending, the view was amazing...

 

...and we could just barely see the Rocky Mountains going up towards Yellowstone way off in the horizon.

 

I thought you might like to ride with us part of the way down.  Hold on tight!

At the base of the mountains before we entered Shell, WY, we saw this unusual red rock formation to the south.

I don't know what it was called because there were not any markers.  I do know it was near "Devil's Kitchen" and in the area of where a lot of dinosaur artifacts have been found.  A lot of the rock and dirt is red here.

We drove through Greybull...

 

...and then headed north on Hwy 310 to Lovell.    I drove for a little while the road was relatively flat to give Chuck a little rest from all the driving.  Everything is so dry here.  Complete opposite of east side of Bighorn Mountains.

 

We crossed the Bighorn Canyon River...

 

...and saw the hills with black layers in them.  Coal maybe???

Before we started heading up 14A, we pulled over so Chuck could drive up (and I mean nearly straight up) the mountain.

The grades on Hwy 14A are 8% to 10%. 

We kept climbing so high, I thought we might reach the moon. :)

 

We pulled off at this overlook...

 

...and you could see forever.

I don't think I have ever seen this much land from one point except maybe out of an airplane.  We pulled off at another overlook near the top with those beautiful purple flowers in the foreground.

When we reached the top, we passed this sign that gives you an idea of the grades on Hwy 14A.  Glad we drove up rather than down 14A.

We did not see any motorhomes or trucks with trailers coming down 14A.

By middle of the afternoon, my battery started dying on my camera (aren't you glad!).  I saved just a little bit of the battery in case we saw any wildlife.  Good thing I did because we came across these 2 moose:

 

We sat parked on the side of the road and watched the moose kind of "lob over" the fence and cross the road. 

 

We stopped at Bear's Lodge (upon Peter D's recommendation) and had some spinach artichoke dip and a piece of coconut cream pie which was good but not as good as Anna's coconut cream pie!

Chuck drove us back down Hwy 14 and its 5% to 7% grades and 30-40 mph curves.  Being in the passenger seat and seeing out over the edge almost made me dizzy going down. 

It was a long day but a good day.  While we were eating our pie, Chuck commented that it is amazing how big the Earth is and that even with all that we saw today and all we have seen since we began full-timing at the beginning of 2012, we have just seen a little bit of it. 

And we have a lot more of it to see!