Our Trip to Sheridan

We left the rig at around 9:45 yesterday morning and headed to Sheridan, WY. Our plan was to take a huge loop through the Big Horn Mountains, which would allow us to go through the mountains on the southern route (US 14) to get there, and the northern route (Alt US 14) coming home. We reached the foothills of the mountains just outside Greybull, MT, and the rock formations were again unique:

There were many beautiful shots that were taken on the route through the mountains and these are just a couple:

We came upon the Shell Falls which was about midway through the pass and stopped to walk the loop which took us past the falls and along part of the deep canyon where the falls empty into the Shell Creek:

Below is a shot of the bridge from where the first picture was taken:

There were areas all along this drive where signs were posted warning of open range and to watch for the possibilty of loose cattle on the road. They were right:

We reached the end of the pass through the mountains and came out to this view, facing east and looking down to Sheridan:

With all of the stops we made along the way, it wasn't until around 2 PM when we finally arrived in Sheridan. There was quite a bit of construction as we entered the town but we finally reached the historic district and the main street through town:

It really was not quite what we expected. Although there were many shops that carried unique western goods, the prices seemed high to us and the town itself had no special "charm" like some of the other Wyoming towns we have visited. Maybe we came at the wrong time of the season, but we left a little disappointed at the town itself.

Anyway, we left with clouds and a little rain, to do the northern route on the trip back at around 3:30 PM. The trip along Alt US 14 was very different from the southern route that we took on the way out. For starters, the scenery was much different - more rolling, forested hills, and not many switchbacks until the end of the pass when we began the downgrade which was mostly a 10% grade. It was very beautiful and exciting for us as we saw 3 moose on the way through the pass. Here was the first one that was right alongside a turnout on the road:

We were able to get within about 20 feet of this one. The second one was further off the road and was in bushes, eating, and it remained mostly hidden but we were able to get this shot, which shows that it was larger than the first one we saw:

We discovered the third moose about 20 yards away from the one above, and it was a cow that was obviously traveling with the big bull:

We also saw a blacktail deer cross the road as we traveled through the remaining portion of the northern route. The mountains were beautiful:

and we came out to the western edge of the pass and took this shot looking west toward Cody:

Although the town of Sheridan was a little disappointing to us, the trip was fabulous and we were glad we took the 2 different routes. The beauty of this state continues to amaze us.

We stopped in Powell on the way home and had Chinese buffet at the restaurant we discovered with Karen and George several weeks ago. It was again delicious, and by the time we got home it was nearly 8 PM.

Our plan for today was to clean out the basement and the truck, but so far, it is pretty nasty outside so we are taking our time to tackle that project. Until tomorrow...