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05 Feb 2023

Our Trips

Wild, Wondrous Wyoming

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

Buffalo Bill Reservoir, Cody, WY.

Wyoming. Awesome and incredibly beautiful. Who knew?

Words cannot describe Wyoming. The landscape is other-worldly, almost surreal, and a curious blend of arid desolation, lush wilderness, sand and sagebrush, imposing mountains, jutting rock formations, and astonishing beauty.

You can drive for hours-and-hours on endless stretches of highway without seeing another soul. Towns are few and far between . . . and so small, you pass through most of them in the blink of an eye.

What you do see are bighorn sheep, buffalo, elk, moose, and bear on the roads in Shoshone National Forest and Yellowstone . . . cattle grazing on rolling land miles from the nearest town . . . cowboys in Cody, not just wannabes in boots and ten-gallon hats; but real, honest-to-goodness Marlboro men who ride broncs and the open range and live on remote homesteads and dude ranches in the shadow of the mighty Rockies.

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, winding through the far mountainous northwest region, is spectacular beyond description . . . even photos don’t do it justice. It has to be experienced—seen and felt—first-hand to fully appreciate its stunning beauty.

In the Big Horn Mountains, we drove 9,000 feet to the snowy summit. Amidst gently falling flakes, the air was crisp and clean . . . and silent. All you could hear was the babble of water flowing gently in a mountain stream. It was as if we were the only two people in the world.

Wyoming has lots of elbow room and not much to obstruct the view. Its immensity is matched only by its diversity—rock-strewn mountains, rolling plains, windswept deserts, and pastoral valleys. In every region of the state you can climb to the top of a high peak, spin your gaze like a top, and see nothing but land, rocks, and sagebrush. —Candy Moulton, author

The landscape of Wyoming is as diverse as anything you can imagine. Rolling, grassy plains. Dry prairies dotted with shrub-steppe, sagebrush, and ephemeral wetland. Rocky, jagged formations rising from the earth. Bluffs, buttes, mesas, and mountain ranges. Thick forests and open range. Colors blend one into the other in every imaginable shade of green—emerald, chartreuse, silver-gray sage, vibrant teal, turquoise, and deep forest green—with a backdrop of dusty sand, red earth, and snow-capped mountains against a wide, never-ending, ever-changing sky.

My lasting impression of Wyoming is that of a vast, open, unspoiled land with few people, abundant wildlife, stunning views, and a definite western flavor.

The Landscape of Wyoming

Road in Wyoming.

Heading down a lonely stretch of highway.

American bison.

American bison grazing among sagebrush and shrub-streppe.

Washakie Wilderness and North Fork of the Shoshone River.

Washakie Wilderness and North Fork of the Shoshone River in Shoshone National Forest.

Landscape painted in every shade of green.

Landscape painted in every shade of green—emerald, chartreuse, deep turquoise, and forest green.

Bluffs, buttes, mesas, and a lot of sagebrush.

Bluffs, buttes, mesas, and a lot of sagebrush.

Rolling foothills of the Absaroka Mountains.

Rolling foothills of the Absaroka Mountains in northwest Wyoming.

Wind River Scenic Byway (US 20).

Wind River Scenic Byway (US 20) winding its way through Wind River Canyon.

American bison resting in Yellowstone National Park.

American bison resting in Yellowstone National Park.

Fire damage in Yellowstone.

Fire damage on NE Entrance Road in Yellowstone National Park.

Somewhere on I-25 between Glendo and East Glenrock, WY.

Somewhere on I-25 between Glendo and East Glenrock, WY.

Where the deer and the antelope roam.

Where the deer and the antelope roam.

Tunnel through Rattlesnake Mountain.

Approaching the first of three tunnels through Rattlesnake Mountain.

Pallet of soft green, offset by deep red earth.

A pallet of soft green is offset by deep red earth and snow-covered mountains on the
picturesque Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.

Living in the shadow of the mountains.

Living in the shadow of the mountains. Do you see the house?

Buffalo grazing on the open range.

Buffalo grazing on the open range among sagebrush and shrub-streppe.

Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

Placid water of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.

Granite rock in the Big Horn Mountains.

Granite rock in the Big Horn Mountains.

Snow in the Big Horn Mountains at 9,000 feet.

Same day, an hour or so later . . . snow in the Big Horn Mountains at 9,000 feet.

Photos were taken on May 15-17, 2011. Copyright © 2011 Patricia Petro/Tom Schmidt. All rights reserved.

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More to explore and enjoy . . .

  • A Weekend in Walnut Creek
  • Wild, Wondrous Wyoming
  • An Awakening
  • On the Road in Wyoming
  • An Afternoon in Yellowstone
  • Cody to Yellowstone
  • When in Dover, Don't Miss This
  • Yellowstone or Bust

Comments

  1. Amy Ruhlin says

    Monday, May 7, 2012 at 1:35 PM

    My husband is biking in Jackson Hole at this very moment. I visited WY ten yrs ago…you are right, the landscape changes at every turn…esp in Yellowstone. You have a lovely site here.

    Reply
    • Patricia says

      Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:46 PM

      We didn’t go to Jackson Hole, but I wish we did. I would love to see it and the Tetons. One more trip to Wyoming for a couple of days would suit me just fine.

  2. Maria and Joe D. says

    Friday, April 13, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    This makes me want to go to Wyoming this summer! We would take our camper, and I’m gonna google sites to see what’s out there for us. Yellowstone here we come! Great post! Thanks!

    Reply

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Patricia and TomHi there! Tom and I are two empty nesters who decided to downsize and simplify our lives—lose the clutter and drama, travel a little, laugh a lot, sit back, and enjoy the simple pleasures life has to offer. Read more

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Where the deer and the antelope roam.

Cody to Yellowstone

What should have been an easy one-hour drive from Cody to Yellowstone turned into a full-day affair that took us through some of the most breathtakingly beautiful country I have ever seen.

Pallet of soft green, offset by deep red earth.
Buffalo Bill Reservoir.
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THE HORSES OF WYOMING by Tom Schmidt, watercolor, 2012.

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