CDsSister's blog: Trip to High Country

Posted on Sep 27, 2013 4:37 PM

Trip to the High Country

Took a trip north up the freeway to the high country. Chose to go to Wyoming this year. Will visit the Colorado Mountains next week.

The trip started on a rainy overcast day. We soon ran into heavy winds which made driving a challenge. Pretty soon we started up the Snowy Range Scenic Byway which crosses the Medicine Bow Mountain Range and the beauty of God’s handwork was on full display. On this day we did not see much color change but we did see some snow capped mountains close up and some frozen trees. The winds were intense and the trees indicate this is the normal state along this road. If it had not been so cold and windy we would have stopped to enjoy more of the magnificent scenery, and other points of interest, or done some hiking or just walking. It was beautiful and filled with views of many glacier fed lakes. I bet the fishing is great.

Trees getting ready to turn

Top of the 10,000+ Pass

at Libby Flats

Once we got to our destination (Saratoga Wyoming) it was a bit warmer and less windy. We got to finally see the only wild life on this trip (no not the cowboys) a deer or three. I did not count the herd of cattle roaming the open range areas. (Although there was one really ugly beat up bull which might have been a wild one too.)

Wild Life

Did I mention this was a great time of day to visit as we had the roads to ourselves and there were not that many tourists in the town either, just a few of what might have been hunters, although I am not sure about their seasons.

Our destination was Saratoga which is a small town with one main street running east and west and one running the other direction, with a few side streets. It is right along the North Platte River and the original Overland Trail route. The river was running very high, but they had not had any flooding. They have a hot springs pool which we because we misread the sign did not get to visit. It would have been nice to soak our aching muscles after a couple of days of driving, but maybe next time.

Our second day brought us a bright warm sunshine filled morning. It was spent in making a drive over the Battle Mountain Scenic byway, and over the Battle Pass which is 57-miles of paved highway over the crest of the little-visited Sierra Madre Mountains of the Medicine Bow National Forest. The drive took us over the continental divide. There were two sites of especial interest, one was the “Aspen Alley” a gravel side road through the heart of a magnificent grove of 75-100 foot tall Aspen. They had not turned their autumn color yet but they were quite a sight anyway. Found some color on the other side next to a wide open meadow in which we had our lunch. The quiet and peace were in themselves awe inspiring. One forgets how wonderful pure silence can be.

The other sight was a view of the wilderness area, a turnout gave us the view of overlooking Battle Lake and a monument to Thomas A. Edison. While vacationing here, so the story goes, in 1878, Edison threw a broken bamboo fishing pole in the fire and was intrigued by the way the frayed pieces glowed. These observations supposedly gave Edison the idea on how to develop his own design for the light bulb's filament. This is right next to one of the designated wilderness areas, either Encampment River Wilderness or Huston Park Wilderness.

Some more Scenic Views

Back on the return trip we passed through the Grand Encampment Area and stopped a the Centennial monument. The sign makes interesting reading and the Remington Bronze a memorial to the celebration of the town history of hosting the American Indians and mountain men in rendezvous.

Another interesting site were the hills which looked like piles of loose rock that had been dumped there known as Baggot Rocks. I thought they looked like dog piles or perhaps Buffalo Pies. (smile)

Back over the mountain on the final day and a chance to view some areas of the Rocky Mountain National Park from another vantage point. Unfortunately there were not many places to pull off and get the pictures we would have loved to take. Why don’t the road planners think about sight seers? I would have added a pull off every mile or two so that it would be safe to take pictures.

I will try to get some pictures next week when I travel to the now isolated beauty of Colorado’s high country. Many of the roads are still being worked on after the floods a couple of weeks ago.