What a fantastic Saturday! I woke up to a light rain, got together my water and food, and headed to Heart Mountain to go on a hike with the Nature Conservancy. It’s the first day that Heart Mountain has been open for hiking and wildflower viewing this year, and I was so excited to get to hike with local folks who know the mountain well. Unfortunately, because of the thunderstorms forecast for late morning and sightings of mama bears and cubs, it was decided we would not hike all the way to the top, but would only go about 2 miles in to the tree line. I was disappointed at first, but as we started up the trail and I saw all of the gorgeous wildflowers, I was happy for a less strenuous hike so that I could enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I met some wonderful people on the hike, including the hike leader, who’s been involved in wildflower propagation and preservation, and other attempts to increase native flora in the area, the CEO of the Wyoming Nature Conservancy, a young woman just a couple of years out of college, who has spent the last two summers working for the forest service fighting wildfires and is now looking for a more intellectual type job, and a woman close to my age who grew up in Cody and filled me in on all the great places to go hiking, a few of which I’ve already been to! We learned how to stay safe if confronted by a bear, a moose, or a mountain lion, as well as the current thought about how Heart Mountain’s unique geology came about. The top part of the mountain is a completely different type of rock than the rest of it and similar to what is on the mountains more than 50 miles away. The current thought is that during the time of transition from the ice age there was an explosion and a layer of gas carried the rock from an area about 50 miles away traveling at 100 miles an hour. That would’ve been a sight to see! it was a wonderful morning, and even the rain that followed us down the hill and made the trail quite muddy did not lower our spirits. On my drive out of the preserve I saw an antelope grazing near the road, it’s the closest I’ve been to one.
Since I was finished much earlier than I expected, I decided to drive out to Bighorn National Forest and check out Shell Falls, an area I have been told was quite beautiful, and it was! The canyon drive just kept getting more and more gorgeous and the views more and more incredible. Shell Falls was impressive, so much so that I decided I needed to keep going on the Bighorn Scenic Drive so I followed it around until it met up with the Medicine Wheel Scenic Drive.
I found the turn off to Medicine Wheel and drove to the parking lot hoping I would have the opportunity to see this magical place. There was still quite a bit of snow, but the road from the parking area to walk the mile and a half to Medicine Wheel looked pretty clear so I headed out and more gorgeous vistas surrounded me. Unfortunately, after about a half a mile the snow began to cover the road and was quite deep. I didn’t have the appropriate clothing or footwear and I was concerned about the possibility of bears, so I turned around and headed back to my car. I was disappointed as it is very unlikely the snow will melt enough in the next 10 days before I have to leave. I guess this means I just need to come back and see it at a different time of the year! As soon as I left Medicine Wheel, I passed a sign warning about the steep grade for the next several miles, and there were several runaway truck ramps highlighting that fact. Luckily, there were also several places to turn off and see the gorgeous valley view below. I slowly made my way back to Cody, so grateful for the beautiful day I had.
After dinner, I saw a group of Sandhill cranes near the irrigation canal on my walk up to the labyrinth and spent some time chatting with Rebekah and Rob, they gave me ideas of other places I might want to explore. It was a gorgeous evening with a spectacular sunset including a couple of mini rainbows!
Then on my walk back home I saw an owl perched up at the top of a tree, so cool!
