YCGL - The New Adventure - Here We Go Again - September 8, 2022

 

The reason I didn't camp out at North Fork on the 6th or 7th was because I was heading up to Cody and Yellowstone on the 8th.  Well, kind of.  I'm taking three days to get to Cody when I could make it in one.  

So, the itinerary is:

Sept 8 - Drive to Ayres Natural Bridge

Sept 9 - Drive to Lander

Sept 10- Drive to Cody

Sept 11 - Cody (Go to Buffalo Bill Museum)

Sept 12 - Drive to Wapati Campground up the Shoshone River canyon, which continues to the East Entrance to Yellowstone

Sept 13, 14, Wapati Campground/Yellowstone

Sept 15 - Cody

Sept 16 - Drive Chief Joseph Highway to Cooke City, then drive the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge and some beyond if timely.  

Sept 17 - Drive to Riverton, WY

Sept 18 - Drive to Laramie

It should be a reasonable (under 200 mile per day), comfortable and somewhat relaxing trip.

Thursday, the 8th, had a big program before I left.  The bed is supported on a sheet of plywood which is exactly the size of the mattress.  At best, I would hit the edge of the plywood when crawling into bed, and at worst, if the mattress shifted, it left a inch or two width which I would crawl on to.  Well, that morning, I solved that problem.  I used a jigsaw and cut a two inch wide band off the edges.  Now, even if the bed shifts, I won't hit the plywood.  Much nicer!

After packing some more (an ideal gas filling a fixed volume), I was off to Ayres Natural Bridge.  The drive was very smooth, other than a stiff east wind, which is really unusual around here.  Twenty miles north on US 30, turn right up WY 32 through Sybille canyon and the Tom Thorne and Beth Williams Wildlife Preserve, passed Roy Mathis's ranch to Wheatland, then north to Douglas and then south 5 miles to Ayres Bridge.  About 10 miles north of Wheatland, Sally and her art teacher partner, Kathy, would turn off the highway and head to Laramie Peak and the community of Esterbrook.  They did that drive every other week to the one-room school house and two or three students that went to school there.  130 miles, 2-1/2 hours each way to teach at an isolated school in our Albany county.  

Cute story.  One of the students graduated from 6th grade and was going to move to the ranch house in Wheatland the next fall.  They had a graduation campout party and Sally and Kathy were coming that next morning.  It snowed that night.  Now, these are ranch folks, and are nothing if not hardy.  Some had tents, others didn't.  Sally asked one of the grandmother's (in her 70's) if she had slept out also.  The grandmother replied, "Oh, yes, it wasn't so bad, I had a sleeping bag pad to sleep on."  These are tough people.  

Anyway, I got to Ayres Natural Bridge and Park.  The land was donated by the Ayres family to Converse County, not the state.  It is located down in a canyon and the drive down reminded me of driving in the Texas Hill country.  It is a narrow, twisting road going from dry land up top down through limestone cuts into a lush, green and cool river valley.  The park is about 15 acres and there is parking for 6 trailers/motorhomes on a first come/first serve basis.  

 

North Side of Bridge  -  My truck and trailer across  and under the bridge

   

South Side of Bridge

What is so significant about this feature is that it is only one of three such bridges with water still flowing underneath it.  I was really surprised and really love this little park.  It is certainly a Wyoming gem to me.