Took a drive West on Hwy 16 out of Buffalo. It is the best way to get to Yellowstone but there are tons of gravel off road side trips to beautiful places or awesome views. This was Tie Hack Reservoir and Dam. If you notice, it was Buddy's first big cruise in the kayak and he did great. Well that was until we got back to shore and I picked him up in his little life jacket and put him in about 3 inches of water, so I could get out. He froze. Wouldn't move an inch. Normal dogs would have ran the short distance to shore. Not our Bud, he just froze and moved his eyes only looking at Randy & I to see who was going to rescue him out of the 3 inches of water.
On our drive on Hwy 16 we caught a herd of 40-50 Elk off the side of the road. We only saw 1-2 males, all the rest females. For being in the Big Horn Mountains, we never saw 1 big horn sheep. Bummer... But the views and landscape wre awesome. God is so creative and awesome in His designing. Blows my mind.
This was my favorite drive/spot of all. 15 miles of 1 lane gravel road through the Crazy Woman Canyon. Waterfalls, rock formations, and rapid moving river along the whole drive. There were many folklore stories about how the name came about but none had to do with anyone we know.
Staying just outside the city of Buffalo was great. Our campground was owned/operated by a couple from Massachusetts. Big characters. He looked like Santa with a cowboy hat. We would wake up mornings with the area infront of our coach or on the side, roped off and his 6 mules and 1 horse grazing away. Randy helped move them one day. I helped feed hay another day. They gave us 2 frozen packs of Antelope hamburger and 2 packs of Antelope roasts before we left. Tasted awesome! Not gamie at all. Buffalo Occidental Hotel is a famous hotel were the author of The Virginian lived, Butch Cassidy & Sundance, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickock, Teddy Roosevelt, and Herbert Hoover stayed when coming West. It was on the Boseman Trail, the gold mining trail. The series Longmire on A&E is based on the town of Buffalo. Very historical and neat town of 4600.
This was on "the loop". We took the motorcycle on a 300 mile loop from Buffalo to Sheridan and Hwy 14 west over the Big Horn mountains, then South and back East on Hwy 16 desert to mountain pass back to Buffalo. This was a waterfall right next to the highway and a great leg stretching, get off the motorcycle and walk - stop. Can't believe that fish live at the base of waterfalls and rushing water and don't all get rushed downstream.
Top of the mountain. Temperatures dropped and occasionally snow on the side of the road but we didn't go sledding. Not alot of visible wildlife. Really hoping we'd see a moose or big horn sheep. No such luck. I love taking pictures from the back seat of the motorcycle. No windows or auto frames to shoot through.
This was another suggested side trip off Hwy 16W. Problem is Wyoming stinks at marking or informing with road signs or info on their routes. Everyone said "Oh about Xmiles, give or take a few" Usually that meant 10-30 miles, and don't expect a road sign to help you find the correct road. This was a 5.5mile gravel that turned into a rocky, non-existant road for vehicle and better for 4 wheeler ATV. Luckily we were in the SUV and not on the motorcycle. Randy kept saying "it can't be that much further" so we pressed on, jumpin and bumpin til our teeth chattered and we reached the top. Old Ranger Rick fire tower and the most awesome view of the entire mountain range. Walked around on the top and caught the beautiful wild flowers and signs of a forest fire from 5 years back. Then the wonderful, rocky trip back down the same way. Passed about 10 ATV's on the way down, or moved to the side so they could pass on the 1 lane path. Im glad the shocks made it through. Worth every shaking minute.
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