While traveling cross county on this trip we limited mileage to about 300 per day.  Destinations chosen were places we had not previously stayed that looked interesting for one reason or another and offered flush toilets and showers.

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The draw at this park is the Blue River.  Paddling, tubing, and fishing for smallmouth bass are populat activites.  The campground had nicely spaced and wooded sites and was nearly empty during our Monday night stay.  I think having some extra space helped Phoebe get off to a good start with her traveling.

Thought we might spend a bit of time in Hannibal before landing here but the road from St. Louis to there does not really travel up the river.  So, we punted.

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Mark Twain Lake is a large flood control reservoir on the Salt River.  The water level was very low exposing miles of vertical stone shoreline.  Not boaters in sight.

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Though there was nothing remarkable about our stay here, it did position us to drive across Missouri on Highway 36 - a great divided road with passible agricultural scenery and no traffic.  Much, much better than the I 70 experience.we've had several times before.

I suppose this will soon be Native American Cave SP.  The 'Google Girl' unnecessarily took us down 12 miles of gravel farm roads to get here.  Jeep and trailer covered with a thick layer of dust.  Chris not happy.

 

The park itself, which lies adjacent to the Missouri River, was surprisingly well designed and maintained.  There is indeed a cave in the park, though the boardwalk used to gain access to it is closed due to disrepair - maybe from flooding.  Wish we could have seen the 'glyphs' it is said to contain.

 

There are nice trails and a scenic auto loop that includes a river overlook in this park. Hills in eastern Nebraska.  Who'd a thunk it? 

We've stayed here before as it is a convenient stopover along I 80 driving eastward from the Colorado rockies. This time the 'Google Girl' took us on back roads near Keystone to approach the campground from the east.  There we some beautiful rolling hills here that had super cool filtered light on them.  After miles of flat and straight interstate it was a most welcome change - really quite beautiful.

 

Lake Ogallala is really the afterbay of the huge North Platte River reservoir Lake McConaughy.  It's under the dam so to speak.  Consequently, there are several Nebraske SRA sites nearby. This more developed camground among large cottonwoods is now dominated by longer term guests.  It is a bit rundown compared to our past visits but still quiet and accomodating enough for an overhight stop.

 

A huge and longlasting thunderstorm blew through overnight power washing the dust from our car and trailer.   

Ah, though the winds tried to blow us back to Virginia we finally made it to Wyoming.  On the way to Larmie we discovered an interesting truck stop diner with suprisingly good food. 

 

The KOA is a typical gravel parking lot beside the interstate.  But, our stop in Laramie is mainly to visit friends - the Robinson family.  They showed us some real Wyoming hospitality and fed us exceptionally well! 

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The Robinsons took us on a wonderful hike through the Vedauwoo Climbing Area east of Laramie.  In addition to rock climbers, we saw a cow and calf moose at close range and a couple of beavers in their ponds. 

The drive from Laramie to Casper, especially along highway 487, was more dramatic than espected.  Found lots of antelope along this stretch.  Always, curiously, on Chris's side of the car and behind us.

 

Casper feels like a working industrial town.  My reason for visiting was to fish the North Platte River below the Alcova Reservoir.  Chris, who spent parts of two days at the tiny Ft. Caspar Museum can tell you why the town is spelled with an 'e' and the fort with an 'a'.  She probably knows more about the place than she would like as the Issac Walton League operated campground was more of a gravel parking lot than the Laramie KOA. 

 

I spent two wonderful days floating the river with my guide Tyler from the Crazy Rainbow Lodge.  Caught lots of 18 to 20 inch rainbows.  Missed three or four larger rainbows and, probably, a true wall-hanger brown trout.

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Once you get west of the Pathfinder Reservoir, much of this trip follows along the route of the Oregon Trail.  The history, natural landmarks (e.g. Independence Rock, Devils Gate) , and dynamics of the landscape made this a drive that Chris recalled throughout the course our trip.

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Sinks Canyon is a beautiful place in its own right.  The Middle Fork of the Popo Agie (Pah-Po-Zhia) River disappears into a limestone cave and reemerges about half a mile downstream in a large pool where people are allowed to feed the trout from an observation deck some 70 feet above.

People go to Lander as a gateway to the upper Wind River Range.  We spent a day hiking the Middle Fork Popo Agie Canyon to the falls and then driving a 28-mile loop road through the National Forest.  Highlights included lunch by a nice mountain lake and views of a much more remote section of the Middle Fork.

 

The next morning, I spend a couple hours fishing the Little Popo Agie which runs through the Red Canyon.  Caught a spectacularly colored male brown trout about 15" long and some smaller cousins.  I'd love to go on an outfitter guided trip into the high country lakes one day.

An important thing I haven't mentioned about this trip is the smoke in the air.  On the drive from Lander to Dubois I'm sure we missed out on some great views of Wind River mountain peaks just because they were ocluded by the dirty air.   Still this short drive ends with a nice trip along the Wind River -  the Painted Hills as a backdrop.  Very nice indeed.

 

The Longhorn is a working ranch that includes a lodge and small RV park.  The nicest commercial RV parks we've seen in a long time.  We had a riverfront site that was just lovely.  Chris spent time watching osprey and mule deer from this vantage.

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While the Wind River fished pretty well the big draw for me here was the nearby up-country streams.  One in particular had some very large cutthroat trout in it.  Thouh this was a trip of missed big fish, I did catch some wonderful modest sized ones in a magical setting.

The short drive up the Wind River past Dunoir, over Togwotee Pass in the Absaroka Mountains, and down the Buffalo Fork of the Snake River to Moran Junction was among my very favorites on this trip.  The colors of the meadows against the dark evergreen backdrop and the meandors of the Buffalo Fork were among the highlights.

 

Driving between Moran Junction and Jackson we were surprised to find the Tetons nearly absent in the smoke.  Having been there several times before this made for some interesting comparisons.

 

The Gros Ventre Campground has more amenties than I expected and fewer than Chris prefers.  But, a short walk from our campsite to the river found us about 50 yards from a cow moose grazing along the water's edge.  And, in the early morning, Phoebe and I spotted two Mule Deer bucks with huge velvet covered racks in those same thickets.  On an evening dirt road excursion up the river Chris spotted the first bear of the trip also.   I skipped out on a chance to fish Flat Creek (only open six weeks per year) on the National Elk Refuge and known for its huge cutthroat trout. Oh well.

For whatever reason we've always landed at Colter Bay Campground in the Tetons.  Signal Mountain, also on the shores of Jackson Lake, was a nice surprise.  The lake level, like many of the streams I visited, was way low.  You could literally walk across the lake bed up closer to Yellowstone Park.

I did manage to break off a nice fish cruising near the lakeshore on the morning we arrived.  I made up for this by catching a spinner fall in an eddy hole along the Snake River the folowing morning.  I caught tons of cutthroat trout but the largest was only about 15".  When fish are rising everywhere with reckless abaondon it's still fun.

 

On an evening drive up Signal Mountain road we saw a bull elk who paused to bugle for us.  Many more cows and calves where scattered up the mountain as well as more mule deer. 

While traveling cross county on this trip we limited mileage to about 300 per day.  Destinations chosen were places we had not previously stayed that looked interesting for one reason or another and offered flush toilets and showers.

​

The draw at this park is the Blue River.  Paddling, tubing, and fishing for smallmouth bass are populat activites.  The campground had nicely spaced and wooded sites and was nearly empty during our Monday night stay.  I think having some extra space helped Phoebe get off to a good start with her traveling.