Wyoming - Day 15 - petroglyphs and pictographs

Buffalo KOA, Buffalo

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

today's route

After stopping at the not-permanently-closed grocery store and taking the dogs to the city park for yet another walk, we got on the road at 9:30.

On the road

We drove back south through Basin down to Manderson, and turned east on WY 31, driving toward a hazy blue mountain range, which I think are the Bighorn Mountains.

I passed an antelope grazing in a field of an emerald green, short crop.  Also I saw corn and sugar beets.  And cows and horses, often grazing in the same field together.

I passed a sign pointing to the Chugwater Formation from the Triassic era (205-245 million years ago).  Some of this formation was at the north end of Wind River Canyon.

This was a good example of what the ranches in this area looked like.

Big Horn Ranch

My goal this morning was a place called Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site.  Nobody, including the Wyoming State Parks brochure, wants to tell me where the name came from.

Traveling on some small roads which were all, fortunately, paved, I saw some stunning red cliffs.

my first view

farther along the road

Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site

My first surprise there was that the site includes a very spread-out campground, including places for horses to stay.  I know because I saw the horses, and saw people coming to call their horses to go riding.

My next surprise was that the site was exactly what I'd been told: there's a parking lot and I could see the petroglyphs and pictographs while I was still sitting in the RV.  They're very easily accessible and very visible even to the untutored eye.

I didn't go in a nearby visitor center, but I did go inside a little log cabin that had a lot of information about the site.  These first photos are some of their exhibits.

Discovery and site development

I wondered how these guys knew where to dig;
this explains it.

That second photo talks about ancient cultures.  In fact, scientists have reliable evidence that people have lived in this area for the last 10,000 years.

Rock art

Because this site is all about rock art, here are some of the exhibits explaining what they know.

creating petroglyphs

pictographs

aging

quantity

meanings

identification problems

Where we were

I parked, looked at the rock wall, and my jaw fell open.
I thought I'd have to hike; I thought the drawings would be
so faint I couldn't see them.  Instead, right from the RV's cab
I could easily see some of the carvings.  It's a stunning sight.

another area filled with petroglyphs -
combine this view with the next one

you can see where the 2 rock segments
fit together

Samples of these artworks

These are only some of what I saw:

Back on the road

Google had sworn to me that I'd find a road called County Road 43½, but I know 2 things about Google's directions.  One is that they love practical jokes and bizarre "short cuts"; the other is that lots of people have assured me that Google isn't reliable in Wyoming which, in fact, I've been finding to be true.  So I came up with a work-around, but it turned out that for once, Google told the truth.

Aiming toward the town of Ten Sleep, I was a little cautious because this is one area I've heard has traffic congestion problems due to rock climbers.  But I didn't have any problems - maybe because it was a Wednesday.

I saw signs saying "Wyoming is Cattle Country."  While I've certainly seen a lot of cows, I wondered where WY ranked compared to Texas, for instance.  The USDA's website wasn't exactly clear, but it looks like in 2018 Wyoming ranked #10 among the states in cattle and calf production.  (I was surprised to see that Nebraska came in at #2 and California was #4.)

Driving down this County Road 43½, I saw several signs warning: "Open Range - Loose Stock on Road."  I also saw signs saying "Road Damage - Advise Alternate Route."  This worried me because it was already past noon and I still had several hours of driving ahead.  But it turned out the damage was just frost heaves.  They're a nuisance but if I slow down they're no more of a problem than railroad tracks.

At Ten Sleep, pop. 260, elev. 4,206', I saw a Horse Hotel, and lots of places for camping, which I imagine cater to the rock climbers.  I'm sorry I didn't see the name of a store I passed because its slogan was "More Odds Than Ends."

I was happy to see that US 16 had recently been repaved.

I passed more formations:

   Ten Sleep of the Pennsylvanian age (290-330 million years old); Madison Limestone of the Mississippian age (330-360 million years old); Bighorn Dolomite of the Ordovician age (435-500 million years old); Gallatin, which I also saw in Wind River Canyon, of the Cambrian age (500-570 million years old); Granite Mafic (that's what the sign said) of the Precambrian age (2.3 billion years old - yes, billion with a b); Gros Ventre (that I also saw in Wind River Canyon) and also of the Cambrian Age like Gallatin.

I passed a very attractive place called Circle J Ranch, which turned out to be owned by the Methodist church.  I think they use it for retreats and visitors.  Later on I passed Camp Roberts, aka YMCA of the Bighorns.  It wasn't on the road so I couldn't see what it was like.

A sign said I was in Bighorn National Forest, and I was interested to note that many of the trees I saw were perched on ledges of huge craggy mountains.

I stopped at a pullout to take some notes (the road kept making curves and s-curves so I didn't want to risk notes), and when I got back in the lane of travel, a construction worker on a small steamroller waved at me and opened his door and pointed at the road, and when I looked bewildered, he just waved me on.  I have no idea what he was trying to say.

My ears started popping and the RV's engine sounded like it was working hard.

We kept on climbing, my ears kept on popping, the engine kept on straining.  The road was constant s-curves and switchbacks, with frequent pullouts and tire chain-up areas, and signs warning of open range/loose cattle.  All in all, there was a lot going on on that road.  And then a deer crossed the road in front of me.

I saw 2 signs each warning me of elk for the next 5 miles.  I passed 2 bicyclists - very intrepid athletes to be tackling this road.  Lots of snow fences, all of these in good repair.

And then I came to Powder River Pass, elev. 9,666'.  That's more than 5,000' of climb since Ten Sleep, so it's no wonder my ears were uncomfortable.

Then came more warning signs: Moose next 5 miles; Elk next 2 miles (this sign closes up so, since it was open, I'm guessing elk might be around); Deer next 5 miles; Steep Grades Ahead - 5 of them, each one an 8% grade.  Then several warning signs about 2 upcoming 7% grades divided by 2 curves - one with 40 mph recommended, and the other with a SHARP CURVE.  In fact, that grouping included something called a CatchNET Cable System to help stop runaway vehicles.

I couldn't decide if this sign was reassuring or intimidating but, as it turned out, I just took the series slowly and ended up just fine.

And just before Buffalo, pop. 4,585, I found yet another 7% grade.  And the reason for all those steep grades was that Buffalo sits at an elevation of 4,645, so I lost another 5,000' coming down.  

Because I didn't know what tonight's campground would be like, I stopped at a Catholic church in town so we could walk around a bit.  We'd been driving for nearly 3 hours, so the dogs wanted a break and I needed to unjangle my nerves.  Sadly, the Catholics seemed very possessive of their large green shady lawn, and I was afraid to let the dogs walk around on it.  We walked around the block instead.

The campground turned out to be okay but was surprisingly crowded for a Wednesday night, so I was glad we'd stopped in town.