THE HAZELTON RD./CLOUD PEAK SKYWAY LOOP
Today we did the Hazelton Road/Cloud Peak Skyway Loop. We started out driving out of Worland towards Ten Sleep, Wyoming. The first stop along the route was at Castle Gardens, a twelve-mile detour down a dirt road. At Castle Gardens there were many sandstone hoodoos, rock that has been transformed into odd shapes by wind and ice.
Along the way we saw pronghorn antelope, even a family with a baby. The hills are beautifully green with lots of wildflowers. On our way to a picnic site we came across a flock of sheep being guarded by a llama. I didn’t know this (but John did) that llamas are employed as sheepherders because they are unafraid of the usual predators of sheep. There was a dog there as well but he seemed to be resting while the llama was at full alert and started herding the sheep away from us.
We got to a beautiful campground with picnic tables to have our lunch. The ground was covered with lupine and small white flowers.
We continued our ascent until we reached Powder River Pass, almost at the tree line at 9666 feet. I didn’t do too much exploring there as the altitude made my lungs unhappy.
From there we descended into Ten Sleep for some postcard and ice cream buying at Dirty Sally’s. Ten Sleep is a really small town with a population of about 450. It is named Ten Sleep because it was half way between a twenty days walk from one major Indian gathering point to another.
I am not sure what our internet possibilities will be for the next 5 days. Hopefully, I’ll find somewhere to post but if nothing appears for the next few days, keep checking.
On to Devils Tower and the Badlands!