The High Point of our Trip.

Friday, August 26, 2011

The High Point of our Trip.

Yes, today  is an unusual day in terms of highs.  We leave Cody, to head to the Keystone / Hill City area where Mt. Rushmore and all things touristy are.  

Not far out of Cody we see a  sign for a Wild Horse Reserve.  Being that none of us has actually seen wild horses, we take the exit, and drive into the reserve to find some wild horses.  We drove for a couple of miles and come across a dark moving spot on the range.  We drive closer, and see that the dark moving spot is 4 wild horses.  Three of them dark black to brown and one white and light brown spotted.

We drive up to a crest of a hill to get a closer look, which was probably about a mile or so away from the horses.  I used the telephoto on my camera to get a few shots.  Was cool to see wild horses.

We also passed a small town called Otto, with a population of 50, which made us all smile.  However it was bigger than Bracken, Saskatchewan, where Phil spent some time as a kid.  This was very small town America!

The scenic route through the Big Horn Mountains and over the Powder River Pass was our route, which takes us up to 9,666 feet in elevation.  You guessed it ...well just about.. this was almost the high point of our trip.  The highest was after we climbed another 50 feet to make sure we were over 9,700 ft in elevation.  There was a rock outcropping, so it made a perfect kodak moment (are they still called that being that I use a cannon, and the pictures are digital...?)  This is the highest Lucas has been (on ground) and 2nd highest Phil and I have ever been (on ground).  The crater in Haleukala, Hawaii I believe is around 10,000 feet.

Lucas planked the center of the highway on a double solid yellow line, and also owl-ed it as well.  This was a “high” for him - where else can you be in the middle of the interstate and be crazy!  There was not a whole lot of traffic on this road today.  The only significant vehicles we saw were quads - dozens of them, touring the  top area of the mountain pass. 

So these fun things made a full travel day in the car seem shorter and more interesting.

 I think Lucas and Phil’s favorite sign was the “Crazy Women” Canyon Road sign.  They think it says it all....

We get into Hill City, get some laundry done and crash for the night..zzzzz