Trekking with the Bs: Wyoming

We went where?

After the long drive to Rapid City, SD, we needed a little fresh air but weren't in the mood for much more driving. In the past, we always enjoyed the Black Hills and Mickelson Trail. This time we stayed closer to the city.

We found nestled at the foot of the Black Hills, in Rapid City, the Chapel in the Hills,

, which is a quiet place to stretch our legs. The chapel itself is an exact reproduction of the famous Borgund Stavkirke of Laerdal, Norway and was built in 1969.

Bell tower

The Meditation Trail winds its way into the hillside behind the chapel, complete with benches and statuary.

We were greeted at the "Stabbur," which is an authentic grass-roofed store house, built in Norway and assembled on site.

Also on the grounds is an authentic log cabin museum. Built by a Norwegian prospector who came to the Black Hills during the gold rush, it houses articles brought over from Norway or made by Scandinavians in this country during the 1800's.

Just down the hill from the chapel was Canyon Lake Park, one of the oldest city parks in Rapid City and a nice place to continue our walk along the river.

Rapid City's downtown has the City of Presidents, a series of life-size bronze statues of our nation’s past presidents up to George HW Bush, along the city’s streets and sidewalks.

Douglas, WY

Douglas has been a stop off on our way to somewhere else. This time, the forecast was predicting strong winds and stronger gusts for our drive. We delayed our trip and checked out what Douglas had to offer.

We made a stop at the Douglas Railroad Museum and Visitor Center, housed in the historic

FE & MV Railroad Passenger Depot to find a geocache. It turned out to be one of the better train museums we have visited.

Dining car dates back to 1886.

Old sleeper car

Then we headed to Camp Douglas

During World War II, Douglas had the primary prisoner of war (POW) camp for Wyoming. The U.S. military held 1,900 Italian and 3,011 German prisoners at Camp Douglas from 1943 to 1946, when allied POW camps in Europe and North Africa grew overcrowded. The camp was one of 155 built in the U.S. during World War II, the site chosen for its relative isolation.

Many of the POWs worked in the town and ranches. Appreciating the way they were treated by the US, many returned to become US citizens after the war, relocating in Douglas. (I bet a girl may have been involved.)

Wellington, CO

Finding a campsite available on an August weekend in Colorado can me frustrating. We were fortunate to find an overflow spot for two days in Wellington just north of Fort Collins. After finishing our honey do list, we headed over to the Bud Brewery for a tour, lunch and music on the patio.

The Clydesdales and Dalmatians were out on tour. We used our imaginations.

We had our 6 ounces complimentary Shock Top and a sample of their Copper Lager that is aged in Jim Beam barrels. Mike purchased a 6 pack of the Copper Lager to go. He said he should have got a case. It would take him a year to drink it.

Heading south.

So much wildlife

We had passed through Grand Teton National Park going to or leaving Yellowstone in the past and had mentioned that this park deserved a little time too. Finally, we made it back.

Lodging is very expensive in Jackson and the Teton Lodges. A couple from Australia told us that they were only staying two nights because the only rooms they could find were $300 per night.

Some of the campgrounds are first come first serve and mostly dry camping. Gros Ventre is a huge 330 site campground but does not feel crowded and is only 12 miles from Jackson. Arriving early, we scored an electric site for $39 per night.

We usually avoid the busiest national parks but found this place to be much less crowded than expected by hitting the trails early. Also, many people head to Yellowstone after a quick peek here. Our four day stay turned into eight as we had no desire to leave this beautiful place with cool temps and still so much to see.

Jackson Lake in the morning

The multi use paths in the national park runs to Jackson and beyond making getting around easy. Our ride across Windy Point lived up to its name. I wondered if I would get blown off a couple of times.

The mandatory antler arch picture

Our hikes took us to several lakes. We arrived at Jenny Lake for an early morning boat ride to the falls and hiked back.

Almost every day, we stopped along the river to watch moose. On the way back from our bike ride, the twin moose were chasing each other and splashing in the river. They were so fast and funny to watch.

We watched the four frolicking otters roll around each other for a while on Jenny Lake.

The beaver in Moose Pond was serious and was not detoured from his work.

Getting wildlife pictures with our little camera is not easy. The coyote that stopped on the road to check us out on our bikes was not going to wait for me to stop and pull out the camera. The bear in the campground had better things to do than have his picture taken. It is just fun to see them.

It is a little difficult to make out the osprey in the nest. We would watch one fly out and around while the other enjoyed the sunshine in the nest.

There were too many pictures of the animals to choose to post.

There were two fawns but only one would hold still for a few seconds. They were so small and young, looking back at us as we walked down the trail.

Our hikes took longer than usual with all the views and critters to watch.

On our hike to Taggart Lake, we decided and additional 2.5 miles to Bradley Lake would be ok and headed further back into the forest. As the forest got thicker, so did the mosquitos. We didn't stop for long even with mosquito spray all over us. They were in attack mode.