Moominmama's Adventures: Wind River Range

Wherein Moominmama is greeted by familiar Wyoming sarcasm but finds much to love near the Wind River Range...

Driving in from Colorado and approaching Laramie, Wyoming, Moominmama was greeted by a billboard that read: "Save the Planet, Reuse Your Spork." Poking fun at liberals via billboards seems to be a regular pastime as I remember similar sentiments expressed on the road to Yellowstone from Cody two years ago.

But no one has been unfriendly, and there certainly is space to spread out. Moominmama intended to camp just one night on Bureau of Land Management land because I am generally uncomfortable leaving my trailer unattended when not in a designated campground. But this spot was a combination of isolated/not isolated where I felt safe.

These acres and acres of public land are open to camping (up to 14 days) but are mostly occupied by pronghorn and cattle. The only traffic on the nearby dirt road was cattle trailers and cows aiming for the best grass. Occasionally I could see the glint of another RV rooftop in the distance. The highway was just over a mile away, visible but soundless.

I've spent four nights here and will head to an RV park tonight so I can fill up on water and empty my other tanks before heading into Idaho on Tuesday.  But I've loved the birdsong, the lemony smell of sagebrush after the rain and observing pronghorn through my binoculars. Given the thunderstorms that have rolled through the last few days, I've come to love the wide open skies that give you an IMAX view of incoming weather.

Moominmama fit in a few hikes in between the storms, including one that took me to this waterfall! Isolated once again, I felt safe removing a few layers to scoot in on a ledge on the left-hand side of this picture to take a cold, but much needed, shower! 

To my chagrin, however, the three-mile hike back left me dusty and sweaty again!

On another occasion, I visited the Sinks Canyon, which features an unusual geological phenomenon. 

The water from the Popo Agie River disappears into the limestone (the Sinks, pictured here) and reappears about a quarter-mile farther down, (the Rise) spilling from the limestone into a large pool.

It is not a single tunnel but a series of narrow passages that have apparently worn through the soft limestone. They mystery deepened, however, when scientists sent dye through the system and found it took more than two hours to reappear a quarter mile away!  

They also found that more water flows out of the Rise than enters at the Sinks!  "Why the water takes over two hours to make the journey and where it goes during that time is still a mystery," a placard at the Visitor Center reads.

On one of the drizzly days, Moominmama visited a wild horse sanctuary on the Wind River Reservation of the Eastern Shoshone and Arapaho, though it is run by a Navajo family, the Oldhams. Their dad was a one-time Wyoming state veterinarian, and they hold a contract with the Bureau of Land Management because wild horses have become a growing problem on public lands.

The mustangs (not a breed, just a word for wild horses) have few predators and have reproduced beyond what's sustainable. In essence, they are now an invasive species facing starvation and crowding out other animals that rely on the grasslands.

Federal land management officials have taken a variety of approaches. In some cases, female horses are injected with birth control, but this has to be redone every three years so it's a horse tracking challenge. The other approach is to capture a certain number every year. The younger mustangs can be sold and trained. The older ones, ages 6 and up, are divided by gender and sent to one of four sanctuaries in the U.S. like this one.

There they live out their lives much as they would in the wild. There are no barns so they grow heavy coats to survive the winters. Veterinary care is limited. The animals are not curried or brushed, but some hay is distributed on the pastures when snow makes grazing impossible. The Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary is visited by authorities regularly to ensure the horses are in good health.

The Oldham family also run a Visitor Center and bring tour groups out on 4x4s to see the wild horses. Their sanctuary is the only one operating on an Indian reservation. As Jess Oldham explained to me, his family has a mission to honor the deep connections between indigenous people and their horses.

This is a beautiful wide-open country, with a remarkable history. By scaring off liberals, I'm sure they hope to keep it that way! As a result, I feel fortunate to be here, and I pledge to keep a low profile!