I am still trying to catch up on blogging and now I’m a bit behind.
On Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and decided to take a drive to the Snowy Range since we haven’t been up there is several years. It’s a pleasant drive, especially the “back” way.
We took 80C over Sand Creek Pass from the cabin over Sand Creek Pass and down to Woods Landing.
The Rawah Mountains as seen from the top of Sand Creek Pass.
The roads are all dirt and right now they are in pretty good shape. I don’t think we passed one car. At Woods Landing we cut cross-country on another dirt road to connect up with Snowy Range road and in to the tiny town of Centennial, Wyoming which was founded in 1876. There are lots of bars in Centennial and I think I know why!
From Centennial the road is a gradual climb up, up, up. The Snowy Range Road was originally a wagon road built in the 1870’s. It was paved in the 1930’s and finally widened and improved again in 1988, receiving the designation as the nation’s second Scenic Byway.
We passed many campgrounds that were closed due to fallen trees from the bizarre winds they’ve experienced this past winter and spring.
At the top at 10,000 feet above sea level a sub-alpine tundra exists. The mountains are raw and right in your face.
You can see the view if you look at the above two photos, squint your eyes and place the second photo next to the first photo and line up the one peak. Or you can see Rick’s panoramic shot on his blog site.
At this scenic view point I found my one of my favorite alpine flowers. I was afraid we were too early to see them since there was still a lot of snow in huge drifts that were just starting to melt.
Here are the flowers: Sky Pilots.
And Rick snapped this photo of my taking the above two photos. See what I go through to get flower shots? They are tiny and grow very close to the ground.
These were growing right along side the Sky Pilots. They are either Dwarf Clover or Alpine Clover. Too hard to call.
Also tons of marsh marigolds just as the snow starts to recede. They really like things wet. They come in two different colors.
At the top we got the dogs out for a walk and a romp in the snow. What scenery!
Bella of course headed straight for the water. It must have been freezing but it didn’t seem to faze her. If she hadn’t been on a leash she would have waded out further but she was having trouble keeping her footing due to a rocky bottom!
The Glacier Lily, or Snow Lily is also very abundant just as the snow recedes.
It really is beautiful country. Here is Rick taking slow motion footage of the waterfall. You can see that footage here on his site.
All in all, a lovely way to spend most of a day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level
Posted by Lynne on 06/06/2012 at 08:08 AM
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