29 September 2009

Big Horn Mountains, part 3

The weather forecast said that it would turn cold and possibly snow in the Big Horn Mountains tomorrow. So we decided to take an excursion and have a picnic.

Just east of Ten Sleep, on US-16, is this dilapidated barn.

Across the street, I took this shot of sheep gathered in the shade.

There are several big homes along the highway.



At the foot of the mountains is this historic chapel (below) which used to be located near Ten Sleep Rodeo Grounds until 1975. The sign on the stone wall reads, United Methodist Circle J Ranch.
The sign next to the church reads:

FIRST WASHAKIE COUNTY CHURCH
March 14, 1901, Rev. L.C. Thompson, Rev. E.E. Tarbill, Mortimer Lewis, J.W. Carpenter, Kate Lynch and Mark Warner signed papers incorporating the Methodist Church of Ten Sleep and accepted land for a church building and cemetery from David Moses. The community raised $600, supplementing $300 given by Extension Society of Philadelphia. The building started in 1901 by volunteer labor with lumber donated by Milo Burke, was completed in 1904 and dedicated January 8, 1905. Each assisting family was given a lot in the cemetery, where many pioneers rest. The church was moved to its present location in 1925. The annex was added in 1952. Moved to Circle J in 1975.


We turned off of US-16 and onto WY-435, Old Highway 16.

The sign below reads,

STATE FISH HATCHERY
The Tensleep hatchery was constructed and is operated by the Wyo. Game and Fish Comm. Water for this operation is secured from springs which maintain a constant flow and average temperature of 54. This station, which is one of our better producers, was established in 1938 to raise trout for stocking in north-central Wyoming. The hatchery building is on the right.

The name Tensleep is said to come from the Indians reference to the ford across the creek near here, on the old Bridger Trail, as being 10 days (sleep's) journey from Ft. Laramie to the southeast or Yellowstone Park to the northwest.

Visitors Welcome.
WYOMING GAME & FISH COMMISSION

Soon after the fish hatchery, the road turns to gravel. The road is well kept, but it does not have any guardrails protecting drivers from the valley below.











Since it was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to have enough daylight for our picnic, we turned around before reaching the end of the road. Here is a link to the shot below. I am standing on Old Highway 16, looking across the valley at the present US-16 on the other side of the valley.




See also Big Horn Mountains, part 2, part 1.

15 September 2009

Wyoming skies, part 9

My wife's sister came this week to visit us and her mother. We went to the Teton mountain range to enjoy the western side of Wyoming.

I didn't take many shots because of the weather and because it is too far away from Thermopolis to be a part of my blog at the present time. But these pictures of the sunset, mostly taken by my wife, are too good to pass up. They are presented here in the order they were taken.













See also Wyoming skies, part 8, part 7, part 6, part 5, part 4, part 3, part 2, part 1.