Juoksentelisinkohankaan

Roaming in Wyoming

Juoksentelisinkohankaan is a Finnish word which, I am led to believe, means “I wonder if I should run around aimlessly".

This is the situation that I find myself in, having left the last week of this trip largely unplanned. I am going to the Devil’s Tower and Mt. Rushmore but then have to decide whether to do more stuff in Wyoming, South Dakota or Colorado, or implement Plan B.

Regardless, I have to get right the way across Wyoming in the next day or two.

Wyoming has about the same area as the UK and a population roughly equivalent to Bristol’s. So quite a lot of space to roam and not too many large towns! This suits me fine as I much prefer small American towns and cities.

The going is quite slow as I have to pass through Yellowstone once again on my way back east. The traffic is worse than it was yesterday which makes me wonder whether US schools have broken up. Another strike for poor research!

The traffic thins out as I turn towards the Yellowstone east entrance, a part of the park I have not been in so far. It’s an interesting change in scenery - still some geothermal stuff but also more mountainous and forested. Very pleasant. In fact the whole drive today was very pleasant - Wyoming has more than its fair share of natural beauty and a varied landscape.

I stop briefly in Cody, self declared World Capital of the Rodeo, and one time home to Buffalo Bill, who the town is named after. I consider a trip to the Buffalo Bill Centreer of the West, but can’t drum up any enthusiasm for it. Quick comfort break and reprovisioning and I move on.

I’m keen to visit the Big Horn Medicine Wheel. Medicine wheels are a combination of educational resource (they are often aligned with astronomical objects etc.) and also used for ceremony, healing…

I have seen a few whilst in the States, but this one is huge. It is also in a very inaccessible spot, high in the mountains and so presumably is a special spot. The drive up is staggering. I try to keep my eyes on the road as glancing at the panorama to the side is slightly disorienting. It’s hard to describe the vastness of the vistas that you encounter in the US, you have to experience it. Nowhere in the UK do you look out across something so seemingly endless.

Of course photographs don’t do it any justice. This is particularly true as many views are quite hazy - I gather due to smoke drifting down from wildfires in Canada.

When I get to the turn off to the Medicine Wheel, the road is closed. I consider driving around the sign and then consider walking the last couple of miles. Whilst I am stood by the car mulling this option, a coupe emerge from another car parked at the bottom of the path. They tell me that they had driven part way up but that the last mile or more was thick snow, and suggest that, what with me being in shorts and all, it could be a bit chilly.

While I am digesting this information, some Forestry Service guys turn up and helpfully point out that even if I walk up, the Wheel is still covered in snow so there will be nothing to see. That’s decided then.

They also say that there are wolves around and that they have in recent days seen many moose just down the road from here. I have a new mission to tick off Moose from my I Spy book of World Critters.

Mission accomplished!

And so on to Buffalo, where I have booked a room for the night. Now to some people this may seem like an unproductive day, but I think I have once again been awakened to the joy of just driving through astonishing landscapes and the prospect of Plan B with its long, long drives begins to seem more appealing. It would be no bad thing to see more of the country and states that I haven’t been in (or intended to visit). I’ll see how I get on tomorrow, and also keep one eye on the weather. Parts of the US have been battered by horrendous storms in the last few weeks and more are forecast this week. Just need to see where they are tracking…