As we traveled from the Black Hills of South Dakota toward Wyoming, we saw some sights along the drive and made a couple of camp stops before reaching our main destinations of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Along the way, we passed the Black Thunder Coal Mine, one of the largest coal mines in the United States.
It’s a surface operation, meaning all of the mining happens above ground rather than underground. The work creates enormous stepped pits that can be miles long and hundreds of feet deep appearing as giant “holes” across the landscape.
The dump trucks looked huge from the road. It would be pretty neat to see them up close to appreciate the scale of them.
The bus was probably bringing miners to work.
The train cars stop at the mine and are loaded with coal.
Our first stop was Casper, Wyoming known as “The Oil City” for the major oil discoveries and long history of oil production.
We stayed at the Fort Caspar (spelled slightly different than the city name) Campground located right next to Fort Caspar Museum, a reconstruction of an 1865 military fort located at a major river crossing on the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California, and Pony Express Trails. These trails faciliated telegraph and mail routes as well as migration and travel across the western frontier. To protect the telegraph and mail services the U.S. Army established a military presence at what became Platte Bridge Station.
Fort Caspar is also home to the original pistol once owned by Tom O’Day, a member of the Wild Bunch or Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, the same outlaw gang that included figures like Butch Cassidy.
The woman who checked us in at the camp office gave the boys camping stickers. We thought this one was pretty funny.
The boys met the campground’s “pets” — turkeys and squirrels. The lady at the office leaves peanuts out for them, and the boys loved watching a squirrel grab a peanut and run away with it.
Our second stop before reaching the national parks was in Dubois, Wyoming, a small town we found surprisingly interesting and unique.
The campsite in DuBois was located right at a river stream.
The boys spent hours fishing and trying to swim upstream against the current!
We visited Welty’s General Store in Dubois. Established in 1889, the store is still owned and operated by the same family today. Welty’s is also known as a place that Butch Cassidy frequently visited.
The laundromat looks a little different here in Wyoming!
The local gas and convenience stop had a lot to offer. The boys were excited to find Sasquatch walking his unicorn and a jackalope (in Bigfoot National Forest)!
The jackalope is a mythical creature that has become a local legend out here, and clearly it is a big deal!
The red cliffs, bluffs, and badlands we saw across Wyoming are known as the “Red Rocks” area. These formations are made of sedimentary rocks including red siltstone, sandstone, and shale. The rocks are made of red siltstone, sandstone, and shale sediments. The red color comes from oxidized iron minerals (hematite) coating the tiny grains within the rocks.
A few more sights along the way.
Almost to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming!