On this trip, we are travelling west through the northern-most route of the BigHorn mountains, just south of the Montana border. In many years of living in this area, it's a road I've never travelled before. And you know of course that it is always about taking the road less travelled.
Here's a view of the northern part of the mountain range from Sheridan, where we made a last 'civilization' stop at Starbucks. We'll be going over the top.
Wyoming has lots of red rock, scoria, which was created eons ago by the heat from underground burning oil fields. It appears in wonderful slashes of warm color in the green forests as well as over on the plains.
I remember being entranced with the red rock the first time I saw it on a trip through the Wind River canyon with two little pre-school sweethearts. Scoria also appears on Easter Island, where it has been carved into huge stone statues.This two-lane highway heading west from Sheridan is a biker's dream on a hot day and although the traffic is not heavy on this road, we meet many motorcycles. The switchbacks take you higher and higher, lots of sharp curves to lean into and cooler breezes with every foot of elevation gained.
And before you know it, near the top, one of the many lakes, tarns, forming in glacial cirques, those scooped out little valleys that make great collectors of snow melt and turn into spots for tourists like us to stop for a brief break. If we were fisherwoman and fisherdog, that's what we'd be doing here!
Here we are, close to the top, around 9000 feet. Time to get out and breathe a lot!
Still going even higher.
Another rest stop. Chorro is not really a water dog, but he does like to get his feet wet and slurped up some water from this melting-snow stream while cooling off his puppy toes.
Here we are at last -- the high plateau.
Here the tops of the mountains don't look so high, although they are probably around 12,000 feet.
Some snow has not melted yet in the very short summer season at this altitude.
Found only at altitudes of 10-12,000 feet, we see some rare pink snow, sometimes called watermelon snow. The color is from a specific algae that loves cold temperatures (silly algae!). It is being studied as a possible source of a cancer-fighting phytochemical, related to the carotenoids that give many of our tastiest fruits and vegetables their bright colors (yes, including watermelon). 
This observation point provided a great view.
Being on top of the world is so exhilirating. The air is fresh and clean and the views are astounding. The lack of oxygen encourages great deep breaths. And in that extra moment the deep breath requires comes a brief instant of seeing clearly and connecting with everything. For moments like these, we climb mountains (or drive to the top, as we get older.)Here at the top, we are going to stop and make a trek to the Medicine Wheel, but I will save that for the next story. Right now, I will just give you a view of a Wyoming sunset so you know what to expect when evening comes to this beautiful state.
Today was a good day.
