July 11, ending in Spearfish, WY (again)

Thermopolis is no metropolis. I grew weary of the sulfur smell of the natural hot springs and the seemingly inhospitable condition of the campground. This morning was hard. I felt guilty that I’d only do a little driving to Ten Sleep before Jim had to conquer Another Big Mountain. I was tired of solving problems, whether it was where to put things so we could shower, or how to figure out sandwich-making so we’d have lunch in the middle of desolation. I tried to notice that my mind-talk was getting the better of me, that I was hungry and cranky and maybe just a little spoiled by civilization and all the little problems it solves for you. We are on the backswing of a beautiful trip, longing for home, and it feels so far away. I forgot to try to enjoy where we were. And I did enjoy it. That hot spring soak last night was really relaxing and rejuvenating. It was not the same as Nat Soo Pah, but it was nice too.

Anyway. This morning we got up a little too early because Lili probably heard a truck go boom-boom in the nearby construction, and she thought it was thunder and had to shudder and freak out a bit as the two dogs snuggled with us in the bed. The sky was clear, so there was no true thunder to fret her. We took them out for a walk to show them that the world was not ending.

Then we turned on the air conditioner for them, made sure they had water in the trailer, and went about a mile down the road to the hot springs park. Really nice. A couple of hotels over there (what!?) with Clean hot springs pools (also what!?). We know where we’re staying next time. We took a stroll around the boardwalks of this giant hot spring, on the order of Mammoth Hot Spring at Yellowstone, but still a little smaller as far as volume. But if it’s height, it is probably larger than Mammoth, I haven’t looked it up.

Found some cool rock formations on one side of the park, guessing they are the creation of the hot springs. Or maybe fossils. I am no geologist, but I like pondering what the rocks are and how they were made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Crossed a suspension bridge that was once condemned and then refurbished and original footings are from the early 1900s (I felt so safe, as you can see...NOT). Cool to see the hot springs from the other side to get some photos. Not terribly picturesque, not colorful, but interesting. The hot water right next to the boardwalk in spots, draining into holes that went under the boardwalks and over the edge of the rock formations. Little sandpipers walking in the shallow waters, eating something, some little plants or something that they could pick up. Amazing that they can walk there or that anything grows there. But we all came from such a primordial swamp, they think.

 

Got back to camp in an hour, hitched up, and hit the road. It was getting hot by then, probably about 9:30 or 9:45 by the time we got hitched and dumped. I took the first shift of driving to Ten Sleep, and it was Dramatic in spots. One down grade about made me lose my mind, just the downslope of a rollercoaster, so steep and unnerving and everything I could do to not ride the brake the whole way down. But we got through it. Really beautiful.

I thought we’d find an easy place to pull over in Ten Sleep, and there was one spot, but I skipped it and then there was nothing but 2-lane road…oh, wait, there’s a church parking lot up there we can let the dogs out in and trade drivers. Whew. I worry too much, has anyone noticed?

The drive back over the mountains (still Big Horn?) today was really spectacular. A canyon to start and then up, and up and up again. This time to a summit which was 9666 feet high. 

So beautiful. A couple of wild switchbacks that would have sent me into a tizzy if I’d been driving, but otherwise didn’t seem too technical on the way up. The way down was another matter, 5 sets of 8% grade, and then 3-4 sets of 7% grade with tight turns. One mandatory brake point before the last bit. Wowza. Jim did a great job (and I did a good job of not freaking out too much).

 

At Buffalo we switched drivers, and I drove us the rest of the way into Spearfish, SD. We saw Devil’s Tower on the way, way off in the distance. Kind of amazing. Not sure we’ll make it out there to see it up close; it’s an on-purpose kind of drive and sight and it’s so bloody hot.

I politely declined the offer to back in the trailer when we returned to Chris’ campground. And on the way there was a semi blocking the road to get to the campground, so we had to do a little goat rodeo through Spearfish to get turned around and hope he was cleared out by then. We did, and he was, and thank goodness.

Ended up in the same spot where we were last time we camped here, so that’s nice for the alleged key-finding mission. Except I still can’t find them. Maybe when we pull out, they’ll be right under the trailer. Or maybe the battery died here and that’s the last place it was seen and we’ll never find them. Or we’ll find them when we strip the trailer in November. Or we’ll just never find them. And all of those possibilities have to be okay. I don't have to like it, though.

I got a little misty as we left that last mountain range behind us, the same as I did when we left the Sawtooth mountains behind us. They scare me, but they’re also so beautiful.

We spent some time today trying to figure out what we’ve learned from this trip. AKA, what have we learned from having traveled through the Fire Swamp?

• Mountains are tall and slopes are steep, but not impossible.
• There are always problems to solve, and you can’t get too fussed about any of them. Or you can, but it's not necessarily a good idea.
  
• I am spoiled by civilization, and urban life. And yet I love getting away from it, seeing how big this country is.
  
• A cold beer at the end of a long, hard day is a good thing.
• I’d love to have better internet connectivity on the road, but I also enjoy being disconnected from the grid.
• We have learned that our dogs are remarkably malleable. We have learned that we are pretty malleable.
• We will not travel without gochujang and honey and other basic ingredients, because it’s not that hard to have them.
• We know the value of rest days after a few days of long travel days.
• We know more about the problems we encounter and better how to solve them. Like how to only have food for the day we need it and not try to use our fridge as a storage unit in 90+-degree heat. FML.
• I can sometimes suck it up better than I think, I have better resilience than I realize. I also get wimpy and weepy and lose hope easily. Sometimes I lack grit and patience and have a low tolerance for frustration. See spoiled by civilization above. See also, being human.