We just got back from spending a little over a week at our Wyoming ranch. We love it out there. we did a lot on this trip. We painted the observatory at the ranch, we went for a picnic and hike in the mountains, revisited The National Museum of Military Vehicles, visited the graves of Sacajawea and Chief Washakie and last but certainly not least, we went gold prospecting. It's one of my all time favorite activities. I so rarely get to practice it here in Florida where we live most of the year. On this trip though we both wanted to get out there in the beautiful Wyoming wilderness and see if we could find some gold.

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My beloved Ocean Lake Observatory was in dire need of painting. Who knows how many years it had been since the last time it saw any paint? Parts of it had never been painted. It was really looking the worse for wear after exposure to many freezing Wyoming winters and broiling Wyoming summers. Something had to be done. I didn't want the observatory falling apart before we are retired and can spend long periods at the ranch and actually get some good use out of it. So painting the observatory was on my to-do list for this visit. We got it done and it looks pretty darn good.

One thing Leslie really wanted to do on this trip was visit Wind River Lake. It is one of the more scenic places in Wyoming. It is perched right up on the Continental Divide High in The Wind River Mountains. It is the source of The Wind and Bighorn Rivers. We tried to visit it last June, but the snow was still way too deep. The road in wasn't just closed, it couldn't even be found under all that snow. This time there was no snow, but it was very smokey from wildfires burning in west coast states. That muted the lovely scenery some, but we still had a good time. We had a picnic on the lake shore, then hiked all the way around the lake.

On our hike around the lake, we found an amazingly beautiful glacier cut valley behind the lake, with a little stream feeding onto the lake. That little stream that we hopped across is the ultimate source of the mighty Wind River. Wow is it gorgeous back behind the lake. We need to go back sometime when it isn't so smokey.

We had to stop and take a selfie in that gorgeous spot.

Later we headed back downhill a few miles to a campground we wanted to check out. We had pegged it as a potential place to take our RV for a few days, but the campground was closed when we were there last June. This time it was open and we got to look around. It looks like a very nice campground with awesome scenery. There is also a hiking trail that goes out to a series of waterfalls on the Wind River. We took the hike and got some photos. I have a feeling we'll be camping here sometime in the future.

On the way back home we detoured to drive the length of Red Canyon. We'd seen the canyon from a scenic overlook on the highway many times. We'd just never had the time to drive the length of the long dirt two-track that runs along the canyon. This time we decided to do it, even though it was getting late. With the late afternoon light, our detour proved to be a good choice. The red cliffs were lit up with amazing color. We need to to do this again someday when it isn't so smokey. The smoke muted the colors some, and hid the mountains in the background. Even so, it was an amazing drive.

I really wanted to go gold prospecting on this trip. So did Leslie. So we loaded the truck with picks and shovels and buckets and gold pans and a gold sluice and headed for the mountains. We got directions from a rancher friend to a spot on his gazillion acres of property where people have found gold before. He also told us how to get to the old abandoned dredge on Rock Creek. We went and visited that on the way and got some photos of it. Then we headed off to a spot where we could dig and test pan. Once we found a spot with gold, we started digging in earnest. We then set up the sluice in the creek and ran our paydirt through it until the light began to fade. We took our concentrates back to the ranch and I panned them out a couple days later. We found some gold! But more importantly, we had a lot of fun. It was a great day out in the mountains. Now that we know a spot to find gold, I'm sure we'll be back again in the future for more prospecting fun.

Our flight out of Wyoming got cancelled. We were stuck there for an extra day, so we decided to make the most of it. We went exploring on the Wind River Indian Reservation. We went looking for the grave of Sacajawea, the Indian woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark. Leslie knew she was buried somewhere on the reservation, and wanted to see her grave. It was on our list of things to do on our next visit, but since we had an extra day this time, we decided to go do it. Finding the correct graveyard wasn't too difficult. It is named after her after all. Once we got there though, we found the graveyard to be huge, overgrown and hard to navigate. We thought it might take a while to find her. I decided to just carefully pick my way through the cemetery heading for the biggest monument I could see, figuring it would be hers. After getting startled by a snake, skirting around a huge yellow jacket nest and numerous thorny bushes, we finally found it.

At last we found Sacajawea's grave. Leslie was very happy to see it. We both got pictures. People leave lots of offerings at her grave. The variety of things they leave there is amazing, but nothing compared to the next photo.

At the far end of the cemetery is a huge bronze statue of Sacajawea. It is very well done. She is depicted wading in the surf of the Pacific Ocean and admiring the sea life of the shallows. The number and variety of the offerings people leave at the base of the statue is truly amazing.

Not too far away was the Washakie graveyard. We decided to go visit it as well. We wanted to see the grave of the great chief Washakie of the Shoshone people. Many things in western Wyoming are named after him. He was known as a wise and just ruler. This is a monument at the entrance to the graveyard.

As with Sacajawea, his was the largest monument in the graveyard and pretty easy to find. Again, people leave a variety of offerings at his grave.

we were both struck by how long-lived many of the people born in the late 1700s and early 1800s were. We like to think we live in an era of long lifespans now, but so many of the folks who lived back then lived quite long lives, even under hard conditions and without modern medicine.

Here is a view of the other side of Chief Washakie's gravestone. Several members of his family were also buried nearby.

The next moring our flight actually managed to take off and we started our return trip to Florida. We are already planning our next visit to our Wyoming place in the Spring, and we can't wait to get back out there.