As I said earlier, Buffalo is one of our favorite destinations, and we had more adventures in store there. We had several more hikes along beautiful Clear Creek. One was a trip to the old Buffalo Hydro-Electric Power Plant, that dates to the early 1900s. From a pull-out a few miles west of town, we walked down a path through a meadow flanked by tall cottonwoods and aspen.
About a mile in, we came to the power plant site. Constructed in 1913, this was Buffalo’s second power plant. The plant has the appearance of a medieval castle. It is said that Businessman H.P. Rothwell, who financed the plant was a German immigrant and admired European castles. When he financed the power plant, he saw that the building carried through on that theme.
Water was supplied from an upstream dam through a wooden stave pipe system. Although the plant’s purpose was to provide the town with electricity, the exit water was piped to Buffalo for municipal use.
Water was supplied from an upstream dam through a wooden stave pipe system. Although the plant’s purpose was to provide the town with electricity, the exit water was piped to Buffalo for municipal use.
The old building is only a shell, and serves as a canvas for would-be artists. Fortunately, some of them painted something interesting or attractive instead of just adding their names or initials.
Another adventure was an excursion into the Bighorns. We always enjoy the drive over to Ten Sleep.
It is worth a stop, with a couple of good local restaurants and a nice RV park where we have stopped in the past. As the story goes, the sleepy little town got its name because it was located halfway between two large Indian camps, one near Casper, WY, known to early trappers as the "Old Sioux Camp" and another near the present site of Bridger, MT. Ten Sleep was reportedly "ten sleeps" from each of the two main camps.
As we made our way up through the mountains, we saw flocks of sheep...hundreds of them. They seemed to be moving very purposefully, so we stopped to see if someone was driving them. Rue and Kota were very interested, and watched intently out the open car window.
We watched for several minutes, but no shepherd or sheep dog appeared to be moving the flock. Finally, Rue couldn't stand it any longer. As the sheep milled around by the fence, she gave a couple of sharp little barks.
Like a wave, the sheep turned as one and moved away. Apparently even though no sheep dog was visible, they all knew if one was present it was to be obeyed. Rue was very proud.
Our main reason for going into the Bighorns, though, was to hike the trail to the waterfall on Tensleep Creek. Designated Trail No. 65, it is a two-mile round trip down Middle Tensleep Creek to Tensleep Falls.
It is worth a stop, with a couple of good local restaurants and a nice RV park where we have stopped in the past. As the story goes, the sleepy little town got its name because it was located halfway between two large Indian camps, one near Casper, WY, known to early trappers as the "Old Sioux Camp" and another near the present site of Bridger, MT. Ten Sleep was reportedly "ten sleeps" from each of the two main camps.
As we made our way up through the mountains, we saw flocks of sheep...hundreds of them. They seemed to be moving very purposefully, so we stopped to see if someone was driving them. Rue and Kota were very interested, and watched intently out the open car window.
We watched for several minutes, but no shepherd or sheep dog appeared to be moving the flock. Finally, Rue couldn't stand it any longer. As the sheep milled around by the fence, she gave a couple of sharp little barks.
Like a wave, the sheep turned as one and moved away. Apparently even though no sheep dog was visible, they all knew if one was present it was to be obeyed. Rue was very proud.
Our main reason for going into the Bighorns, though, was to hike the trail to the waterfall on Tensleep Creek. Designated Trail No. 65, it is a two-mile round trip down Middle Tensleep Creek to Tensleep Falls.
The views are breathtaking, but the climb up out of the canyon almost did me in. I was feeling a little headachy when we left that morning, and by the time I finished our walk I was fading. A world-class ‘burger in Ten Sleep WY helped, but by the time we got back to Buffalo I was wiped out. Some kind of 24-hour bug must have attacked me, because I ran a fever of 103+ and slept about 14 hours straight. I woke late the next morning feeling almost normal, and was back to 100% in a couple of days.
Another of our adventures was a trip to the Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming, not far from Sheridan. It features an historic and expanding Western and American Indian art collection on the 620-acre Quarter Circle A Ranch.
The museum features not only the original ranch house, but the recently-completed Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Building.
Inside are not only outstanding collections, but also the Brinton Bistro and the tallest rammed earth wall in North America.
We didn’t have time to see everything, but will be back on our next trip.
The museum features not only the original ranch house, but the recently-completed Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Building.
Inside are not only outstanding collections, but also the Brinton Bistro and the tallest rammed earth wall in North America.
We didn’t have time to see everything, but will be back on our next trip.
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