Night Time is the Right Time in Wyoming

When planning a trip to a smaller town, it is understandable to be concerned about nighttime entertainment. Do they roll up the sidewalks at 8 p.m.? What will you do with your big-city self into the wee hours of the night? Wyoming towns offer a fine array of restaurants and country bars where you can kick up your heels. But don’t be so quick to dismiss the charm of a sidewalk free evening – Wyoming has a special kind of nightlife.

Simply silent. Even on a quiet day in the city, there’s a sort of ambient noise that adds to daily stress. Traffic. The fan in your office. The constant drone of televisions and radios and keyboards. Take an opportunity to experience real silence during your visit to Wyoming by lying out in a field or up on a mountain in the evening. As dusks settles, the noise of the day will drift off and quiet will fill the air – interrupted only occasionally by the gently rustle of leaves or the swoosh of an owl’s wings as he floats by.

By the light of the silvery moon. While you are taking in the silence, take advantage of Wyoming’s elevation and expanses of wilderness to see the stars. On a clear night you can see the stars, and the stars behind the stars, and the stars behind those. Look long enough and you’ll realize the blackness of night is actually a dark grey of far away constellations that you’ve never noticed before.

When questioning some locals about their favorite, G-rated, nighttime activities, several mentioned the allure of hiking by the light of the moon. Vedauwoo in southeast Wyoming and Old Faithful in Yellowstone were particular favorites. A fella at the Vee Bar Ranch said he’s happy to organize a star-gazing stroll for his guests – assuming they have the energy after a great day of trail riding and an evening by the campfire.

Star gazing. If 6,000 feet up isn’t close enough to the stars for you, the Red Reflet Guest Ranch in Ten Sleep has a Meade Telescope which practically allows guests to see the dude-Martians at a similar ranch on the red planet. This baby will show you the pointy tips on stars you never knew existed.

If you’re interested in hearing from someone who knows there aren’t actually pointy tips on stars OR dude-Martians, plus a lot of other useful information, check out a local astronomy club. Grand Teton National Park and the Jackson Hole Astronomy Club are teaming up in 2009 to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. This includes evening programs on July 19 and August 16 with family-friendly talks and telescope observations. Solar-filtered telescopes will also be available on August 16, to allow people to view sunspots (without seeing spots after).

The Cheyenne Astronomical Society and the Laramie Astronomical Society and Space Observers have several star-viewing events in the summer including the annual Weekend Under the Stars on August 20, 21 and 22. $15 (free for kids 12 and under), some sunscreen and a little bit of camping gear is all you need to build a database of star knowledge and the type of friendships that will last to infinity and beyond.

Going batty. Explore the dark side of the animal kingdom with Fort Laramie’s free Creatures of the Night event on Saturday, July 25. From 5 to 10 p.m., experts will teach about bats and raptors. The evening will also include games for the kids and nature walks to seek out amphibians and nighttime critters.

History by candlelight. Fort Laramie also hosts their annual Moonlight Tour on August 15, starting at 7 p.m. All you have to bring is a flashlight and some bug spray for this free event. Park guides will lead you through the fort where you can learn about its history and witness life on the frontier through historical reenactments.

Campfire curriculum. If you’re in the Jackson area on a Monday this summer, be sure to stop by the Teton Science School for Marshmallow Mondays. Each week features a talk about nature or wilderness survival, followed by open chats around the campfire, marshmallow roasting and possibly an evening hike. This $15 event ($8 for the kids) will leave you feeling sticky and studious.

Ghostly getaways. Does your taste in vacation lean more toward the ghoul and less toward school? Try the Friday night Ghost Tour in Casper, hosted by Painted Past Enterprises. This walking tour will take you through the darkest corners of downtown Casper where you’ll meet people of the past who walked the streets and shot up the town. Painted Past also hosts a tour of the cemetery in October where visitors have a chance to meet some of Casper’s well-known figures at their final resting places.

For the truly brave, the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie hosts ghost tours on weekends in October. Occasional home to the likes of Butch Cassidy, this really creepy historic prison becomes even creepier in the dark. As you follow your guide through the concrete and cages, you’ll hear about past residents. A bump in the dark. A scratch down the hall. Something moving just out of sight. Was that an actor or your imagination? We’ll never tell.

Looking back over the list, there seems to be a lot to learn at night in Wyoming. Whether you’re taking in a history lesson, a biology lesson, or just learning how to appreciate the natural wonder of a sky unhindered by city lights, there is one lesson we know you’ll take home with you: sidewalks are overrated.
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Fort Laramie Celebrates 175th Anniversary

Fort Laramie National Historic site near Torrington, Wyoming is marking the 175th anniversary of mountain men, Native Americans, and Midwestern U.S. business concerns first meeting along the Platte River in eastern Wyoming to trade goods in 1834. We visit the fort for this feature that includes remarks from park ranger Joe Reasoner (a shirttail relation of newsman Harry) and Scott Walker of Fort Collins, Colorado who has been portraying a “mountaineer” for many years. Fort William was the original name of this location and it was to become the first permanent settlement in what is now the state of Wyoming.

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Wyoming Rocks.

I believe it was a junior high field trip when I was learned about Wormus Perpendicularis – a strange breed of worm that burrowed tunnels up and down, but never side to side. The species quickly died out because they never ran into partners with which to breed. All that remains is their fossilized tracks in the Rocky Mountains. You can see these tracks in mountain passes where the rock has been cut away for roads.

Of course, by high school I had all figured out that these “worm tracks” are actually marks left by construction crews that drilled into the rock to break it away or dynamite it when building the highways. But it got me looking at rocks. And in Wyoming, there are a lot of cool rocks.

The Rocky Mountains were made, in simple terms, when two tectonic plates rammed into each other and buckled upward. You can imagine that this was a rather violent event and there were fissures and wrinkles for hundreds of miles. One such wrinkle is now Vedauwoo (Vee-duh-voo) in southeast Wyoming. This giant slab of granite stuck out of the ground and cracked in thousands of places. Over the years, water and wind have worn the cracked edges and created gigantic pebbles and other oddly shaped boulders.

Well known by climbers, Vedauwoo is also great fun for those who are happy on the ground. The area provides several path options and you can choose exactly how much energy you want to expend. Many paths lead to fun nooks – and yes, crannies – as well as some spectacular views of the plains below. There is also an abundance of wildlife from the golden-mantled ground squirrel (think chipmunk, on steroids) to deer, red-tailed hawk to finches.

Probably the best known rock in Wyoming is Devils Tower. If you want to get your nerd on, Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion – a big chunk of molten rock that broke into the sedimentary rock structure, which has now eroded away leaving only the stump of cooled lava. Scientists are still unsure whether the molten rock broke through to the surface, making it a volcano, or not. Regardless, the result is a big ol’ rock sticking up into the air.

A big rock may not seem like something that would take a long time to view. Maybe you’re thinking you’ll go, you’ll look, and you’ll leave. But this is a really big rock you’ll want to save some time to appreciate. For one thing, it’s a really, really, REALLY big rock. As you’re standing at the base, it’s astounding. And then…what’s that pink speck up there? Did it just move? Why yes, that’s one of the thousands of climbers that come to Wyoming each year to climb.

There’s nothing like a little pink dot of person to make you realize just how huge Devils Tower actually is. It doesn’t take long before you start to root for the climbers as if they are your best friends. And it doesn’t take much longer than that before you start to wonder if you want to sign up for the climb. For many (me), it doesn’t take much longer than THAT to realize they are better off on the ground. For those of us who love being on the ground, the path around Devils Tower is a good hike and it provides absolutely stunning views of the Belle Fourche area below – as well as many angles to look up at the Tower and say, “now THAT is a really big rock.”

Wyoming has another, lesser known igneous intrusion in the southwest corner of the state. But its manufacture is about the only thing Boars Tusk has in common with the Tower. Located in the Red Desert, Boars Tusk rises out of the ground without any trees to mask its stark rise toward the sky. This giant rock stands alone in a sea of sand with only distant buttes breaking up the horizon behind it.

Again, the initial simplicity of the attraction may convince you this is a short trip out to see the rock and then rock on. But, as with many places in Wyoming, a moment of stillness will show you how much “nothing” has to offer. The desert is actually rich with both plants and animals which generally reside close to the ground – a still person will discover numerous reptiles, ground squirrel, ferrets, rabbits, fox and coyote. With small mammals come big birds such as hawks, falcons, and eagles. This is also a prime location for the pronghorn, wild horses and a herd of desert elk.

The great nothingness of this area is part of the attraction. There is no formal path around Boars Tusk because there are no limits. It is open, public land. Wander where you want. Make your own path. And, as you’re blazing your own trail, let the sounds of the Killpecker Sand Dunes become your theme song. The wind in this valley actually whistles as it winds around the buttes and over the dunes. You’ll have to hear it to appreciate how beautiful it is.

There are many more rocks in Wyoming that are worth a visit. There is Hell’s Half Acre at Powder River. There are the fossilized fish near Kemmerer. And, of course, there is the crown jewel of Wyoming stone – the Tetons. It doesn’t matter which region you visit or how far off the path you choose to go, just remember that Wyoming rocks.
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