The middle of August is always a busy and crazy time for me. I start my summer with a huge list of things to get done, so I feel rushed to check off as many things as I possibly can. This year, I am changing schools, though happily not grade levels, so I have been working in my new room, getting it set and decorated just right for my new class of fifth graders. My husband and I woke up last Saturday and decided that we needed a little time in the mountains. We cleaned and stocked the trailer, loaded the four-wheelers, and were leaving the house my 3 o’clock.
When we drove out of the driveway, we weren’t even sure where we were heading, knowing only that the mountains were beckoning and that we needed peace and quiet. We ended up in the Sierra Madres, up the mountain from Encampment, Wyoming, at a camp spot in the forest at the base of Bridger Peak. We arrived about an hour before sunset, so we hurried to set up camp and unloaded the four-wheelers. We tied the heavy coats on the machines and headed up. The road to Bridger Peak is pretty rough. It is about 3 miles of a two-track path full of rocks and wash-outs. A pickup truck can make it, but it’s much more fun on the four-wheelers.
I got to do something I have thought about many times, We sat on top of Bridger Peak, elevation 11,004 feet, and watched the sunset!
Just sitting on the top of Bridger to watch the sun set was worth the whole trip. Karl and I sat on the top of the world and listened to the wind sighing in the trees below. The sheepherder’s wagon was in a draw to the north and we could see the dust of the sheep in a clearing far below us. With all the recent and active forest fires in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the sun set itself into a haze of first pick and then finally into a blaze of bright red.
Sunsets are such a gift. Thanks, God!
The next day we headed out for a long drive through the mountains. We did a big loop on ATV trails that took us a total of 48 miles through the most beautiful country there is. Part of the time the ATV road is also the Continental Divide hiking trail. We ate lunch in a meadow filled with ferns, listening to the squirrels chatter, the occasional knock-knock of a woodpecker, and the rough disruption of a crow. Fall is coming early in the high mountains, and some aspens had just begun to be tinged with yellow, a certain leavy grass was bright red, and the air had a definite bite to it.
We spent some time by the Haggarty Creek and enjoyed ourselves resting in Dillon.
This is downtown Dillon, Wyoming.
It was especially fun to find myself in Dillon knowing that Mountain Time had just been released in ebook format and would be available in book form within a few days.
