Casper to Little America

Been out in the wild west.  Following the Oregon Trail in Wyoming (and later Idaho). These are photos from Day 2 for us. It would have taken the pioneers who walked this 2,000 mile trail months to get to these places. In order are Split Rock, Devil's Gate (the larger gap), Independence Rock - they needed to reach here by the Fourth of July to have a hope of escaping winter snows on the final leg of their journey.

Our first dinner on the road- was a WINNER- the excellent Silver Fox Steakhouse in Casper Wyoming 

The next morning we had breakfast at the Hat6 Truck stop where you could browse boot selections outside the ladies room LOL

We headed to the first of many optional Interpretive Centers along the Oregon Trail.  Because the trail diverges ahead into the California Trail- the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, this one in Casper WY  covered all three of the streams of the westward migration-

We then took to the road- following along the route the pioneers did - seeing nothing but open space for literally hours and in three hours we saw not one other car---- 

saw lots of pronghorns along this route - boy can they leap fences in a single bound!

pioneers needed to get from Independence, MO - the starting point in late April or early May - to Indepence Rock by the 4th of July in order to have a hope of getting through the mountains before snowfall made the route impassable.....

They used landmarks like Devil's Gate and Split Rock for navigating 

above and below Devil's Gate:

Mormon handcarts - while most pioneers used the classic conestoga- with oxen or horses or mules, the Mormons used handcarts and hauled their own goods 300 to 500 pounds by human power.  While this practice was encouraged by Joseph Smith in the early years- after a number of deaths (presumably from exhaustion) he issued an edict that this was no longer an alternative- and folks were encouraged to use wagons hauled by draft animals. 

Split Rock

Lunch in Lander - a cute small town along the way or at least not too far off the route we were taking...

then after lunch - back on our own designed route- 

 

sunset as we arrived in Little America for the night.