Wind River Hiking

We made a quick overnight turnaround back from Lander, Wyoming to Colorado. Still, it was important to get a breath of the Wind River Mountains before returning home, so yesterday morning we hiked up to Popo Agie falls up at the end of Sinks Canyon. It’s only about a mile and half to the falls, so once there we spent some time exploring the different plunge pools and cascades. It’s quite a place, kind of a mini natural-wonder. This time of June is still somewhat of an off-season so we pretty much had the area to ourselves — at least after we held back and let a horsepack string get ahead of us. A Wind River hit and run; not as good as a week-long wilderness trek but it’ll have to do for now.

One of Popo Agie Fall’s many cascades.

The drive back to Colorado follows mostly 2-lane roads for about 5 hours down to the energy boom area of Rifle. I’ve gotten used to all the industrial traffic, but it sometimes is extra amusing. When we get stuck behind a wide load of gas drilling equipment, I try to think of how nicely natural gas heats our home, sit back, and wait for a safe place to pass.

This guy was truly a barrel of laughs. While blasting through an area of road construction, his jumbo load was plowing marker pylons off the shoulder like some sort of video game eye candy. I’ve always wanted to mow down a few of those things myself, and never had the guts (even if I do have the bumper for the job). It was hilarious seeing the trash can sized pylons fly through the air and bounce down the road bank. Boing boing… But I felt kind of bad for the highway workers that would be hiking around retrieving the pylons — I guess their job is energy boom related as well…