Going west from Buffalo Wyoming early Sunday morning on US route 16, there were more cattle on the road then cars.  Cattle were being moved to their summer pasture in the mountains

Here we stopped to view the Cloud Peak Wilderness  mountains to the north.  Some are over 13,000 feet high

 Power River Pass 9,685 feet.  Looking west.  The wood snow fence may have been 8 feet high.

At Power River Pass, looking north

flowers at Power River Pass

A boat on Meadowlark Lake.  Here there are cabins, a campground, boat launch, and in the winter, skiing.

Part way down the west side of the Big Horns, US route 16 follows  Ten Sleep Creek, barely visible in this picture

More wild flowers near Ten Sleep Creek

Further down on the west side, we leave the trees behind.  The area gets less rain and has more rocks.

US 16 with its gentle curves, is an easy road to drive across the mountains. Looking south into Ten Sleep Canyon

In Ten Sleep canyon, looking east, US 16 is the brown line on the left, Ten Sleep Creek is in the center flowing west, and a dirt road is on the right

Area around the town of Ten Sleep is dependent on water from the creeks and the Nowood river to raise hay

A beautiful drive north of Ten Sleep following the Nowood River. Red Rock cliffs in the distance

Near Hyattville, is Medicine Lodge State Archaeological site. This sandstone cliff displays hundreds of petroglyphs and pictographs dating back more than 10,000 years

There is a campground here, and trails for horseback riding and hiking. A lovely, peaceful place along the Medicine Lodge Creek

Many of the local roads are named for the creek that the road follows. This is the one lane wide Crazy Woman Creek road.  The road starts high in the mountains off of route 16, and goes east through scenic Crazy Woman Canyon and ends up on the plains south of Buffalo.  Traffic going up has the right-a-way. Nothing bigger than a pickup truck can take this road.  Due to a thunder storm and heavy rain, I missed taking pictures of how narrow the canyon is, and how tight the turns are

The fast moving creek can barely be seen through the trees

The historical Occidental Hotel on Main Street, Buffalo Wyoming

The Busy Bee Cafe, featured in Craig Johnson's Longmire books, does exist. That's Steve sitting on a bench in front.  Up the hill is the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum which displays many interesting items from the 1800s

The sign on the lamp post says "Longmire Country"

Crazy Woman Square

The buildings surrounding Crazy Woman Square

Buffalo has a walking/bike riding trail following Clear Creek through the town and west into the mountains.

We walked the lovely trail for several miles

This bush had pretty flowers but covered with sharp star-shaped thorns

Paradise Ranch west of Buffalo, in the mountains, where we went horse back riding

Northeast of Buffalo is the Ucross Foundation. A 20,000 acre cattle ranch supports artists in residence and has artwork on display. It is a beautiful quiet setting where two creeks join the larger Clear Creek

This land east of the mountains does not get a lot of rain. The only green areas are near the creeks and where the land has been irrigated.

Watering a hay field

The driveway going back to a ranch house near Buffalo

French Creek with houses in the distance, looking northeast

Looking west towards the Big Horn mountains north of  Buffalo. The white in the center, is water from French Creek being sprayed on the hay field

We took route 335 from Big Horn until it ended in the mountains, or rather changed to a one lane dirt road

The men in the truck had just unloaded a jeep and camping gear, apparently planning to take the dirt road, visible as the brown line going up the mountain

Looking northeast.  Cattle grazing.  Even with the clouds, one could see a long ways

The back of the Brinton ranch house