Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “Vedauwoo”

21 Sep 2015
7 Comments

Last Days at Vedauwoo

This is a hundred yards of so further down my front yard. Odd shapes on that right one.

This is a hundred yards of so further down my front yard. Odd shapes on that right one.

Well, I haven’t seen hardly any of what I’ve planned to, so the struggle begins for whether to delay my departure awhile. Thing is, if I leave, I’ll have all the more reason to return to “the same old campground year after year” to try to grab another tiny fraction of all there is here. It ain’t just rocks. That’s just what I’m fascinated by on this trip. So, here are a few more snaps of nearby areas, just as I snuck up on them during walks. If you want better, you’ll have to get ’em yourself – something I most highly recommend! Like a few other areas I’ve been to, this place feels like “home”.

Hard to see, but there's deer peering at me in the bushes at center.

Hard to see, but there’s deer peering at me in the bushes at center.

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Posted in Campsites and tagged
08 Sep 2015
25 Comments

Picky Pioneering

You don't see too many of these. These were on the leg from Pine Bluff to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

You don’t see too many of these. These were on the leg from Pine Bluff to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Today was a short jaunt that turned otherwise, but in the end, I’m all set up in camp at Vedauwoo in the Medicine Bow National Forest, solar panels out and everything humming along. The cell data signal at my location is on-again-off-again at two out of five stars – and that’s with the amplifier –  but it works most of the time.

The day began with a drive to a Walmart in Cheyenne, made more interesting by having an incorrect address on their website. But, I made it there after some steering wheel gyrations and stocked up on fresh produce, eggs, bacon and so on. From there I keyed in the GPS coordinates generously volunteered by Flybiker. The impressive 3,000′ climb during the entire trip, plus a headwind, knocked the fuel display down to 8.0 MPG. Now I know what the title for the film High Plains Drifter refers to. There was a warning sign that the “Happy Jack Bridge” was out of commission until the 18th, but where was that? That was the exit I wanted, but where was this bridge?

Once I made it there, I found out that the bridge was the connector over I-80, and its sudden absence eliminated any chance of heading back east toward Vedauwoo. Oh well. What a great, wide trail! I was impressed that the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, The Enterprise and tagged ,
06 Aug 2014
2 Comments

Vedauwoo Recreational Area

The Defiant, in her secret lair.

The Defiant, in her secret lair.

Another double-length drive through Nebraska got me to the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming, at sunset. To boondock there, you go past the entrance for the Vedauwoo Recreational Area, which is a very nice paved campground and picnic area, with walking paths right up to some of the finest climbing cliffs I’ve ever seen. The day use area costs $5/day, and camping (without any hookups) is $10/night. I’m not dead sure any of the spaces will fit the Defiant, but there is some accommodation for larger rigs.

After a tour down several miles of the worst washboard gravel road I’ve seen to date, I managed to find a spot to turn around, and wound up pulling into the same area I stayed at last year, but in a position that would limit exposure to mud if the weather turned bad, as had been forecast. It was dark by that time, and quite late, so the evening celebrations were curtailed a bit.

This is hardpack, and with a stiffly-suspended vehicle, it's time to rock and roll. A normal one can skate over this at 30 MPH or so, but the result of doing that with the F-250 and trailer is not so good, at least at tire pressures that will handle the weight.

This is hardpack, and with a stiffly-suspended vehicle, it’s time to rock and roll. A normal car/truck can skate over this at 30 MPH or so, but the result of doing that with the F-250 and trailer is not so good, at least at tire pressures that will handle the weight. A few miles of this at 1/2 MPH makes the paved fee campsite pretty appealing.

Breaking out the solar panels the next morning on a whim, I hoped to stay 3 nights before moving on – a choice that requires solar power unless I want to live Spartan. I popped the Evelo Aurora off its rack after Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista!, Travelin' Man and tagged , , , ,

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