A Wander Across Wyoming Part 1

raw copper here won't you come join me as we take a drive across Wyoming [Music] welcome to Wyoming about 60 miles from Rock Springs different looking place here one thing nice about it is they're not as much traffic as Utah or Colorado or other places course a lot less people live here it's the least populated state in America what I like about Wyoming is the Big Wide Open Spaces or what's left of them anyway yes a lot of them are being decimated by energy production oil and gas and coal and whatnot at least this area looks fairly natural [Music] every day is an adventure where will the road take me this time stick around fly down didn't take long to get into where the energy exploitation starts to take place open range loose stop will walk a lot of motorcycles out today all right I guess looks like this car ran out of gas in Rock Springs Wyoming about 50 years ago [Music] this car is kind of cool don't you think I wonder if somebody's gonna restore it sometime look at that Dash [Music] what is this car I wonder I bet one of you guys out there definitely knows what this is Kaiser I'm not familiar with that one Rock Springs Wyoming [Music] that one stands out historic district here [Music] that's a big mural and below it you can putt around literally a little mini golf course here that's free to use I played that one it was kind of fun more of the historic district [Music] inside this building is the Historical Museum it's time to rock and roll let's get back on the road okay we're back on the road north of Rock Springs Highway 191 and this is reviewed a wide open spans thank you a little farther north and here's your view again same if you can find a tree out here it might be your best friend almost home stood there hey we're in Eden no I'm serious Eden yeah it's uh the name of the town let's see I told you it was easy does that look like Eden to you somebody's eating see Aiden right there e-d-e-n Eden that's it and it is north of Rock Springs here's your downtown Eden right there now you got the bar Eden does have the Bicentennial Park just in case you don't find the scenery exciting enough and you start to nod off you can always stop here and have a nap not a bad little Park really lots of shade trees and places for kids to play some picnic tables over here here's another look at the bars probably the most happening place in town and here's your other buildings here here in Eden takes just a few seconds here if you don't mind to hit that hit that subscribe button and hit that like button for me all right thank you so much nice little collection of antique pickup trucks right here [Music] and one more right here [Music] foreign [Music] Catholic Church there and there's your Episcopal Church there looks like it would go in and have a quick look yeah come on let's check it out hey you want to ring the bell ding ding ding yeah I don't think we should do that look at that stove right there well this is kind of a nice homey little church you got your piano over there and there's some kind of Oregon Trail Memorial and that's uh I guess depicted in that stained glass right there well look at that it's the Oregon Trail Memorial Church that was built in 1937 the first church in Eden Valley Oregon Trail Memorial welcome Travelers you know that's one of the cool things about just traveling with no specific destination you just never know what you're gonna find or where it's just fun it's all about the journey the people who are in a hurry to get to their destination let them just pass you by and just up the road from Eden is Farson not The Far Side but Farson the Pony Express route came through Farson one of the original stations was here you can get your hair cut pick up your mail get an ice cream and get gas here just got off the main Highway and opened up a gate and went through and they're looking for a camp spot for the evening looks like some Wide Open Spaces out here should be some pretty good Solitude I would say look cool there's some prairie dogs out here you can get a closer look there yep there they are a pair of them hey guys hey poking their heads up looking around checking me out what's up Buddies cool pronghorn antelope running out there it's one of the things I like about Wyoming a lot of wildlife here [Music] because there are a lot less people looks like a good place to camp more prong more [Music] this will be home for the night honey I'm home here's the view from Camp got some nice mountains in the distance there the ground here is dry as an old bone just Dusty everywhere you step this is more of the road that got us here and then you just got a lot of Wide Open Country out here all around the end of the day and the Sun is setting enjoy all the sunsets you can in this life because one day it's going to be the sunset of your life you'll have to ask yourself did you do all you wanted to do in this lifetime live your life get out there and enjoy it while you still can get out into nature travel Live Your Passion live Your Truth live your dreams after all like someone told me who I met while traveling no one ever was on their deathbed and said Gee I wish I had worked more Raise Your Glass to a life well lived well it's not exactly a glass but you get the idea I've done a fair amount of things in life but I've only done about half the things I want to do I still want to go down to Australia I have been to New Zealand twice been to Iceland been up into Northern Canada Alaska yeah I've been basically to the ends of the Earth and a few places in between but I still want to go to Chile in Argentina maybe Scotland Greece possibly Italy or France maybe Mongolia and I wouldn't mind checking out in Namibia even though it's kind of a small world in one sense it's kind of a great big world out there and it's a great place to explore it's wonderfully calm this evening it can be quite windy in Wyoming but it's just amazingly still right now and because there's no wind it's incredibly peaceful out here good morning from the Outback of Wyoming went for a little bike ride this morning and uh down that road to see where it went got about a half mile from a little stream and all sorts of deer flies just started attacking me and they would even attack while I was moving you know I was riding the bike along but I think I kind of won the battle I nailed about eight of them and yeah they got me about three times biting me and uh anyway it's pretty hot already even though it's you know only like 10 30 in the morning probably in the 80s already even though I'm maybe at 8 000 no not eight thousand like six thousand feet elevation possibly um and the wind's starting to pick up a little bit but it's time to get on the road and check out the next place whatever that might be all right let's hit it first little stop of the day and it's a marker commemorating the Oregon Trail where it passed through here I used to live about six miles away from the actual Oregon Trail and you could still see the roots out there don't forget to watch my along the Oregon Trail video this is where a fork in the trail would lead immigrants to either Oregon or Utah in California [Music] they call this portion of the trail The Parting of the ways Wyoming women's suffrage pathway or is it the women's a suffering pathway because good luck ladies if you need a rest area out here the view does change it just takes a while he's passed a sign up far back that says we crossed the Continental Divide getting into a little change of scenery here what is this place let's go check it out just before we get to South pass city is this structure cute sign but I think there's actually more people here than that thing says a lot of Holiday Homes here Wyoming's first Masonic Lodge the structure dates back to the Gold Rush of 1868. it's the Rock House South pass City first developed as a stage and Telegraph station on the Oregon Trail in the 1850s in 1866 gold was discovered in the region Prospectors swarmed in and by the end of 1867 the population swelled to about 2 000 people by the 1870s the population had dwindled to around 100 people and eventually declined more Through The Years buildings slowly deteriorated but the place was never entirely abandoned lured by gold Esther and John Morris arrived in South pass City in 1869 Esther was a supporter of suffrage and when the settlement needed a Justice of the Peace she submitted her name for the position and was appointed by the governor in February of 1870. the first woman to hold public office in the U.S South pass city is considered the birthplace of women's suffrage in 1869 and introduced bill that succeeded made Wyoming the first government in the world to give women the right to vote today most of South pass cities buildings have been restored and it's operated as a state historical site this was the school come to the bar and have a drink [Music] foreign [Music] various displays and various things from the past such as these postcards from 1908 some of them [Music] as well as various pictures of old beside the buildings is everything okay dear yeah I'm fine here's a look at the General Store operated up into the 1960s [Music] how'd you like to have to wash your clothes like that holes above the rooms are to help circulate warm air whose Source came from downstairs [Music] South pass city fell into a state of disrepair for a time but was never a ghost town there was always somebody here there's gold in them in our Hills look into one of the mines [Music] up a hill just beyond South pass City is this big View very expansive View I am liking this no power lines no houses no people is anybody else out there like this kind of thing [Music] a couple of old Graves just outside of South pass City the one on the right 1899 the one on the left 1903. the 1903 grave says died at Atlantic that's a town that was here at one time the 1899 one says born at Tuscarora Nevada it was an old mining town this is grit on the left and King what is it Kingo Kingo guys we're hiking the CDT we started in Mexico we're hiking all the way to Canada it's gonna be 3 000 miles and we're more than halfway there having a great time right Rick heck yeah yeah thank you oh thanks for the corn chips hey no worries thanks for the corn chips delicious you get a real hunger when you're hiking the whole Continental Divide Trail sure do you guys are awesome all right good luck don't forget to subscribe just up the road the Carissa was South pass City's main mine and produced more than fifteen thousand dollars of gold by 1868 and this was solely through hand processing a stamp Mill was constructed and it eventually yielded seven million dollars in gold before diminishing returns sent Prospectors looking elsewhere well South pass city was interesting so we're back on the road now and on to the next thing whatever that may be now we're heading toward Lander a pretty red cliffstone there we're dropping some pretty major elevation now depending on a big downhill here all right we are entering Lander and it looks like it's probably just going to be your basic typical American city with all your chain stores and all that sort of thing yeah there you go McDonald's all your basic chains Pizza Hut all that stuff let's head into the downtown Portland for just a sec [Music] looks like it's got a little bit of historic architecture going on Fold It part of town Pioneer Village right behind the museum in Lander might want to check it out just for fun I can't go in the museum today because it's closed here's a view of the landscape just outside Lander so it looks like I'll be parking for the night at the Lander City Park seems like a pretty cool place met some interesting people here it's really chill and you get to stay for three nights if you want to and it's real convenient to Lander and I'm at a nice archaeologist woman here and some other cool people some rock climbers and uh yeah it's kind of a good crowd here so it seemed pretty relaxed and a good place just to park it for this evening this is the Lawn Care Division of the Lander City Park so there's a whole time here's our long crew right here one of them a quick wild edible moment for you here this is a cattail and I'm showing you Cattails before on other videos how you can pull up a stock and eat the base of it and it's very good now this right here is the actual Cattail part and you can also eat that you can boil it up like corn put butter over it and interestingly enough it actually tastes a little bit like corn and you don't have to worry about it being GMO like so much of the Corn is nowadays see you later Lander [Music] Todd Riverton out on the highway again Life is a Highway heading back out and a big wide open here's hoping we're on the hoods this is the little tiny town of Hudson Wyoming length that's cute looks like we're getting close to Riverton that's the Wind River because casino right there welcome to Native America if you'd like to see more about Native America watch my video called across the Navajo lands let's have a little ramble down the main street in Riverton check it out looks like an old Masonic temple there advertising the slogan the Rendezvous City Riverton was named as such due to Rivers meeting here it's home to about 11 000 people the largest town in Fremont County situated on land seated from the Wind River Indian reservation and was established in 1906 but has long been a Gathering Place for Native Americans and later Mountain Man Rendezvous in the 1830s legendary Trappers and Traders such as Jim Bridger William sublett Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith passed this way Riverton is now the Agricultural and commercial hub of Fremont County producing cattle alfalfa hay and sugar beets check it out a barber shop with the spinning little barber pole there heading off to Shoshone next then up to Thermopolis I spoke with Willie LeClaire who is involved with the Shoshone tribe he is an Indian and he was telling me about how they have a universal sign language because there were so many tribes and they needed a way to communicate with each other and that was sign language and he is trying to preserve that part of their culture and you can see him on some YouTube videos he is a friend of my friend Janine who is in my video of how to heal your soul don't forget to watch that one okay we are leaving Riverton yeah we're heading towards Shoshone and then Thermopolis some of the countryside just a few miles past Riverton agricultural country just a little bit to the north and east up the 26 Highway Willie told me he's known sign language for 85 years he learned it when he was four so he must be about 89. dead skunk in the middle of the road whoa look out all right we have left the Farmland behind and we are back on the Wild Side and that wind is really kicking now we didn't leave all the farm country behind though Campbell's corner that wind is just really ripping through here poison State Park looks like a reservoir here coming up to it yep check it out it's on both sides of the highway all right let's have a look to the right yeah big Reservoir and have a look to the left here's the other side alrighty we're just leaving the Wind River Indian Reservation oh Shoney we are here not much here at Shoshone it doesn't look like although we're not really right into town just yet well Shoshone doesn't look like the center of prosperity let's just put it that way shall we places in business nope I don't think this Desert Inn is in business anymore oh no yeah I think maybe it is okay it is a sign with no sign kind of a cool little Brick House there that house has seen better days might find something cool with that little sail there cool Church Shoshone town hall and it is for sale the Shoshone Visitor Center is also the library now there's an industrious kid he's got a lawnmower and gas and he's peddling his bike carting it behind him gonna make some money mowing lawns out in the Wind that building kind of has a rustic old west look to it right there that's kind of cool right next door to it is the post office all aboard the ghost train just met a local guy he lives about seven miles down this little road here off the main Highway and he stopped and made sure I knew what I was doing because apparently he has rescued people that some of them in his words were almost dead people have run out of gas run out of water run out of a sense of direction completely disoriented and lost so he was he was telling me some stories so this country is to be taken seriously up here and it is kind of a desert here and uh so you got to be careful as he was saying and I told him you know I'm well familiar with these kind of areas and have maps and compass and all that good stuff people rely on their GPS way too much and get into some serious trouble a pronghorns watching me from near that railroad car now don't be getting too ornery I'll have to throw you in the old jail 1907 it was built here's a look inside the old jail see the beds back there there's some good old trucks there huh more trucks some interesting old places in this town like this one where they put some bottles and cans up to make a little display in the window [Music] that looks like a cool car for sale a 32 Chevy coupe some interesting architecture here look up there and check out those Chinese looking heads right above the lion male on one side female head on the other check out this old Volvo [Music] dinelli's House of Wonder I got the stuff man hey man let me in I got the stuff well that's kind of cute a hammerhead shark fashioned out of metal what at First Look appeared to be a decrepit little town on closer inspection turned out to be kind of a cool Glimpse back in time hey check it out a fairly new basketball court and somebody left some basketballs here let's play oh that's not gonna work too well maybe this one's better uh uh maybe not looks like a nice place for a picnic right nice little picnic table right in there for you underneath the shade this house comes with established Landscaping like that tree I like that fire hydrant nice colors check out those fire trucks one old one newer sure the siding's peeling but we can Overlook that antiques well yeah this town might be an antique hey there's our biker kit again we'll say bye to Shoshone once you leave Shoshone the big wild Open Country too once again there was a cap at the end of Shoshone looked like he was chomping at the pit to give somebody a ticket for seating you in a hurry to get to a pretty little town but she don't like our town enough to slow down and have a look Hit the Road Jack don't you come back no oh what'd you say next stop Irma police there's some Pronghorn just off the highway [Applause] [Music] monetta that is the town of monetta there looks more like just a road crew yard or something I guess we're gonna turn off and go to lie site take some back roads here we go 176 County Road eight miles to lysite looks like some pretty lonely country out here kind of stuff that guy was talking about poison gas area that doesn't sound too inviting some interesting looking Hills out there kind of prehistoric looking stuff like where you might find fossils starting to look real industrial around here and there's kind of a funky scent in the air like methane or something maybe from the burn off of the oil pumps starting to look more industrial by the mile there's some baby prong worn up there with the mothers and then there's the father prong horn probably right there my sight right up ahead looks quite industrial we'll see what this thing is JB Okie 1916. there's some old stuff around here I wonder if this guy was related to okie dokie all aboard the express the bus is leaving and you better be on it we have arrived in lysite and that is the lysite store and post office right over there I stand corrected it was the storm post office that's what's inside of it now looks like this place hasn't been used for about 50 years okay maybe only 20 years what's that strange Tower above that truck is that part of the poison gas alert system well there you go the LIE site Library I wonder if they have Wi-Fi here uh no they don't have anything here this place is on permanent lockdown wow there's a store here a corner store you got to be kidding me okay there's a sign there that they turn on when it's open but uh I don't think this place is really open anymore uh there was those goods on the shelves they look kind of sun faded I have to say I don't think anybody's opened this door up in a long time another Telltale sign that this place hasn't been used for a while get a home in life site and have a nice quiet little place amongst the oil tanks looks like this was the school I wonder if any kids still go here I don't think any kids still go here not girls not boys not no one [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well apparently you can reserve the building Dead End Road yeah I think this town is on a dead end Road well that was interesting I think lysite might be a town headed off into the sunset the crossroads of bad water Road and lysite Creek Community Rec Center everything here seems a little overstated somehow [Music] [Music] let's head up liesight Creek Road it seems to be going the right direction I think I see a little Lake let's turn on in here and have a look does look like a lake this might make a good place to park for the night let's have a look around well this is kind of nice even got a mama duck with her little ducklings there's enough wind here that it should keep the mosquitoes down what are those birds at the other end of the lake this will work home for the night whoa they're actually Pelicans they just flew over my head I think these industrial energy sites out here are actually bigger than the town of lysite I'm going to make a wild prediction here my prediction is that tourism is probably not going to take off in lysite anytime soon I know sounds crazy call me crazy I parked just a couple miles up from the town of lysite it's a windy morning but it's clear and sunny so there's lysite right there and if all goes well we'll take this road up here and then we'll come on over to Thermopolis there going along these back dirt roads here all right we'll say goodbye to the lake and the next stop is thermop if all goes well looks like we're getting into some oil and gas Fields here and that pipe up there looks like maybe that's a methane burning pipe maybe that's why these areas kind of have that smell of ethane or burnt methane town of Duchesne in Utah it's Shoshone Wyoming both had that methane scented waft going on one thing about Wyoming is you think you're going to be getting way out in the back country and just out of the Wilderness but instead you just see a lot of oil and gas exploitation going on you see a lot of industrialization I have a little baby pronghorn out there there they go fast even at that age and there's a wind suck up there so you can gauge which way the wind is blowing so you can prepare for your doom or try to escape it this poison gas thing is no joke I met a man who had to wait because the light was red and he was there with his wife they waited for over an hour for the light to go off and his wife was getting pretty impatient and wanted to go on but he didn't and it was lucky he didn't because when they did go in there he said there were about a hundred cattle lying on their backs with their feet in the air dead what he told me was that hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic gas at first you smell kind of a rotten egg scent and then your sense of smell goes away and then you just black out and die somebody's got a ranch way out here I wasn't expecting that that fits the definition of remote more prong horn keep your eyes open and you will definitely see him out here looks like this part is not very well traveled slender dirt road going through the landscape remember what I was saying about if things go well well maybe it's not going so well I see a sign for Dead End Road here but on the map I took what it looked to be would you take this road well just for the heck of it we'll see where it goes there's some old cabins out there I'm seeing something up ahead it could be an active ranch or it could be just a coast Ranch that was once active and I guess we'll have a look some old trucks been sitting there a while I guess look at that old railroad car how long has it been sitting there I wonder some old shed or something there a hay rake from the past I see a house it looks like somebody may actually live out here I thought the other place was remote but this place Takes the Cake hard to say if anybody's living here I'll have a look [Music] good foreign [Music] body lives here permanently but I do think that some people use the place on occasion but there's no evidence of anybody being around you right now a couple of sheep herders huts let's have a look in here pretty basic accommodations these uh little sheepburgers huts a little bucket right there Mrs Butterworth syrup and look at the little kitchen right here that's kind of interesting yeah someone's still got their towels hanging up to dry probably been up there drying for 20 years that ought to tell a story in May 1983. so this place probably hasn't been used for a long time 1984 right there nice little stove let's have a look at this cabin it looks historic foreign not much in here but uh looks like some pretty old stuff look at that old tennis racket or what's left of it anyway wow that's an old radio probably from the 19 hmm what do you think 30s maybe 40s that's quite old what's left of some saddles and riding gear [Music] look at that lipton's tea can that looks totally antique and on the bottom Lipton tea planter Ceylon says standard white mineral oil another old can well that dead end sign wasn't kidding so let's get back in the car and head on out of here it's funny how a wrong turn can take you to a trip back in time look at those little baby prong horn there [Music] wow look at him run [Music] we're following this guy from High Plains power I asked him I saw him on the road I just asked him hey what's the road that kind of goes north and then hooks over to Thermopolis he said follow me I'll show you it can get real confusing out here because you've got all these roads that go to Every well and pipeline so we're back on the bad water Road the one we saw last night and it's heading west but my map showed a road heading north so I don't know okay we're on the correct road now and he told me how to you know how this road goes and what to look for and where the turn is so should be okay as I said before Life is a Highway and that Highway leads to Adventure and it's always an adventure on Rockhopper Adventures going through some hills [Music] as I was sitting here pondering if this was the road because he said Buffalo Creek or some such Road uh he actually came back found me and uh confirmed that this was the road we may not be on the yellow brick road but we are on the Red Road and this should drop us very close to south of Thermopolis this is a mighty Dusty Road see the dust in the side view mirror well somebody lives out here huh see you again hey man how's it going good hey just letting you know they uh closed the road up ahead so you're uh you're gonna have to spend another 40 50 miles to get around so 40 or 50 miles yeah oh my gosh now yeah now they okay I caught you the sign blew over you could have drove another 10 miles to run into the hole in the road oh no well I'm glad uh I'm glad I caught you I saw you again yeah okay well I guess it's back down the road and then up to the next Road up and over huh yeah good luck on your adventures hey man thanks all right we'll catch you later well that's not good news now is it so all right we'll turn this puppy around and uh head back and find another way such is life and it's all part of the adventure right I never said I'll be back but here we are so we'll go down this way and look for another route up and over the mountains here you know good thing I have plenty of gas or well I have a half a tank now but uh you know that's why they tell you in the desert and in these remote places have a full tank or so because you never know what might happen just like today another lonely Ranch way out there Moon move over move over get out of the way oh go hit it move no move go on get out of here I went down that road just a little bit but it looks like it just goes to a ranch so we're off to go this away see where that takes us time to open the gate look at those old car bodies right there sitting resting away all right I'm at the Bloomquist Ranch I don't know if this goes through or what but well see what's going on here maybe I'll find somebody here okay here's what I'm thinking I'm thinking that I've got to go back to Kirby Creek Road because I don't think this is going anywhere but I'm not sure okay so it does go somewhere but I don't think this road gets much travel so I think it's time to go back to Kirby Creek Road yeah I think this road pretty much ends it does keep going but pretty much ends here so we'll go back here's another Road and I think that's our only choice so let's go up and over that one and I'm pretty sure that's got to take us wherever we need to get plugging in the GPS and trusting it was a bad idea because it led me to that ranch it made it look like it would take me to a paved Road and then I could just swing over but uh yeah it just led me to a basically to a ranch that pretty much yeah Pronghorn on the road there they go see you guys later I guess we're heading toward Thermopolis seems to be the only road so [Music] um open not much road maintenance here I am seeing a lot of Wide Open Country this route but uh most spectacular looking it's all right I guess you know the proud one is cool to see and watch them run all right looks like we've hit another road so I think we've got to take a left here pavement yep we are on pavement although it's really not much smoother than the gravel to be honest with you it's pretty bouncy road damage sounds like what happens to you if you get into the wrong relationship we're entering Thermopolis so let's take a left here and go into Hot Springs State Park [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hot Springs State Park we are here [Music] it was a long hop but we made thermop and it's hot spring time the hot springs are free 20 minutes Hot Springs State Park pretty sweet deal this pool has schools of colorful fish look at these guys [Applause] come here no okay one of the source pools this is called the teepee fountain TP Fountain is a man-made structure to redistribute hot water by constructing a pipe surrounded by bricks formed in the shape of a teepee what you see today is a buildup of travertine deposits that have glommed on and created a mound of minerals as you're wandering around Wyoming wander along the swing Bridge here at Hot Springs State Park [Music] the more ounce The More Bounce and check out the view of the Bighorn River thank you go here it's free if you don't mind spending some money to soak you can go to the teepee pool or head to the star plunge here at the hot springs you can also view Buffalo look at that big boy right there [Music] this is called White Sulfur Spring and it flows right down into the river now look at downtown Thermopolis [Music] [Music] look closely at the way those bricks are patterned do you see anything in there [Music] nice post office Courthouse friendly locals who aren't shy about stating their preferences coming up in a wander across Wyoming part two we head toward the Montana line getting a touch of Badlands before we head into the mountains to find forests and waterfalls wildlife and wildflowers a stunning Canyon and what might be my most amazing find yet of antique artifacts in a forgotten ranch house I hope you enjoyed wandering through Wyoming with me don't forget to give me a like on the video share and subscribe until next time this is the rock hopper I'll see ya [Music]