Devil's Tower Wyoming....

Our last stop in Wyoming, which has been an object of great fascination for me since childhood, is Devils Tower, standing in the north east corner of Wyoming, about 25 miles south of the Montana border.  Devil's Tower is an anomalistic monolith standing alone in the middle of nowhere which had been an object of spiritual and existential importance for millenia before we "Americans" invaded and appropriated it for our own and turned it into a National Park to be gawked at, climbed on, photographed, and added to the circus of natural wonders that are our National Park system.  A delicate trade off is the knowledge that without the government protection that comes at a price, the area it would have been otherwise desecrated by corporate interests in whatever manner was dictated by the times, clear cut logging, coal mines, oil exploration or maybe the most recent insult to our ecosystem, fracking.  So all in all, a few acres of parking lots, paved hiking trails, and a ranger station seem pretty benign.  Never thought I would get here, but after a few days of crossing the northern third of Wyoming, west to east, passing through Casper and spending two nights at the Higgin's Hotel in Glenrock, all of which I have no photo documentation for, we found our way to Devil's Tower.

                                                Photo by Jackie

We had been there for a few hours hiking and gawking and marveling when we noticed the sun was beginning to set.  Jackie remembered a place with a great photo vantage point and recommended we get there quickly, which turned out to be a great idea because by the time we got there, she took this absolutely perfect picture within 2 minutes of the sun falling below the tree line and the landscape going flat, just like that.  Reminds me of the story Ansel Adams tells about his iconic photo of Moonrise at Hernandez.  He was riding down the road, saw it, jammed on the breaks, set the camera up on the roof of his woody, got in one shot all in a matter of moments,  and then the last bit of sunlight on the village faded away, and the opportunity for another shot was gone, but he got it.  Cartier Bresson's idea of the decisive moment applies not only to people.  In this day and age of photoshop where anything and everything is possible image wise, it was amusing to find Ansel Adams feeling indignant about having to defend himself both to others and in in his autobiography regarding the Moonrise shot, stating emphatically that it was not a double exposure or the product of two negatives sandwiched together as some people wanted to think.

Our work done here, we headed into the nearest town, Hulett, Wyoming...

 had dinner, and spent the night there.  Only a few miles from Devils Tower, Hulett makes its living catering to the pilgrims and turned out to be a faux wild west recreation of someone's idea of a frontier town guaranteed to excite 8 year old boys.  Had dinner at the Ponderosa Cafe and Saloon

which everyone assured us was great because the owner/chef was from New Jersey.  Guess they had been watching a bit too much Jersey Shore or something, because much like the faux facade, the food was as good as it needed to be for hungry people passing through who would never be back, or locals with no where else to go.  But given the limited choices by the time we hit town, like one, it was take it or leave it so all in all, we did ok, and maybe it was pretty good after all..  

The rest of the town looked about the same...

                            

as I said, a western town guaranteed to excite 8 year olds.  The faded brown building to the left is the shop/gallery of Bob Coronato, a remarkably talented artist who would make a visit to Hulett worthwhile even if there was nothing else around.  Google his name.  We spent a nice night, and after picking up some breakfast items and provisions at the town grocery store on Monday, August 26th, we were ready to move on.

Didn't even need to consult the map to find our way to Montana.  The first sign we saw heading out pointed us north...

I included the last sign because there are hundreds of them in Wyoming and Montana, and they are to be taken very seriously.   There are literally thousands of miles of highway in these states that pass through completely uninhabited areas, and counties and townships with quite limited manpower and resources to deal with the winter.  When it snows out there, it can take days or even weeks to clear these endless highways to nowhere and cell service can be sporadic at best, and frequently non-existant.  Leaving town when the lights are flashing would be truly deadly!!!!  Don't do it.    

                                                                       Pablo

         

Lander Wyoming

Lander is a wonderful small town at the confluence of Highways 287 and 789 kind of midway between Jackson and Casper Wyoming, a city Jackie has been wanting to see,  but we were beat and decided to spend the night in Lander along the way, a really good choice.

This is the view from the rise in the highway leading into town.  There is not much behind me, and the vast forbidding mountainous wilderness ahead.  Not so long ago this was all there was for 50 miles in any direction and getting anywhere took courage and strength.  Lucky for us there was a good Mexican restaurant in town, and no shortage of bars.  The one below was also a micro-brewery to the left and the little wooden attached structure to the right was an ice cream stand.  What more could you ask for.

Why there's someone ordering a scoop right now.  Before we left town, we stopped in the Lander Art Center and saw the well seen paintings of someone who seemed to understand the emptiness that surrounds this place.

Loved the paintings, bought the poster, had some coffee and left town traveling east toward Casper.  I know I didn't take enough pictures of Lander, but I guess when you are just passing through, its just what catches your eye, and I did walk through town and that's all I saw (on the sunny side of the street anyway). 

As we left town, we passed through the suburbs...

and a few miles further down the road, a book seller who realizes that if you are going to make it out here, you have to diversify!!!

Don't even ask.  I showed this photo to a friend who loved it and asked about the person running the shop.  I felt badly that I had no idea.  I was so thrilled with the photo, and we did need to move on, that I never even thought of checking it out.  And I am a person who haunts used book stores.  

                                                                          Pablo