By Sagebrush Sven (interpreted by Jim Hicks)
This past week Sven had the opportunity to take some friends from South Dakota on a little mountain tour. They had driven over our Bighorn Mountains in past years, but never had the opportunity to see much of the area.
As we headed up Crazy Woman Canyon, Wes and Cathy were amazed at the rugged natural beauty of the stream and rock formations.
It seemed nearly every possible camping site in the canyon was being used. This makes us wonder how people get some of those larger campers into those spots.
After the compulsory photos by the elevation sign at Powder River Pass, we doubled back to Sheep Mountain Lookout.
A summer rain shower hit as we climbed toward the lookout, and turned to hail as soon as we reached the end of the road.
As usual, a 15-minute wait was all it took for the sun to come back out and the vistas to re-appear as the clouds rolled southeast.
Noticed a “dirt bike” parked with no rider in sight. When the hail stopped he emerged from the outhouse. It might have been a long wait in there unless someone had left a magazine.He seemed glad to get going in that clear fresh air again.
Although the lookout can be rented out by those seeking adventure, it was empty the day we visited. Again, it appeared every possible camping spot along that road was filled.
The next stop was Tiehack Reservoir where nearly a dozen people were fishing from the dam. It was hard to estimate how many people were using the camping and picnic spots, but it’s obvious this has become one of the most popular recreation areas on the Bighorn National Forest.
It was interesting to see the City of Buffalo is drawing considerable water from the reservoir right now. And it will refill next spring with ample water tumbling down over the spillway.
The little tour proved once again we often forget how fortunate we are to live at the foot of the Bighorns. Even with a proliferation of camper trailers on the mountain, our guests kept talking about the vast expanse of scenery.
Every once in a while, it’s a good idea to get an “out-of-town opinion.” And the day was a great reminder of a major blessing we take for granted too often.
In other news, the 2020 Johnson County Fair and Rodeo is now in the history books, and considering concerns about Covid-19, fire danger, hot weather and a few other things . . . it was a great one again.
The Saturday morning parade may not have drawn as big a crowd as in the past, but over 50 entries made it a good one.
One of the Bench Sitters said he was a little late that morning, and coming west on Hart Street he noticed all the tourists were being diverted north on Lobban Ave.
He was following two out-of-state cars and wondered what the conversations might have been as they traffic moved north at about 3 miles per hour. Just out of interest he kept following the two cars.
When they finally ended up on the truck-bypass at the north end of town, he said it was easy to tell they were completely lost.
Interesting traffic plan, and a lot like navigating an endless circular series of security instructions on an internet site.
That’s about all this week except the observance on one of the older members of the Bench Sitters group.
As he struggled to get up out of his chair he said, “A horse gets up with his front feet first, a cow gets up with its hind feet first, and elephant can use all four to rise . . . and I need both legs, two arms and . . . give me a hand will you?”
Hope you are bouncing out of your chair these days. Stay cool and we’ll drop a line again next week.
