One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"If you have any moving needs coming up, these guys are having a sale..."}]

One more for 2 11 24

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>One More For The Road: Sunday, February 11, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

If you have any moving needs coming up, these guys are having a sale...

One More For The Road: Sunday, February 11, 2024

 If you have any moving needs coming up, these guys are having a sale...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Outdoors

Public Lands

Up until this past May, much of Hell’s Half Acre had been fenced off behind “No Trespassing” signs for roughly two decades, doing little to take advantage of an attraction that is so alien and surreal it once was the scene of another planet in the cult classic 1997 science fiction film “Starship Troopers.”

, which added a new viewing platform, boardwalk, and other improvements, county geolocation data for May and June show visitation running about 30% higher than before the upgrades. 

The facelift helped set the stage for what Visit Casper says is a first — 

 in National Geographic magazine touting the city and it’s nearby alien landscape as a vacation destination. 

The feature story highlighted the 320-acre badlands as an intriguing travel stop on the way to Yellowstone, then went on to describe Casper as a convenient overnight or weekend base for adventure. 

Independence Rock, Casper Mountain, and the area’s blue-ribbon fishery were among activities highlighted in the article.

It’s another notch in the tourism belt for Casper, which has been working hard to position the city as more than just a quick fuel-and-food stop on the way to Yellowstone. 

“Boy, they really packed it all in,” Visit Casper CEO Annette Pitts told Cowboy State Daily after hearing what was in the story. “We had a lot of conversations, but I did not expect they’d actually include all of it. 

"That’s fantastic. This is a real win, and we’re thrilled.”

Casper’s Growing List Of Travel Accolades

National Geographic’s article is not the first time in recent history that Casper has earned unexpected travel accolades. 

 as a “breathtaking Western region” over pricey Jackson Hole. Other cities making that short list were Colorado, Branson in Missouri, and Greater Palm Springs in California.

The article cast Casper as an “authentic Western experience minus the crowds of Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park” with activities like hiking, kayaking and fly-fishing in a stunning mountain landscape.

While Casper doesn’t try to portray itself as another Jackson Hole, nor as an alternative destination, Pitts said she believes Casper has a lot to offer vacationing tourists seeking an affordable alternative in the Cowboy State.

“There are a lot of incredible things to do in the Casper area,” she said. “Hell’s Half Acre really should be part of an overall itinerary. It’s incredible. You can drive out there, have a picnic, and enjoy time with family or friends. 

"I definitely encourage that. But you don’t want to drive for just one thing. You want to have a nice, rounded experience.”

The stories by Good Housekeeping and National Geographic aren't accidents, Visit Casper’s Tia Troy told Cowboy State Daily. She has been actively pitching ideas to national media, trying to get people to look beyond Jackson Hole.

Hell’s Half Acre is an Eocene-age Wind River Formation shaped over millions of years into hoodoos, gullies, and sheer cliffs. 

Fossils of early horses, primates, and other mammals have helped tell a story of a once subtropical Wyoming with trees and crocodiles.

The site was part of a 960-acre tract of land donated to Natrona County from the federal government in 1942. About 320 acres of the site are an exposed Wind River Formation with deep ravines, caves, and wind-shaped earth and rock.

That badlands appearance is what attracted Starship Troopers to choose it as t

he set for the fictional alien world Klendathu

But the area was attracting human attention long before that. Archeological evidence suggests indigenous peoples were using the rim at the site as a buffalo jump and hunting ground dating back thousands of years.

Europeans who settled the area called it various things, like Devil’s Kitchen, the Pits of Hades, and the Baby Grand Canyon. 

Legend has it that a cowhand showed up one day and, looking at the alkali and bogs and rough badlands terrain before him, declared that he had just found Hell’s Half Acre. 

It’s not the only legend about how the place got its name. Another says that the name was a mistake in an advertising campaign to bring more tourists to the roadside attraction.

Thousands of postcards were ordered with “Devil’s Kitchen” on them, but when the postcards arrived, they instead said “Hell’s Half Acre.”

With limited funding available for the effort, the group decided to keep the postcards, and the name stuck.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Future Geotourism Hub"}]

Once upon a time, Hell’s Half Acre brought upwards of $4 million to the Natrona County area from tourism.

With the popularity of film trails, it’s thought the area could once again drive significant tourism revenue to Natrona County. 

Visit Casper’s film liaison Kelly Eastes has told Cowboy State Daily the site has already been added to various apps that help road trippers find film locations.

There’s also talk of creating geotourism opportunities, including guided tours to the bottom of Hell’s Half Acre.

The site with its soft mudstones and silt built up over millions of years is ever-changing. Wind and rain and time are forever shaving away the surface sculpting things anew.

Existing caves and pinnacles thus disappear in time and then new features are revealed — an endlessly fascinating world that never runs out of new secrets and stories to tell.

Hells Half Acre via Alamy

<title>National Geographic Profiles Wyoming’s Famous Hell’s Half Acre | Cowboy State Daily</title>

National Geographic has raised the profile of Wyoming’s famous Hell’s Half Acre by featuring the alien landscape in its latest issue. It comes at a time when much of Hell’s Half Acre that had been inaccessible to the public for roughly 20 years is open again.

National Geographic Profiles Wyoming’s Famous Hell’s Half Acre

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

CODY — Chloe ODonnell, 7, almost had no one to celebrate her birthday with her when 15 invitees to her party canceled. 

With one message, Cody rallied last weekend to ensure the little girl and her family knew the community has their backs.

After all the invited guests canceled, Chloe’s mother Melanie turned to Facebook to see if anyone would be willing to swing by and celebrate with them. 

 150 people reached out within 15 minutes.

“We just wanted her to feel like she had a group of people there to have fun with her,” Melanie told Cowboy State Daily. “It blew me away that so many people just showed up or wished her a happy birthday. They made Chloe feel so loved.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"None Of 15 Invitees Came"}]

 birthday party in Cody’s Mentock Park. Around 15 people, mostly new friends in the neighborhood, had been invited.

When Sunday turned into the hottest day of the summer, with temperatures in Cody over 100 degrees, the party was relocated to Millstone Pizza Company & Brewery.

That’s when the cancellations started coming in. Everything from heat-related concerns to, in one case, a death in the family.

“When the last kid finally said that they weren't coming, we had already set up at Millstone,” Melanie said. “Our decorations were out, I’d bought this big cake, and we were all sitting in the downstairs arcade center by ourselves.”

Melanie and her four kids are new to Cody, having moved there in January. They’re still trying to establish themselves in their new home, but that’s especially difficult for Chloe.

“She has some developmental struggles and doesn’t make friends easily,” Melanie said. “She hasn’t made a lot of friends yet, and I so badly wanted her to have a great day.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"They Came Bearing Gifts"}]

Desperate to give her daughter a happy birthday, Chloe turned to Cody Area Classifieds on Facebook. She asked if anyone with young kids wanted to come hang out in Millstone with Chloe and her siblings.

Within 15 minutes, multiple families RSVPed that they were on their way. And they came prepared.

“They arrived with gifts for her,” Melanie said. “People offered to drop off gifts for her, which I told them wasn’t necessary. It was really heart-warming.”

Melanie said responders expressed their desire to attend or send a gift so Chloe wouldn’t feel alone.

“A man from Red Lodge, Montana, messaged me and said, ‘I obviously cannot come down, but I have grandkids,’ and that really touched me,” she said.

The man sent Melanie $25 via Venmo so she could get Chloe a birthday gift.

However, one of the most touching displays of kindness came from a child who arrived for the party, Melanie said. He came with a gift that came from the heart.

“One little boy actually shopped in his room for something she might like and put it in a gift bag for her,” Melanie said. “He gave one of his own items to her. It was very sweet.”

The birthday party turned into a networking event. Many new bonds were forged, and phone numbers exchanged.

Meanwhile, dozens of people sent messages wishing Chloe the best on her birthday.

In a moment of desperation, Melanie found an overwhelming wave of friendship for Chloe and her entire family in Cody.

“The people who showed up were complete strangers, but they all acted as if they had always known each other,” she said. “The children were so sweet and well behaved. Chloe had an amazing time.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Old And New Roots"}]

Melanie said the last three years have been “so rough” for Chloe and her three siblings. In that time, Melanie got divorced, remarried, then lost her mother and both grandmothers.

Melanie’s new husband, “my high school sweetheart,” had been working in Cody for over a decade. The whole 

 family has been there for less than a year, but it already feels like a loving home.

“I’ve learned this town shows up for people,” she said. “We came from a larger city, and this is the kind of thing that would never have happened there.”

What Melanie didn’t realize until recently is that she wasn’t establishing new roots in Cody. She was rediscovering old ones.

“My grandfather told me that our family lived in Cody at one point,” she said. “My great-grandmother actually lived here in the early 1900s and moved back to the East Coast in the 1920s. I didn’t know about that connection until my second or third visit.”

In that sense, the birthday party was like a family reunion. More than anything, Melanie’s happy she got to give Chloe a memorable birthday and better bonds in her new home.

“She started making friends really fast,” she said. “It was a beautiful moment of a small town supporting each other. They are amazing, and we love this town.”

Chloe O Donnell IMG 8932 7 18 26

<title>Hooray! Cody Residents Rally When No One Shows Up For 7-Year-Old's Birthday Party | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When no one showed up for a Cody girl's 7th birthday party, her mom went to Facebook to see if anyone would swing by. That's when the town of Cody rallied. More than 150 people stopped by the local pizza place to wish Chloe O'Donnell a happy birthday.

Hooray! Cody Residents Rally When No One Shows Up For 7-Year-Old's Birthday Party

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

The number of grizzlies needed to consider the species “recovered” in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem seemingly remains an open question.

However, grizzly advocate Pete Bengeyfield, who has been watching and photographing the bears for decades, said even he has to admit there are probably enough of them to consider the species “recovered,” even if he still opposes having the bears delisted from Endangered Species Act protection and hunted.

There are an estimated 1,000 or so grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. And roughly the same number of grizzlies in Montana’s Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and elected officials in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho think that’s plenty of grizzlies, perhaps even too many.

Gov. Mark Gordon and Wyoming’s congressional delegation praised the Department of the Interior’s announcement this week of a proposal to hand 

The proposal must go through a public comment period before it’s finalized — and wouldn’t amount to a full delisting of grizzlies.

Game and Fish still wouldn’t be allowed to open a Wyoming grizzly hunting season, which top department brass has said they intend to do if and when full delisting happens.

Wyoming Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman indicated that she will continue to push to have grizzlies delisted through legislation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Numbers Tell The Story"}]

Bengeyfield lives in Dillon, Montana, as a U.S. Forest Service hydrologist. He moved to southwest Montana in 1984 and started photographing grizzlies.

At the time, “there were maybe 200 bears” in the Yellowstone ecosystem, he said.

He retired from the Forest Service about 15 years ago, which gave him more time to dedicate to following and photographing grizzlies, and he's become an outspoken advocate for the bears.

Grizzly watching and photography was a completely different game in the mid-1980s, Bengeyfield said.

Then, he had to search far and wide to find bears.

“When I started, there were no bears in the Tetons at all. Well, maybe up in the mountains, but you didn’t see them down around Jackson at all,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

Now bears are plentiful, he said. They’re increasingly showing up in places where they were seldom, if ever, seen before, Bengeyfield said.

That includes, for example, the Gravelly Range mountains in southwest Montana, he said, adding that there’s no denying the size of the population.

“The numbers, I think, tell the story. If there really are 1,000 bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem now, I think that’s plenty to say they’re recovered,” he said. “I think bear advocates, and I consider myself to be one, are going to have a hard time justifying that we have ‘non-recovered’ numbers.

It’s also been widely argued that habitat connectivity between the Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide bear populations matters just as much, if not more, than the sheer number of bears.

“I think the arguments about connectivity to the Glacier (National Park) population and all of that, they’re real arguments,

 Bengeyfield said. "I’m not disputing that at all.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Can The States Be Trusted?"}]

After posting his thoughts on social media, Bengeyfield said he’s received numerous comments.

One person suggested that grizzlies be allowed to repopulate their entire historical range, he said. That would include most of the Great Plains and nearly as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border.

As appealing as that might sound, it’s “silly” in light of how much has changed since grizzlies roamed their entire range, he said.

Bengeyfield said he feels stuck on the horns of a dilemma in terms of what might be the next best step for grizzlies.

Regarding the Department of the Interior’s move to hand grizzly management over to the states, he said he’s not exactly enthusiastic about it.

“I think when you deal with the states, especially in Montana, the local view of the grizzlies — and not the view of the majority of the people, but of the people in power — is that they don’t want grizzlies at all,

More bears on the landscape, along with more people than he’s ever seen before, has increased the risk of human-bear conflicts, Bengeyfield said.

In that sense, he said that “the recovery effort has almost been too successful. They’ve recovered so many bears, and there are so many more people, the bear-people interactions are just going to increase."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Numbers Are Not Enough"}]

Former Wyoming Game and Fish director and current U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik has stated that the number of grizzlies indicates full recovery.

His successor at Game and Fish, Director Angi Bruce, has openly argued the same.

Delisting supporters point out that 500 grizzlies was the original target number for the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and that

Grizzly conservationist Louisa Willcox told Cowboy State Daily that she thinks the “500” number is tied to a 1993 grizzly recovery plan that was flawed to begin with.

Also, population estimates alone can’t be the only measure of whether the species is recovered in the Lower 48, she added.

“The numbers have to be tied to habitat,” she said.

That means not only habitat in its current state, but how it might look in the future.

For instance, grizzlies are now dependent upon berries and cutworm moths for peak summer foods, and those are at high altitudes, Willcox said.

But scientific models indicate those food sources might start to run out, she said.

“What happens when the moths run out?” she said.

That could very well mean bears moving to lower altitudes during the summer. And more people are at lower altitudes, meaning more chances for human-bear conflicts, Willcox said.

“There’s no magic number” of grizzlies that would mark full recovery, she said.

Instead, as she sees it, there needs to be a complete revision of the 1993 grizzly recovery plan. And all interested parties should be involved, she said.

And FWS should lead that effort, Willcox said.

But as she sees it, at least so far, the agency hasn’t shown a willingness to do that.

Big ole griz7 18 26

<title>Even If Grizzlies Have ‘Recovered,’ Advocates Still Don’t Want The Bears Delisted | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Grizzly advocate Pete Bengeyfield, who has been watching and photographing the bears for decades, said even he has to admit there are probably enough of them to consider the species “recovered." However, he still opposes having the bears delisted.

Even If Grizzlies Have ‘Recovered,’ Advocates Still Don’t Want The Bears Delisted

Zakary Sonntag

Around Wyoming

PINEDALE — The people in this small western Wyoming town are suspiciously friendly. 

At least that's the impression you get from your one-and-only local acquaintance, a man named Marlon, who you know for the simple fact that he answered the phone at the Log Cabin Motel when you called to ask for a room.

He’s the kind of guy who gives bad news while sounding chipper.

“We’re completely booked up for the rest of the week. And you know what else? None of the hotels in town have any more rooms,” he said with the buoyant tone of a father revealing a baby name. 

The reason is the Green River Rendezvous, a multi-day celebration of the historic mountain men rendezvous that took place around the Rocky Mountain West between 1825 and 1840.

For Marlon, though, it’s better thought of as “Pinedale’s Super Bowl.” The Rendezvous Rodeo in particular is something you simply cannot miss, he said. 

You're in Pinedale on other business, but Marlon made a strong case.

“It’s fantastic. You’re going to love it, and you can totally hang out with us,” he said.

Your first thought is that you should never trust motel managers who hand out their personal numbers after a five minute conversation. 

The second thought is that this Marlon guy is freakin' awesome. 

He directs your stay to a nearby campground, then shoots you a text from his personal phone. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Let me know when you get into town.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rendezvous Rodeo"}]

Rendezvous Rodeo is the Goldilocks of Wyoming’s summer rodeo circuit. It’s big enough to draw serious talent and formidable roughstock, but not so large to have outgrown its uniquely local feel.

It's a venue where most can find a spectator spot close enough to smell the must of a bull in the chute, or reverse park on the railing and watch in a camp chair from the bed of your truck.

The Western cookout cuisine is locally sourced, traditionally made, and prepared before your eyes in a wood-fired caldron of beef tallow — where simmer onions, potatoes, corn, and baskets of Idaho trout. 

Then there’s the brisket, of course, made on 17 hours of woodsmoke.

“It’s simple, but it's good to boot. It’s being done the way it's been done for 100 years,” said owner of the Pitch Fork Fondue restaurant, Matt David, whose family homesteaded in the Pinedale area in the early 1900s.

Western traditions are strong here because they’re learned early, as with the kiddos lassoing tree stumps across the rodeo grounds.

“That’s just how it is here, the cowboy culture, they grow up doing all this stuff from the time they can walk,” said a woman named Lynn, referring to a pint-sized roper barely taller than his father’s boot.

You don’t have to be born into this culture to appreciate it, which you discover when you finally meet Marlon face-to-face.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"From All Around the World"}]

In wayfarer sunglasses and a resort-style shirt with palm tree print, Marlon’s look is more beachcomber than cowboy. Which makes sense, because he’s a native Floridian by way of Cuba — even if he no longer sees himself that way.

“This is my home now, and I never want to leave because I love the people,” he said, matching words with action. "They’re welcoming, everybody looks after each other. Community is the whole point of Pinedale.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Let me introduce you to my friends.”"}]

His friends come from even farther away; places like the Dominican Republic, Turkey, and Jamaica. Most are here as part of an employer-sponsored work program, and if Marlon has his way, they’ll not want to leave either. 

He gestured to the arena, where a cowgirl rounded a barrel and kicked a plume of dust our direction, then said, “A lot of people around the world don’t get to see these things. I want them to see that it’s amazing, and have a real Wyoming experience.”  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Some of his friends aren’t yet sold."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Biggest Difference"}]

With steer roping as a backdrop, you fall into conversation with a woman named Delia from Romania, who takes issue with how the rodeo animals are treated. 

“In Romania, cows are only for milking. And these cows are so cute, but they treat them so rough. I don’t like it,” she said.

Marlon, with his infectious perspective, flipped her opinion like a steer. Not only are the cows unharmed, he told her — over and over — they’re also having more fun than the ropers.

Whether she accepted this logic or not, Delia seemed to enjoy the rodeo, nosing the arena gate for a closer look. Although the biggest cultural difference is not the treatment of animals, it’s the treatment of people.

“In Pinedale, everyone is so nice. They ask, ‘How are you? Happy to meet you. Do you need anything?’” she said. “In Bucharest, that will never happen. You will never hear that from anyone.”

At that moment, it strikes you that Marlon’s eclectic group is something of a metaphor for the Green River Rendezvous, where disparate groups of trappers, traders, and Native Americans gathered to exchange goods as well as culture.

Clint Gilchrist, executive director of the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, said the 19th century meetups were more diverse still. 

“At those rendezvous, there were a lot of Frenchmen, Mexicans, Americans, Scottish people, African American ex-slaves, Eastern Indians like the Delaware and Iroquois came out. Even some Cherokee,” said Gilchrist.

“There’d be several thousand people, and they were all different nationalities. It was a very big cultural mix of people,” he added. 

Six of the original 16 rendezvous took place in what is today the nearby town of Daniel, Wyoming. 

It's a strange comfort to know that long-ago mountain men once watched dusk settle across this same serrated horizon, and you imagine the rosy twilight over Fremont Peak is just as wondrous today as it was back then.

Rodeos were never part of those historic meetups, but here in Pinedale, rodeo-goers are keen to integrate the ethos of rendezvous exchange. 

“These are really big in Florida. You got to try this,” said Marlon, handing you a tequila-based cocktail called Cayman Jack. 

It doesn’t look like your type of beverage. But in the spirit of rendezvous — bottoms up.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“You're going to love it,” he said."}]

Contact Zakary Sonntag at zackary@cowboystatedaily.com

Rendezvous 1 inset Museum of the Mountain Man 7 18 26

<title>Green River Rendezvous: 200 Years Of The Ultimate Wilderness Swap Meet  | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Green River Rendezvous is a multi-day celebration of the historic mountain men rendezvous that took place between 1825 and 1840. Its rodeo is the Goldilocks of the summer rodeo circuit — big enough to draw serious talent but maintains a uniquely local feel.

Green River Rendezvous: 200 Years Of The Ultimate Wilderness Swap Meet 

Julie Mankin

Entertainment

 annual “Daddy of ’em All” Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo that began Friday looks far different to some usual contestants.

Even the cowboy who could “still make Cheyenne” in George Strait’s 1996 country hit might not be aiming his truck “toward that Wyoming line” today.

For the first time in more than a century, Cheyenne Frontier Days won’t have slack competition, which is for overflow competitors. Although some are saddened by the move, the rodeo says it has outgrown its ability to handle the hundreds of extra riders.

One More For The Road: Sunday, February 11, 2024

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