THERMOPOLIS — Since 2019, Lesleigh Ann Schaefer, 71, has put more than 80,000 miles on her Subaru. She says 99.5% of those miles have been on roads less traveled around Wyoming.
For years, the Thermopolis, Wyoming, woman has been a road warrior on an extended photo safari to share on Facebook with those who can’t visit in person.
“I have people that will type, ‘I moved away from Wyoming 20 years ago, and I live for these pictures because I live vicariously through you,’” Shaefer said. “I have 74,164 pictures just on my phone, and I've got probably just short of 1000 videos.”
An avid photographer, Schaefer was slow to move to digital but now, has traded in her more cumbersome camera for an iPhone 14. She then shares the top 10 to 15 of her favorite snaps from each trip on social media, showcasing all corners of the Cowboy State.
“The beauty of Wyoming is in the background,” she said. “It's the things that people don't see. It's the bad lands. It's the animals. It's the mountains with snow on them in the spring.”
With two bad hips, most of her photos are taken from the driver’s seat when she pulls over to grab a shot.
Schaefer has taken many detours and has, only once, almost got lost.
She keeps her Wyoming gazetteer, an almanac of Wyoming road maps, close at hand and has the OnX Hunt GPS mapping app on her phone to make sure she stays on public lands. In her gazetteer, she has highlighted the roads she has traveled.
“I've taken so many back roads where I've never seen another person,” Schaefer said when describing her solo adventures. “Lots of cattle, pronghorn, and mule deer, but not another vehicle.”
She explores two tracks, canyon roads and looks for the unique beauty behind each twist and turn of the road stretching ahead. Even the roads themselves do not escape her camera as she stops to breath in the splendor.
“I call myself an impatient photographer,” she said. “If I see something that I feel is beautiful, I take the shot. I always hope that someone else will like it, appreciate it. I just kind of shoot from the heart.”
Off The Beaten Path
Schaefer does not take undue risks though there have been a few tight spots she got herself in. She has shown up in her trusty Subaru and has gotten raised eyebrows when people learn where she is planning to go. Such as the time she arrived at the Bridger-Teton National Forest Service Station for a map of Union Pass Road from Dubois to Pinedale.
The ranger told her that her car wouldn’t make it and it would cost her $1,000 to have someone rescue her if she broke an axle. She said he felt it was too dangerous for someone who's 71 but she felt confident because she has satellite on her phone and carries gear with her at all times in case she does get stuck.
Schaefer was ready to conquer this road despite his misgivings.
“I said, “I know, I'll be careful,”” Schaefer said. Then she chuckled, remembering the journey vividly. “It took me nine hours to drive 50 miles, and that's between photographing, but also driving around rocks and over rocks. It is just a really rough road, but it was gorgeous. I got to see the back side of the green lakes, that whole green lakes area.”
There was also the time when a road Schaefer was familiar with and considered easy to maneuver turned into a nightmare trip.
“I took a drive down Buffalo Creek Road, which goes up into the Bridgers, and didn't realize that, oh gosh, there was still snow and it's going to be muddy,” she said. “That was probably the scariest drive I've ever been on, only because I had very little control of the car when I was coming down a steep incline and the car started sliding, which would have gone off about 100-foot drop. So, I'm very careful now.”
That incident hasn’t slowed her down. She has also taken her Subaru on a tour to the Hole-in-the-Wall country when she was only one of two cars in the convoy. Everyone else was in trucks, and she admitted the back country they went through was some rough territory.
“What a trip that was! It was a 16-hour drive round trip with seeing everything and photographing,” Shaefer said. “My car was just covered in red dirt by the time we were done.”
Wind River Canyon on a frosty afternoon. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Upper Sunshine Reservoir with a view of the Absaroka mountains. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Union Pass Road from Dubois to Pinedale. This was the most difficult road I've driven. It took me 9 hours to drive 50 miles. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Twin Lakes on the Beartooth, All American Road, one of America’s most spectacular roads to drive. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Train traveling through the Wind River Canyon. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
“I call him the ancient guardian wielding a club,” Lesleigh Ann Schaefer says. He can be seen only in the morning while driving Highway 435 (a dirt road) in the Ten Sleep Canyon (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Red Canyon Road is a red dirt road below Red Canyon and a totally different perspective (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Red Canyon near Lander from the upper pull out on Highway 28. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
On the way to Hole In The Wall in Kaycee, Wyoming. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Lesleigh Ann Schaefer, 71, says her Wyoming gazetteer has kept her from getting lost while exploring Wyoming’s backroads. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Devil’s Kitchen, outside of Greybull. This location has such unusual rock formations. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Crazy Woman Canyon where the Creek cuts through the rock formations. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Chief Joseph Scenic Byway heading towards Beartooth, an All American Road (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Buffalo (Bison) in the Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Late afternoon in January with beautiful rime ice covering everything at Boysen Reservoir. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
The Big Horn Basin is only one of the many areas of Wyoming that have colorful Badlands found mostly on the backroads. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Badlands in the Big Horn Basin near Burlington. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Typical and beautiful back road near Anchor Dam in Hot Springs County. (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Lesleigh Ann Schaefer has put over 80,000 on her 2019 Subaru Forester, mainly exploring the backroads of Wyoming on 6-ply tires. Her car was covered in red dust after this trip to the Hole-in-the-Wall country! (Photo by Lesleigh Ann Schaefer)
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“Being in Wyoming for me personally, is about peace, serenity, and engaging with nature,” she said. “It's all the beauty. There's so much. It's so beautiful here.”
Schaefer came to Thermopolis, Wyoming, for her retirement. She said she was drawn to the central location of the small town because she could easily drive to gorgeous settings in less than a day and explore the rest of the Cowboy State.
She started posting to Facebook, especially in the group Wyoming through The Lens, and has made close connections over the years through her pictures. She has even met some of her fans in person and has developed new friendships.
“For someone who lives alone, to be able to see the comments that people make, oftentimes, it makes my day,” she said. “It keeps me connected to the outside world.”
Shaefer is not planning on slowing down. There are still plenty of Wyoming landscapes to discover and roads just begging to be explored.
“Every time I pass a back road that I haven't been on, I've got to come back and drive it,” she said. “Sometimes I see a road that I just have to take and tell myself that I am only going to go to that hill. And then I get to that hill, and I start wondering about what is around that hill. So, then I keep going.
“Yes, it's lot of miles, a lot of back road, miles on rough terrain, but there is so much beauty waiting to be found.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
