THERMOPOLIS — Lesleigh Ann Schaefer, Leigh to her friends, has put 100,000 miles on her 2019 Subaru in the past five years since moving to Thermopolis, Wyoming.
Most of those miles have been on backroads where she has taken tens of thousands of scenic photos. She shares her favorite pictures on the popular Facebook page Wyoming Through The Lens and has grown a fanbase of people who marvel at her unique shots.
These days, however, Leigh only takes photos from her backyard as cancer ravages her body and she prepares for the end.
Hospice has recently been set up to make her last days as comfortable as possible.
Her adopted family and friends have rallied around her. Most important to Schaefer, they have made sure her cat, Teddy, has a forever home.
As Schaefer’s body shuts down, she is unable to explore as before, but said she’s grateful for the adventures that Wyoming has blessed her with.
“There's still places I would like to have seen,” she said. “There are areas in the south down by Jeffrey City I always planned to go. And I never did go rafting down the Wind River.”
Lesleigh Ann Schaefer has put 100,000 miles on her 2019 Subaru since moving to Wyoming and at least 80,000 of those miles have been in the back country of Wyoming on gravel and dirt roads. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
South Fork, Wyoming. Photographer Lesleigh Ann Schaefer encourages folks living in Wyoming to get off the busy highway and explore the backroads of the Cowboy State. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Buffalo Creek Road, Lander, Wyoming. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Crazy Woman Canyon. Lesleigh Ann Schaefer was never afraid to go down the backroads of Wyoming to get the pictures she wanted. As she faces cancer and is now in hospice, she looks back fondly on all these adventures she had as recently as a month ago. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer)
Wyoming’s Beautiful Backroads
Despite the places on her list that she didn’t make it too, the 72-year-old has seen a lot of unique places and strongly encourages others to get off the main highways to experience what Wyoming is really all about.
“I just want to shake people and say, ‘Drive the backroads. You have no idea what you are missing,’” she said. “It's so spectacular.”
She has made friends from all over the world who are amazed at the beauty of Wyoming she has captured in her photographs that they never knew existed. A friend from Florida had once driven through Wyoming and remarked that there wasn’t anything there.
“I just laughed,” Schaefer said. “She had no idea.”
She told her friend that once you get off the highway, you will see some of the most beautiful country there is.
Body Confined, But Not Her Spirit
The cancer diagnosis came suddenly.
On May 10, she went out to Anchor Dam to get spring photos, just another adventure for this spunky lady. She was prepared and had checked for alerts before heading out, unaware of just how smoky it was in the foothills of the Owl Creek Range.
The smoke was so toxic that as she drove home, she had a severe coughing fit.
From that time on, she had trouble breathing and finally checked herself into the hospital May 31.
“I just walked in and said, ‘Air — I can't breathe,’” she said. “They got me on oxygen and did a CT scan, which showed a 2.5-centimeter mass in my left upper lung lobe.”
By the second week in June, another scan revealed that Schaefer had both pancreatic cancer and lung cancer. Three lymph nodes were also involved.
She had driven herself to Billings for that doctor’s visit, which has become her final car trip.
“It was just the last time I got out,” she said. “It's just it's too hard now. The cancer is moving rapidly.”
Having beat cancer before, Schaefer made the decision not to do a biopsy, chemotherapy or radiation.
“I just opted for comfort care until it's my time to leave this earth,” she said.
As she prepares for the end, Schaefer is content with the life she has led and the places she has seen.
“You know, it's OK,” she said. “I've made peace with all of this.”
The Photo Safaris
When the pain isn’t as bad, Schaefer still posts photos to social media and responds to the messages of love and comfort she has received from all over the world.
“The photos are my gift to people,” she said. “Some people that see my photos are homesick and may never make it back to Wyoming.”
She also notes that a lot of people in Wyoming have never seen the areas that she has photographed.
“Sharing these places is what drives me,” she said. “And the fact that I love photography and I love Wyoming. It is, to me, one of the most beautiful states of all of the United States.”
Armed with her phone’s GPS and a map, Schaefer only recalls being truly lost once when 15 Mile Road above Meeteetse disappeared on her.
“I lost the road and wound up on a two-track,” she said. “I couldn't turn around and had to open a couple of gates before I finally figured out where I was.”
This adventure did not deter her in the least. It is this attitude of always moving forward that has also given her the courage to face her cancer head on.
“I'm always determined,” she said. “I don't get nervous.”
Red Canyon, Lander. Photographer Lesleigh Ann Schaefer has spent the past five years exploring the backroads of Wyoming. Her last car trip was in May when she got the diagnosis of cancer. She said that she is okay and finds comfort in God and with all her friends who are supporting her. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Boysen State Park. Lesleigh Ann Schaefer believes that all seasons in Wyoming are photogenic, especially when you get off the main highway. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Shell, Wyoming, as seen through the lens pf Lesleigh Ann Schaefer. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
After exploring Wyoming on a trip in 2009, Lesleigh Ann Schaefer fell in love with the state and moved to Thermopolis in 2020 with the Hot Springs State Park a favorite place to photograph. For the past five years, she had put on over 100,000 miles in the state and at least 80,000 of those miles had been on the backroads of Wyoming taking photos of the unique places she has seen. Schaefer has recently been diagnosed with cancer and as she faces her last days here, she is grateful for the adventures and friends she has made on the way. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Lesleigh Ann Schaefer has been photographing Wyoming’s beauty for the past five years. As she faces cancer, she leaves behind a legacy of loving Wyoming and wanting others to see the beauty of the Cowboy State. (Courtesy Lesleigh Ann Schaefer)
The Wyoming Family
As she navigates her final days, Schaefer knows she is not alone. Her family made a recent visit and she has friends who are making sure she is well taken care of.
“I have a little family that has adopted me as ‘Grandma Leigh,’” she said. “And I have so many friends, so many offers to help.”
Schaefer arrived in Wyoming the first time in 2009 and was blown away by the beauty of its national parks. She continued to visit and fell in love with a little town in the heart of the state.
“I thought, ‘Oh, what a cool little town with the world's largest hot mineral springs,’” she said.
She didn’t know anyone in Thermopolis when she moved into town in 2020, but that quickly changed as she became part of the community.
She used the town as her base as she went on daily trips to take her photos. These photos are the legacy she is leaving behind and she is making sure that they, like Teddy, find a home where they are loved.
She has organized thousands of her photographs that will be seen long after she’s gone.
“I have a little over 1,000 going to the state park,” she said. “My sister-in-law has my hard drives, and I have the most alarming number of photos on my iPhone — 80,000 pictures that almost matches 80,000 miles that I drove on backroads.”
Schaefer said that she has lived her life as she drove it.
“I can't tell you how many times I said, ‘OK, I'm going to turn around here,’ but then I keep going,” she said. “I just want to know what is around the next bend and that's how I kind of lived my life.”
As she wonders out loud what the next bend will bring as she leaves this world, Schaefer said that it would be cool to to take pictures in heaven and send them to earth.
“That would make a lot of people feel a whole lot better about going to heaven and believing in God,” she said. “It would be the coolest thing.”
Schaefer is grateful for all the rain that has made her last days in Wyoming green and blooming with flowers. She said that she has loved every season and thankful to have been able to share the beauty of the state.
“We are here to learn,” Schaefer said. “To love and take care of each other.”
Her friends in Thermopolis agree.
They are asking that folks join in a greeting card shower and send Lesleigh Ann Schaefer their love and greetings by card. Her address is 803 Big Horn St., Thermopolis, WY 82443.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
