Saturday August 22, Bighorn National Forest, Burgess Junction, WY

Decided to have a good cleanup of Ruakiwi this morning, so it was mid-morning before we left camp. Set Jilly for Dayton, but got waylaid a number of times along the way and didn’t make it!

After seeing so many fields of sunflower plants earlier in the trip, this morning spotted them in bloom for the first time, what an amazing site even though the field wasn’t as big as what we had seen in the Dakotas.

We knew we had a bit of a climb over the range to Dayton as the map showed the pass was at 9200 feet, but what we didn’t realise was how steep it was…..biggest climb we have ever done. Ruakiwi handled it well, although for the first time ever she was in first gear at one stage. I must admit I think I felt happier going up than having to come down relying on the brakes.

The view from the top went on forever, although it was quite hazy. There was still large patches of ice on the side of the hill above the road. Followed a wee track up to check it out, and walked through the prettiest fields of wildflowers which were thriving on the moisture of the snow melt. These climbs at altitude really suck the air out…maybe it is a bit of lack of fitness as well, but needed to make plenty of stops.

We pulled off on a little forest road for a lunch break and got talking to a family who were unloading their 4 wheel bikes to go riding, a popular pastime in this area as there are so many trails. There are open pastures with clumps of conifers

Ian spotted an unsealed road winding up a hill and decided to investigate…we wound two miles up to the top and there was the odd caravan tucked into places, guessed people were off hunting. You are permitted to camp anywhere in the National Forest, provided you are far enough off the road. These areas are leased out to farmers for grazing over the summer months and we came across a flock of sheep in the yards being drafter. Four large white Pyrenees mountain dogs used for guarding the sheep when they are grazing were waiting outside the yards. This is bear country!

The descent down the other side was much more gradual, and followed a river that was a popular fishing area. Stopping beside the river we got talking to a young couple on horseback, Stephen and Denise, who had been out checking their stock. They had about 200 cows and calves on their forestry block for the summer…about 10,000 acres!!! Their ranch is further down the valley, and Stephen is the 5^th generation of the original homesteaders. Their home ranch was another 10,000 acres!

Just loved this area and decided not to head to town, found a great campspot about 300m off the road tucked in behind trees with an open field in front. There are 2 other campers nearby. We were invited to join one of the groups for drinks around their campfire, the family is from Montana and were most welcoming. We were discussing moose, and evidently there are a number in this area. Clayton has offered to take Ian and I off tomorrow morning on his ATV on a moose hunt! Yeah!

We also made an interesting discovery about our number plate when talking to Clayton’s wife, she works with the Transport Dept in Montana. In America, some states require you to have plates front and back, while others only require the one. When we bought the RV there was only a back plate, as it was registered in Indiana. Our friend Richard registered the vehicle for us in Montana, and he posted the plate to us to attach.

Discovered last night that vehicles in Montana require a plate front and back….on further investigation Ian discovered that there were 2 plates, both were stuck together and on the back! So will have to find some bolts today and rectify it before we hit Montana!