Trekking the Bighorn Mountains, WY

Welcome to Wonderful Wyoming - an expanse of untouched and unfiltered nature. The terrain is aggressive and the weather is unpredictable. Our team travelled North to Sheridan, an intimate town near the Wyoming-Montana border. The draw for most to this region are the Bighorn Mountains. This mighty range of sedimentary rock (sandstones, shales, limestones) offers visitors incredible hiking, camping, fishing, climbing...you get the idea. 

Tongue River Canyon

We trekked into the Bighorns via the Tongue River Canyon with some local climbers. The trail is moderate and climbs gradually along the river. Along the way, the climbers point out different areas that they enjoy. Towering limestone walls are similar to those of the Dolomites (Italy) and offer challenges and routes not common to the region.

"It's a really unique mountain range. It's surprising to find this Dolomite-style limestone out here in Wyoming. Makes for some great climbing!"

Up the canyon about two miles (or so) the trail opens into a wide mountain meadow - a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the afternoon sun. We highly recommend this day hike if you're in the area.

 Flume Walkers

The canyon itself has a rich history. A local guide shared stories of the logging flumes that were built in the late 1800's. Flume Walkers would patrol the flume, looking for log jams, broken boards or fallen trees. They had installed a telephone line running along the river route and the walkers would "hook up" to the line with a phone to relay messages up and down the canyon. With no obstacles, logs would travel 11 miles down the canyon is less than 9 minutes.