First days in the northern Bighorns

Monday we drove the truck with the RZR in the bed up US 14 into the northern Bighorns. We took the RZR to check out some boondock sites and campgrounds. Beautiful country. And moose about 1 mile from the campground.

US 14 in the distance
There were 3 moose, but one hid
Nice big bull

We were surprised to find a no-reservation site big enough for us in Tie Flume campground, and we grabbed it. We left the RZR in the campground, and went back to Peter D’s in Sheridan to pack up. The drive up the mountain in the motorhome was made much easier by Kevin driving the truck separately! The road has long grades and sharp turns, and it was sooooo much easier without the truck in tow! We didn’t get into the campground until about 4:00, and then we discovered the sky was too obstructed for Starlink! I am a FMCA chapter officer, and I had computer work to do. I was quite disappointed, thinking we would have to move in a couple of days. Luckily someone moved out of a better non-reservable site on Tuesday so we moved. Service is still a bit spotty due to obstructions (trees), but acceptable.

Classic NFS campsite

We did take the RZR on a short ride up Black Mountain Rad next to the campground. we finally saw some deer that weren’t running away as we passed.

There are two in the picture

Black Mountai  Road ends at US 14 were turned around. Sadly we saw this guy where the road ends.

Felt sorry for this driver on US 14

Tuesday we just laid around, sitting outside a bunch, reading mostly.

Wednesday we took another RZR trip to Park Reservoir. It was overcast with occasional light rain, so we put the windows in the RZR before we left. Good thing since we definitely got rained on! The ATVers and side by side occupants without windows looked jealous. We don’t have a windshield wiper though, so Kevin had to get out occasionally and wipe the windshield.

I had wondered about the name of our campground, Tie Flume, and we discovered there was a wooden flume that took logs from here to Dayton, many miles away. We couldn’t find any flume ruins, but we did find this cool splash dam ruin.

Signage
Sluice is still visble
Amazing shape

We passed a lot of ponds along the way. This was my favorite with the lilies.


There was a ranger station along the way too. Interesting buildings. This is a sample. Obviously still used.

A bit of smoke was coming from the chimney

Lots of just beautiful country though the overcast made pictures hard. There is still snow in a few places.

Views to die for (zoom in for snow)

The reservoir looked cold, but there were a few people fishing and boating.

There were some interesting old buildings near the lake. I think they were private cabins, though they were right on the main road. Other cabins had their own entrances and were off the road some. Look at the cold house especially.

And we saw more moose! I just caught a glimpse of this cow moose and calf, so we turned around to get pictures.

Thursday we just relaxed some around the campground. I cut out a rag doll from a kit I bought at an historic site somewhere I can’t remember! Shouldn’t be hard to sew, and I intend on giving it to my youngest granddaughter, 4 years old.

Today (Friday) we took a big circular trip in the truck down US14A, coming back on US 14. The views were interesting due to the clouds. We also got rained on a lot so only this one picture.

And only 1/2 mile from the campground we saw this big bull.

Not sure about tomorrow since it is supposed to rain quite a bit.