Three Days in Tensleep

When monday rolled around, I had been at the ranch for 2 weeks without having gone tripping around the hills or mountains in the distance. Madisen returned to the ranch after having a nice weekend off, and circumstances worked out so that I now could have a few days. I immediately thought of the Bighorns, the region that possesses the experiences, lifestyle and terrain I love so much it hurts. No really, it does: while leaving the Bighorns last year for Cody, I pulled over at the split in the road where you can turn West to Manderson or East to Hyattville, and essentially the base of the Bighorns…I took one last photograph of the range, with it's red pinnacles and buttes, sage green and gray marbling, and high mountain peaks, I clicked the camera once, sobbing and blubbery, damn near in a fit of regret and loss as to having to leave. I have never felt that sense of knowing that a place is so right for me, but when it hits, it is completely undeniable.

I pulled into Tensleep, with the intention of using it as my point of departure for the many photography trips around the region that I had imagined over the course of the three days. Thrilled to be back, but first things first, I needed some grub and good beer. I was the first person in the saloon, but was shortly greeted by a lovely gentleman, whom promptly bought me a beer, asked my story and offered me an upgrade to the polyfiber sort of sleeping bag that I had in the car.

I just couldn't believe the hospitality, he hopped in his truck, drove home and brought me a sleeping bag. Gosh, I just want to give him a big hug. I then met the sweet parents of a local young man. They offered me some of their pizza and a salad, and man, after a long day this generosity was very appreciated.

I set up camp, and returned to the saloon all the while holding my beer (very liberal open container laws in this town…sweet). More people began trickling into the saloon, and it wasn't long until we were all toasting to something or another, pitchers on the table and playing a competitive game of dice.

 

Petroglyphs

Despite the long night, I woke early and headed to Medicine Lodge State Archeological Site. It is home to some very old petroglyphs. I then drove down to CR 56, out near the Nature Conservancy's Land Preserve, and went rock picking and exploring through some of the deep draws. I headed back into town and met up with another guy from the saloon in front of an interesting old building. He introduced me to a pal of his, Sarah. Later that afternoon I ran into another guy from the saloon, and we decided to grab some inner-tubes and beer and take a nice float trip down Tensleep creek. His wonderful family invited me for the most delicious dinner of elk steaks and ribeye, and I learned to play "Just Dance," a goofy game on Wii.

 Visual timeline to demonstrate the significance of the age of the rock formations in the area.

Sarah and I met at her shop Wednesday morning where she drove us up the mountain. We went to a wonderfully intimidating ledge of Tensleep Canyon, where we climbed to the top, looking down 100 feet and wildly waving to passing motorists, hooting and hollering when they would look up and point in surprise. We talked easily about life, energy, intuition, family, animals, healthy living through a connection to nature, the self and perceiving signs. It was a very stimulating conversation, but we were so often on the same page I can't even count how many times we proclaimed how similar our paths have been in ending up in Wyoming and our general outlooks on life and society. Of course circumstance is different, but the overall lifestyle choices and most importantly, our less than common personalities have greatly affected this incredible and inspiring course of events. After all of our ruminating, I believe that lesson we both reflected upon most was to have complete trust in oneself.  To understand that yes, you may be different than your friends or family, the odd ball, the adventurer, the ex-hell-raiser of a kid, but ultimately it's your life, and only you can live it…so make the tough choices. Do it and see where you can go and what you can do.

 A drop in the bucket of Wyoming's BLM land

 Deep draws out near the Red Reflet Ranch

This is a poorly written rundown of my time in this little town, but the main point I am going for is that I was only in this place for a short while, but every person I met made me feel as if I had lived there forever, I felt true connections. Bonds of friendship and community, mutual respect and genuine interest in each other was so evident there. This town is truly gorgeous, but it is the surprising personalities and lifestyles, and the visible happiness of the people that makes the town what it is.

Friend

Leaving Tensleep