Spruce and Smoke

We avoided Yellowstone.  We just didn't have time, and I've grown to value the route less travelled.  We did go through Jackson and then over Togwotee Pass.  We made a pit stop just to the east of the pass and I was awed with the beauty of the Pinnacle Buttes in the distance.  The site was very pleasant with lots of white spruce, Picea glauca. Undoubtedly a very nice place to camp.

Not far down the road is Dubois, Wyoming.  I remember passing through here when I was a child on a family trip.  I remembered that my parents really liked this town, and I wanted to see why.  It is situated roughly where the forest gives way to the desert, and the Wind River cuts a strip of verdant green through the barrenness.  I think the main reason that they liked the town is that it is small and not very crowded with tourists.  Not many miles later, we ran into thick smoke from a fire on the other side of the Wind River Range. We came out of the smoke just before Riverton, had dinner, and then headed north to our lodging in Thermopolis.  I was looking forward to the very dramatic Wind River Canyon.  The drama was enhanced by a second pass through the smoke, and the canyon had an eerie quality.  Below is a picture of the canyon.  That's the sun just about to set over the mountain.  Little of its energy was getting through.  It was noticeably cooler where the smoke was dense.