14. Wyoming - Equality/Cowboy State

On it goes friends...
We just left Colorado and entered Wyoming, feeling homesick already. Our road trip, echoing John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High," took us from Colorado's peaks to Yellowstone's geysers. 🎶 The Rockies stretch from New Mexico to Canada, forming North America's biggest mountain range.

🎶 The Great American meditation. Two hands on the wheel. Two eyes on the road. Truck-stop sunsets, and filling stations. 🎵

Wyoming, the least populous state (except Alaska), seems to have more rattlesnakes. Sinks Canyon, with its sandstone, limestone, and granite formations, is a climber's paradise but tricky to navigate—we encountered two rattlesnakes on our first day! I nearly stepped on one hidden under a boulder, leaving Theo wide-eyed and pale. Despite the scare, I was thrilled, always eager to spot wildlife.

In Shoshone National Park we camped at Wild Iris, a climbing Mecca. We led some nice 5.10 and toproped some 5.12 😅✌️. Theo spotted a Gray wolf 🐺 —a rare sight even compared to grizzlies. The prairies reminded us of "Dances with Wolves" and "Winnetou."

Wyoming's two national parks, Grand Teton and Yellowstone, are spectacular. In Grand Teton, we did four big hikes/scrambles: Symmetry Spire (3,219m), Buck Mountain (3,627m), Disappointment Peak (3,541m), and Middle Teton (3,903m). Early starts helped us beat the heat and afternoon storms. We were lucky to see a moose 🫎 on Symmetry Spire, deer 🦌 and a bear 🐻 with its cubs on Disappointment Peak, and the challenging Knife Ridge on Buck Mountain. Middle Teton was a long, rewarding hike.

Yellowstone, the first U.S. national park (1872), showcases geological wonders and abundant wildlife. Its hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles are stunning. My favorite, Grand Prismatic Spring, is larger than a football field, its colors created by heat-loving bacteria.

We skipped Devil's Tower (as too far away), America's first national monument, considered sacred by Native American communities. They find its current name and climbing there disrespectful. Its indigenous name is "Bear Lodge."

Taking in views of snow capped peaks, bison 🦬 herds, and rivers carving cliffs, we felt the Rocky Mountain High. Thanks to Theo's meticulous planning and wildlife-spotting skills, we've encountered deer, foxes 🦊, wolves 🐺, coyotes, moose 🫎, bears 🐻, bison 🦬, and rattlesnakes 🐍. I'm grateful for it all.Read more