Guernsey State Park

 Today we had intended to do some tubing on the North Platte River in Guernsey, Wyoming. We mad ethe drive west and arrived at the river to find it flowing swift and high. Probably not safe for a family tubing day. Instead, we opted to head over to Guernsey State Park to check it out and maybe float the tubes in the reservoir there. We paid our day entrance fee and decided to go check out the famous "Castle". It's a fancy picnic shelter that was built by the CCC in the 1930s. Along the way, we saw a sign for the Brimmer Point overlook and decided to check that out first. What a cool spot.

After our time at Brimmer Point we headed over the Castle. It was as interesting as advertised. I can only imagine all the hard work that went into building it.

We enjoyed the view from the Castle area for a bit, 

then decided to move on to the swimming beach. The swim beach was a pleasant place to go for a dip and relax in the tubes.

Maybe the most interesting thing about the beach though, was the large military cargo planes that practiced flying over us multiple times.

After a few hours at the beach, we packed up to head out. On the way out I spotted this old structure from the road and had to check it out.

Then we drove over to the museum. Unfortunately, it was closed. Still we enjoyed the outside. 

Finally, we checked out the dam spillway 

before heading out for our drive back home. 

Casper, Wyoming's Rotary Park: The Bridle Trail

 What a fun little trail! After packing up camp at the Cottonwood Creek Campground, we made our way to Capser and over to Rotary Park for a hike of the Bridle Trail. The Bridle Trail was built in the 1939 and 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. It makes a 4.3-mile loop and features wonderful views and interesting features like Split Rock. We parked in the upper parking lot and headed over to Garden Creek Falls to start our hike. 

We then retraced our steps a bit and set out on the Bridle Trail, opting to hike the loop in a counterclockwise direction. 

The first (and last) section of trail was steep. 

Luckily, there were plenty of wildflowers blooming to keep our interest.

Once the trail headed into thicker woods, it seemed to level out a bit.

We stopped to take breaks pretty frequently,

especially when the break spot offered a nice view.

When the trail started to really level out and a few rock outcrops started appearing, 

I knew we were close to Split Rock. Sure enough, we soon found ourselves at this major trail landmark.

After a break to eat snacks, we started to make our way down on the opposite side of the loop. We passed a small cascade,

and soon entered into a section of private property that the trail traverses. 

Apparently, this section of private land leaves the future of the trail in question. We continued to descend down to Garden Creek, 

then crossed the creek and started to make our way down the mountain on the other side of the cascading creek. The views on this side of the creek seemed a bit more expansive. At one point we saw an old car down in a ravine.

Past the car, the trail traversed the side of the canyon 

and over to a nice overlook known as the East Overlook. We paused for some photos here 

before continuing the descent. Sierra enjoyed a small sandstone cave on the way down.

At a trail junction, we opted to continue on the Bridle Trail. This last section of trail was very steep.

Once back to the car, we made the drive into town to the Mountain Hops brewery where we drank a few beers and got lunch from a food truck. 

Then, it was the long drive back to Nebraska.

Fremont Canyon and Lake Alcova

With extreme heat forecast for my 3-day weekend, Noelle, Sierra and I opted to get out of town and head up in elevation to cooler temperatures. We headed west, past Laramie Peak to the Casper, Wyoming area. We are camped at the Cottonwood Creek Campground on the shores of Alcova Reservoir. It's a nice spot with interesting rock formations. Sierra enjoyed exploring the campsite area a bit, 

that is, until she was scared by a big bull snake. 

To get to the campground, we drove along a section of the North Platte River between Pathfinder dam and the Alcova Reservoir that passes through a section of canyons known as Fremont Canyon. I really enjoyed looking down into the deep, narrow canyon.

One section is spanned by an interesting bridge with a sad history. We camped along the shores of Alcova Lake to rest for our next day's adventure.

After returning from our adventure exploring Independence Rock and nearby Rattlesnake Pass, we headed back to the campsite to do some swimming. Along the way we stopped at a different section of the canyon to explore.

Then, we headed back to camp to swim. Sierra enjoyed the swimming, but I think Rosie enjoyed it even more. 

Later that evening, I took a walk on the very steep Dinosaur Trail and enjoyed the view and fossils I found.

This morning we packed up camp and made the drive through the canyon again, 

before heading down to Casper for our next adventure.