Wyoming's Grand Canyon

Today was a day to explore an often overlooked section of Wyoming. It's a section of Black Hills National Forest that straddles the South Dakota border just south of Interstate 90. We left Hulett, made a quick stop at the Devil's Tower post office and then headed through Sundance to what is marked on the map as Wyoming's Grand Canyon.

After a little bit of getting turned around, we made our way into the canyon, and it was pretty spectacular for eastern Wyoming. We drove a scenic gravel road with surprises along every corner and lots of great scenery.
 

After being in the car for a long time, we stopped at the trailhead for the Dugout Gulch Botanical Trail. We ate a picnic lunch in the parking lot and then hit the trail.

Wildflowers bloomed along the sides of the trail, including bergamot and vervain.

By the time we had made it a little ways up the trail, it was obvious that our four-legged companions were hot and tired.

We stopped at a relatively deep section of creek to let the dogs cool off and then headed back to the trailhead.

By the time we were back to the trailhead, dark clouds were starting to roll in. The skies got more and more threatening as we drove to Spearfish. Once in town, Noelle and Sierra went to get ice cream while I waited in the car with Rosie. No sooner had they made it back to the car, than the sky opened up and it poured rain with pretty large hail.

Luckily the car did not suffer any dents or damage.