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.