Once again, it’s time for an edit from the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). This weeks video will focus on the unfathomably gorgeous state of Wyoming. After pushing my way south through Montana and Idaho (Seen in this post/video), I passed through a final “goodbye hail/snow storm” sent from Montana as a final parting gift for my travels. With snow on the ground and an icy sun rising in the distance I passed over the MT/WY border and into a new realm of discovery.
Wyoming poured on the charm fast, within the first few hours of hiking in the state, I was already seeing steam bursting out of the ground in pockets of sulfuric smelling beauty. Yellowstone National Park was immediately across the border and welcomed me into what would be one of my favorite states on trail. Though it’s crowds were intimidating to say the least, the geothermal activity in Yellowstone offered a truly unique sight among the long trails of the US. After breaking free from the two miles or so of trails that the general public sticks to, I was suddenly thrust into a prehistoric feeling world. I was alone, in a new terrain where erupting geysers and boiling pockets of water and steam marked my path forward.
Moving south from Yellowstone provided a change from rolling hills back into monolithic mountains as I entered the astounding Wind River Mountain Range. I must say, in all of my time spent on the CDT and in the wilderness in general, my time in the Winds has got to some of the best hiking I’ve ever done. It’s hard to describe the beauty of the Winds, and video really doesn’t do it much justice either. They’re just this gigantic, intimidating range of mountains that seem only to grow steeper, more rugged, and yet more beautiful as you climb them. They seem to transition as you pass through them, going from a colorful, lush forest in their low elevations, to a hostile, seemingly monochromatic pile of boulders and rocks as you ascend vertically.
The final section of Wyoming (heading south on the CDT) is know as the Great Divide Basin and is Wyoming’s Red Desert. It is a desert (Not unlike the desert of New Mexico seen in my first video here) that seems to wind on forever through some of the flattest terrain and most desolate plains I’ve encountered. Water is a rarity, as are plants that aren’t sagebrush. Though it has a beauty all it’s own, the Red Desert serves as a stark reminder of just how nice hiking in the mountains can be. It’s a welcome little dose of desert solitude and subtle beauty to prepare you for the endless mountains that are soon to be faced in Colorado.
Check out the video below!
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