On the Road Again...With Horses: July 2021

The 2021 Grand Adventure

AKA: The Come Hell or High Water Road Trip

A 6 Week Adventure through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado

PART ONE

Day 1
Leaving the Lazy S Ranch
Montana being the northernmost point we chose this for our "Bust"

First Night at our favorite Summer Getaway...MCS Stables in Flagstaff
Our boys love it here, their home away from home in the Summers!
https://www.mcsstables.com/

Day 2
North to Lake Powell
Lunch Stop at deserted Navajo Trading Post

Campsite at Paria River Ranch
We spent a week here in 2018 and rode the Slot Canyons
It was awesome but too hot in July so this is just a layover
Partial hookups but a sewer dump just a few yards from the campsites

Wonderful shower room

https://pariariverranch.com/

Being the only campers we could move the boys to get the shade

Day 3-6
Bryce Valley RV Park, Utah

This is a brand new campground and was very nicely laid out

Large area in front for non-horse people
and then equestrian spots in the shade set behind a bit

https://www.brycervandhorsepark.com/

Small Round Pen to let your horse roll after the ride!

Rest Rooms and RV Park
As you can see it was pretty dead when we were there
Probably cause it was so hot!

Stalls without shade

Day 4

Ride in the Paria River
We opted to stay local but they did have trailers to rent to ride in Bryce Canyon

Covid 19 Quarantine Camp 😉

The Boys loved playing in and drinking from the Paria River

Day 5

A ride up a hill and then down to the river and up into a meadow for a picnic

I know y'all are laughing about the "River" but when you're from Arizona this a raging river! 😂

Day 6-7
Can't always stop for photos dragging a 40' LQ with horses,
so I sometimes have to improvise and shoot out of the truck window!
This is leaving Bryce Canyon

Wasatch View Stables
2 nights with a day to shop in Ogden, Utah
Owner was a creep but his barn manager saved the stay
https://wasatchviewranch.com/

For overnighters
Only one partial hookup
Nice roomy stalls and runs

3 Billy Goats Gruff

Day 8
Leaving Ogden...Thankfully!
Overnight in Shelley, Utah....much better
Super nice owner even showed us where there was a free dump!
Huge stalls, electric and water
https://www.facebook.com/RafterDLRanch/

Day 9-12
Diamond P Ranch in West Yellowstone for 3 nights
Not horrible but wouldn't go back
Small, uncovered pens
Electric and water, no sewer and absolutely forbidden to trickle.
Rode out of the campground both days but horse flies were brutal
There are several rides, one all the way to the Continental Divide
https://thediamondpranch.com/camping/

Day 10

Rode from the Ranch

Day 11
Opted to avoid JellyStone crowds and did a bit more riding
The Continental Divide in the wildfire smoke haze

Day 12
Left West Yellowstone following the Gallatin River

Day 12-14

Billings Horse Motel - Box T Ranch
2 nights with a day to shop and do laundry
Very nice facility, lovely owner
Electric and water

Free Dump at a nearby Exxon Station
Big partially covered runs for our boys
https://equinemotel.com/

Barn Cat playing dead...

Sunset through the smokey haze...

Day 14
Left Billings and did a bit of touristing
Yes...we hauled the LQ and our boys on a 5 mile Trip through History...

Custer's Last Stand

Sioux Horses

Little Big Horn River

Day 14-27
JC Stage Stop in Aladdin, WY
Well this is an awesome campground
Full hookups, partially covered large stalls
Lovely Owners
Several really nice trails right out of camp with varying degrees of difficulty
https://jcstagestop.com/

8 Full Hook-up Sites

Large partially covered stalls

10 smaller fully covered stalls

Muck wheel barrows, poop scoops and muck dump right near the stalls

Hitching rails everywhere!

Several non-covered pens

Also several tack rooms

Day 16
Saddling Up!

The views of Wyoming and South Dakota are amazing!

Unfortunately there are wildfires everywhere so skies are rather hazy...

Day 17

Cowboy Obstacle Course

Day 18
A Day in Deadwood, SD

Day 19

Day 20
A Fabulous Ride with New Friends!

Day 21
OH NO...Attack Sheep
Wait...They are cows!
Maybe we're safe?

Let's just let them pass and we'll be fine..
.

Phew...That was a close call!!

Day 22

Spearfish Canyon Waterfalls and Scenery

Day 24

Did a Day Trip without the horses.

The Aladdin Coal Tipple Site

Remnants of the Truck Scale to weigh the coal

Dating back to 1898, coal from the mines at Aladdin was loaded onto railroad cars at the tipple for shipment through Belle Fourche, S.D. to gold smelters at nearby Lead and Deadwood. The coal was first loaded into the coal bin—the upper, gabled structure, and then allowed to run down the chute into waiting railroad cars. On its way down, it was sorted into nut-sized, egg-sized or larger chunks.

And then on to Aladdin...

The Aladdin General Store, formerly the Wyoming Mercantile,

opened in 1896 and is still open every day all year in downtown Aladdin

A Touristy Place now and then...

Devil's Tower
Rising 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River. The tower of columnar basalt formed when molten rock intruded into overlying sedimentary rock and cooled into columns, which developed vertical cracks as they shrank. Eventually the overlying rock eroded to reveal the igneous rock beneath.
Devils Tower is 867 feet from its base to the summit. It stands 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea level. The summit of the Tower is approximately 1 1/2 acres,
about 180 feet by 300 feet (about the size of a football field).

Day 25