I'll call this the mountain pass edition of the travelogue, because there are so many roads around Dubois that lead into the mountains and over mountain passes. These roads had great scenery, as you might expect, but are also good places to view wildlife. Unfortunately, some of the roads I had wanted to drive, to see lakes and waterfalls, were closed due to heavy snow cover. A ranger told me that some would not open until mid-July.
One road that was open was Trail Lake Road, which actually goes by three separate lakes and enters the winter grazing ground for the largest herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns. Most of the herd has returned to the high country, but I found a few lingering around and shedding their winter coats.
Trail Lake Road also happens to be another petroglyph location, though not as conveniently displayed as the ones at Dinwoody Lake. In this case, the images can be found on numerous boulders scattered along a 3.2 mile stretch above the road. My directions didn't specify which 3.2 mile stretch, but a sign warning of site surveillance was a tip-off. Once I found a few, I noticed small posts had been set near the important images. This helped speed up the process of finding quite a few petroglyphs, though I'm sure there are many I missed. These are more weathered and of a similar style to the ones posted earlier, so I'll only show a few here.
There were also a number of mule deer along that road, as there were everywhere I went around Dubois.
Of course, the lakes had a few good views as well.
One of only two roads that cross the Wind River Range, Union Pass tops out at 9500 feet and was still closed due to snow. I drove up to where a new neighborhood is being developed and found the homes to be quite attractive.
With some of the views over the valley below, I can see why people might want to live up there.
Togwotee Pass isn't on a back road, but on US 287 on the way to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. I enjoyed the scenery there, but also had the good fortune to encounter a Mama grizzly and her two cubs. First the scenery.
The grizzly sow known as Felicia has a history of roaming the pass every Spring, with or without cubs. On this occasion, she was rooting for grubs along the shoulder of the highway, while the cubs were down the hill a ways, sometimes out of sight.
Driving Horse Creek Road, I saw a small herd of elk to go with some very nice scenery. This looked like the best moose country one could ask for, but not a moose in sight.
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