Crazy Woman Canyon and Crazy Beautiful Views in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

Denisa has been called a lot of things, and being a crazy woman might just be one of them. One of the places that had been suggested to us during our time in Wyoming was Crazy Woman Canyon, so that was the plan for this day. But our first stop was a few miles south of the canyon. Denisa saw an Amish store on google maps, and found that they had bakery items for sale on the weekend. We've got to fuel up for some mountain hiking!

We bought bakery items like a crazy woman (and man). We didn't get a picture of everything, because we ate a couple donuts before we got them home.

We love driving through Amish country in any state, and had never heard of this little community in Wyoming. It was a treat when we found this flock of sheep grazing with the mountains peeking behind them.

The directions we were given for Crazy Woman canyon started on Highway 16 and headed south and down into the canyon. But we had already driven south to get to the Amish bakery. So we started at the east entrance of the canyon according to google maps. The rolling green hills turned into an interestingly textured mountain when google announced that we had arrived at our destination--the east entrance of Crazy Woman Canyon.

We also knew that we had arrived when we encountered a sign that read, "No Semi-trucks, RVs, or Trailers Beyond this Point - Narrow Winding Canyon Road Ahead." We guessed that only a crazy couple of wanderers would drive on this narrow winding canyon road, and we were glad to be in the pickup instead of the motor home.

The big boulders and the high canyon walls looked like too much fun to just drive on through. So Mark found a wide spot to park the pickup, and we stopped to play in Crazy Woman Canyon.

We have wandered into another of God's crazy wonders!

It's hard to tell how tall the canyon walls loomed overhead. So Denisa took a picture of Mark walking down the canyon road.

The walls were formed by the creek that runs all the way down the canyon. It's swollen and muddy from all the recent rain, and was roaring through the canyon.

By starting at the southern end of Crazy Woman Canyon, it felt like we started with the climax of the drive. The canyon walls soon began to shrink, and we made the rest of the drive heading uphill through the forest. As we came out of the forest, we started getting our first peek at the lupines along Crazy Woman Canyon Road.

By the time we drove all the way up to Highway 16, we found entire meadows brimming with wildflowers.

We think we have arrived at the peak of the wildflower blooming season. 

Standing in that field, we could spot thirteen different types of wildflowers at our feet. We have wandered into another of God's crazy beautiful wonders!

We don't remember seeing this particular bloom before. It's called Prairie Smoke, and it features a few drooping pink blooms on the hairy stems.

While this field had lots of big favorites, Denisa delighted in learning about tiny blooms that thrive here in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.

Heading west on Highway 16, we were excited to see the moose warning signs. We have our eyes peeled for moose, since they totally hid from us all last summer. But they were hiding again today.

Highway 16 winds its way east to west across the Bighorn Mountains. The highest point of the road is at Powder River Pass with an elevation of 9,666 feet.

Even in the middle of the summer, we found plenty of snow at that elevation.

We wore our jackets all day, but we added gloves for our time at the pass.

Flowers have to be tough to be blooming in the snow. These tiny blue forget-me-nots are dotting the highlands between the patches of snow.

These sweet-faced tiny blue flowers are another testament of the wonders of God!

Another tough bloom is the purple pasque flower. They have a layer of fur on their tulip-shaped blooms to keep them warm in the snow.

We drove further west to find Meadowlark Lake. We've heard that this can be a good kayaking lake. But with the cloudy skies and coat weather, the water didn't feel very welcoming.  

The chair lifts are silent now, but this is one of the places that has snow skiing in Wyoming in the winter.

Highway 16 is a nice paved road, but most of the hiking trail heads are on dirt roads. Some of those dirt roads were still covered in snow, and other roads were closed because of mud. So we found that we couldn't get to some of the hikes we had planned. But the crazy man in this duo decided to try this dirt road that will take us to a short hike. We were glad to have four-wheel drive.

We made it safely to the trail head of the fire lookout station that was built in the 1930s. It is not manned now, but the sign at the trail head welcomed us to make the 15-minute hike up the mountain to the top.

We ran into plenty of snow as we hiked higher up the mountain.

We made it to the top, with cloudy views of the peaks of the Bighorn Mountains and the big meadow right below us.

From the top we could look down on Meadowlark Lake now far below.

While Mark was standing at the very summit close to the fire lookout, a gust of wind blew the cap right off his head. Denisa was smiling now, because she has been trying to get rid of that ragged old cap for quite some time.

But Mark noticed that the cap didn't fall all the way down off the mountain. It was caught on a rock shelf, and with some careful climbing he might just be able to rescue it.

He was waving his hat in victory, happy to have his old cap back. Denisa was not. It looks like we'll be living with that old ragged cap a while longer.

The fire lookout towers built in these mountains were the best resource to detect wildfires early before they burned out of control. It was a lonely job, but it sure had great views!

We made it back off that mountain, and back down that muddy road, only to try another one. We saw a sign pointing to "The Chapel," and had to find it. The pews and altar were ready for church on Sunday.

What a beautiful place to go to Sunday services!

While the views have been great, we haven't seen much wildlife on this stretch of Highway 16. So Denisa had to take a picture when we saw this mountain blue bird land on the wooden fence beside the road. We sure are missing our better camera, but we haven't been anywhere to look for a new one.

We don't often take the time to photograph deer. But when it's of a doe with two very young twin fawns, we will make an exception.

We drove almost the entire length of Highway 16. Also known as the Cloud Peak Skyway, it meanders up and down through lodgepole pine forests, with views of the jagged snow-covered peaks. At this viewpoint we could see Loaf Mountain at 11,722 feet in elevation.

But the name sake of this mountain range is Bighorn Peak at 12,324 feet.

The valley in front of that view point is covered with lupines, bursting forth in the peak of their bloom season. That's a crazy good picture with the purple lupines in front of Bighorn Peak!

It was a long day of crazy driving through crazy pretty places as we looped back to our campground on the lake at a much lower elevation. We had a crazy nice sunset over the lake. We were blessed to see so many of God's crazy beautiful wonders in Crazy Woman Canyon and the Bighorn Mountains today!