“Peace and quiet and open air / Wait for us, somewhere,” say the poignant lyrics from the “West Side Story” song “Somewhere,” by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein. Talk about a genius collaboration! After Tony killed Maria’s brother, Bernardo, in a rumble, Maria and Tony sang about escaping to a time and place where they could be free.
Most of us have such a place. It may be where we grew up, selectively remembering the best of times. It may be where we choose to live in retirement. Or it may be a mythical place we visit mentally when life is stressful. My place is Wyoming, known by some as the Park State for its nationally renowned parks, recreation areas, monuments and forests. Nearly 50% of the beautiful state is available for public use.
I treasure Maine and count my blessings for landing here in 2007. But how can I not love a great town like Saratoga, Wyoming, self-labeled as “Where the trout leap in Main Street”? The eastern half of Wyoming is high plains with unending sagebrush filled with wildlife and the stunning Devil’s Tower, while the western half soars with mountains whose names evoke adventure — Absaroka Range, Big Horns, Bear Tooths, and the Gallatins. (Spare me the Rattlesnake Hills!) No state has fewer people and only Alaska has a lower population density than Wyoming. My kind of place!
After 15 visits I am still drawn to experience more of Wyoming. In October’s glorious weather I covered 2,300 miles west in five days, taking time to explore along the way. Kearney, Nebraska, is visited by millions of migrating raptors, waterfowl and sandhill cranes, thanks to the Platte River and vast wetlands. Pawnee National Grasslands, near Greeley, Colorado, offers stunning bluffs, songbirds and hundreds of turbines where the wind always blows. An earlier trip included Chimney Rock, Nebraska, where wagon tracks from the Oregon Trail pioneers of the 1840s are still visible.
There is nothing novel about heading west to Wyoming. Lewis and Clark led their expedition through the country of the Arapahoe, Lakota and Shoshone in 1804. Their focus was on the Pacific Ocean, but they were amazed at the scale of the land, the number of bison and dangerous grizzly bears. Mountain men like Jim Bridger concentrated on the millions of beavers, but they also negotiated with local tribes and pioneered the route for the Union Pacific Railroad to Cheyenne in 1867.
The North Platte River at Saratoga is a blue-ribbon trout water because of the number and size of the fish it sustains. Warm weather and low water conditions combined for a superb day of fishing, with a memorable drift boat trip and dozens of hungry rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout up to 20 inches. The following day of fishing on foot yielded fewer fish but more time to enjoy the golden eagles, common mergansers and western meadowlarks. Mule deer hung out in the hayfields and aspen groves along the river.
The guide was not only an expert fisherman but also quite the raconteur, sharing stories of local characters and the town’s colorful history. Wyoming is a place where men are men, and women take no guff from their men! While we think of the Rocky Mountain states as being full of rough cowpokes and ranchers, Wyoming logged some impressive firsts, granting women the right to vote in 1869, placing women on juries in 1870, and electing the nation’s first female governor in 1925. Female rodeo events command equal attention to those with male riders.
Wyoming has one of the biggest herds of Rocky Mountain elk in the country, and I had the opportunity to hunt with an old friend and outfitter with whom I have shared many good times since we met 30 years ago. It took several days of walking and glassing across thousands of acres, but we finally spotted a “dandy bull,” in the words of my guide. Two miles of walking and 250 yards of crawling finally put us in position to harvest an elk that yielded 300 pounds of delicious meat to share with friends and family. I also enjoyed spotting fleet pronghorns and diminutive burrowing owls.
Like Maine, Wyoming is experiencing significant change post-pandemic. People “from away” bring new political beliefs and drive up the housing market. Grizzlies and wolves have exceeded the targets set for restoration, while court battles continue over delisting them as endangered. But the glorious sun still shines and the mountains continue their siren calls.
