First Hike of the Season - the Western Edge of the Big Horns

Jordan and I are planning to do a long, multi-day hike at the end of the summer, and we (and by we, I mean primarily me) need to ensure that we are in shape and somewhat adjusted to the high altitude, so we have lots of hiking plans for the summer.  Unfortunately, there's still quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations as can be seen in the photo above.  While it may not appear so, the drift to the right of the picture is over 9 ft high!  That squashed our original plan of exploring Bucking Mule Falls.  Instead we crossed the highway and walked around the base of Bald Mountain out to the western edge of the Big Horns.  Our lunch view was incredible, with the valley, Big Horn River and the Absaroka Mountains in the distance:

One of my childhood dreams was to be an archeologist, and I still love when we are hiking and randomly come across old signs of civilization, like this cabin:

Later I discovered an old campsite with a metal wash tub, a broken crock, melted glass, zinc canning lids, an enamelware bowl and pieces of old china:

After our 6 mile hike, we opted to take the scenic road home to see some of the local ranches nestled at the base of the mountains.  After seeing plenty of elk, moose and rock chucks in the higher elevations, we were treated to sites of sandhill cranes and some enormous bulls on the way home.

We do love this place!