After breaking our roadside camp in Lander, we continued westward towards Yellowstone and decided to make a short stopover in “The Most Remote Town of the Lower-48”—Dubois, Wyoming. Situated at least 75-miles from the nearest Red Box video rental (the truest measure of "cosmopolitan remoteness”), Dubois is an old “cowboy town” that is reluctantly transitioning into a destination location.
We followed the Wind River to the Longhorn Ranch, and parked our rig under the aged canopy of sap-drizzling cottonwoods. The Longhorn Ranch is a wonderful, full hook-up RV resort that has a “very fishable” stretch of the Wind River on two sides of the property. We initially chose this location—80-miles from Jackson (WY)—as a place to “paper scout” our final push into the Yellowstone area. We headed to the Dubois National Forest Service office to procure some regional maps for potential “boon-docking” locations. The NFS folks were incredibly helpful, friendly, and full of extremely valuable info regarding the local wildlife.
 |
| Wind River frontage at The Longhorn Ranch |
Although Dubois is geographically remote, it borders thousands of acres of wilderness. This feature gives the township an increased risk of dangerous wildlife encounters; to include moose, wolves, and grizzly bears. Although there are other animals in the vicinity, these three account for the majority of human/wildlife encounters that result in negative outcomes. The NFS folks gave us a crash-course in preparing ourselves for camping in-the-wild, and also gave us info on the most recent local encounters.
- Moose: Big and unpredictable. May run from you. May stand and stare at you. May charge and attempt to River-dance on you. Keep a distance…especially if you see a cow/calf pair. Moose cows perceive dogs as a coyote/wolf threat to their calfs, so hiking with dogs can actually incite aggressive behavior.
- Grey Wolf: Reintroduced into the area and the population has continued to thrive. When packs are forming in the Fall, they “clear” their territory by eliminating all other non-pack Canis species…including domestic dogs. Horseback trail-riders have had their dogs—following UNDER the horses—completely decimated by packs who blitz through the equestrian group to eliminate their domestic Canis cousins.
- Grizzly Bear: Apex carnivore in this region that is a threat to all animals—including humans. Several encounters have been locally reported; from narrow escapes to being ingested. Bear spray, group travel, and heightened situational awareness are necessary to prevent injury and/or death.
After purchasing our NFS maps, we headed to the local store to pick-up a couple cans of bear spray. The $38 price stung a bit, but the thought of my final resting place being in a steaming pile garnished with wild berries helped me part with my available cash.
A quick look at our newly acquired maps showed numerous roads leading into BLM land and onward towards the wilderness. We turned onto Horse Creek Road and headed northward into the wild. After a few miles of pavement, the road narrowed and turned to washboard dirt/gravel of the remaining 26-miles. As the road diverged away from Horse Creek and began the switch-back ascent into higher elevations, we focused on finding a boon-docking spot within the remote landscape. With our eyes focusing on the ever-expanding panorama that each passing ridge-line provided, we were suddenly caught off-guard. Charging up the hill from the passenger side of Hank was a juvenile bear. It was on a collision course with our truck until I locked-up the brakes; at which time it ran across our path by a few feet and proceeded up the opposite hillside. Jaw-dropped at the event that just transpired, we pulled-out our recent bear spray purchase and removed the hermetically sealed package. We were in the wild.
 |
| End of the line: Horse Creek Road terminates at Wiggins Fork Creek and the wilderness beyond |
Horse Creek Road terminates at Twin Cabin Campground; a NPS recreational tract that boarders Wiggins Fork Creek and an expansive uninhabited wilderness that continues towards the southeastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. With the adjacent unspoiled wilderness and a high-elevation cut-throat trout source; grizzly bears are frequently seen. We found several potential boon-docking locations along Horse Creek Road, but the narrow and weathered road—coupled with the healthy bear & wolf population—made us rethink our boon-docking plans.
 |
| "Forever Views" of distant mountains and glaciers from Bear Basin |
Ten miles east of Dubois down Highway 26 is East Fork Road; another long (24-mile) dirt/gravel road that terminates at Bear Creek and Bear Basin. As the road conditions worsened, the views exploded; revealing distant mountain chains that are home to snow-capped peaks and glaciers. This is where we discovered a few of the most breath-taking (established) boon-docking locations, but the rutted road coupled with all geological features having “Bear” in the name, made this location a no-go.
A few miles southeast of the Longhorn Ranch is another NFS road that provides access to a trio of lakes; Torrey Lake, Ring Lake, and Trail Lake. This aquatic trifecta sits at the northern most end of the Wind River Range, and just east of Bridger-Teton National Forest. We drove this much shorter dirt/gravel trail to the terminal point—a trailhead that leads to a glacier and “Bomber Lake,” named after a WWII aircraft that crashed into the high-mountain lake. We found a beautiful lakeside boon-docking location next to Ring Lake and readied our plans to relocate from The Longhorn Ranch.
 |
| Front door view from our lakeside digs |
The campsite was pseudo-level—sitting on a narrow plot with large rocks and established trees. Hank gently eased Glory into the pre-existing “tire ditch” (somebody else had “lowered the uphill grade”), we set up camp in relative solitude.
Time to fish.
 |
| Fresh, grilled trout over a wild rice mix. We'll be back to Dubois...for seconds! |
The location of our new camp gave us the option of “bait casting” into Ring Lake, or fly fishing in the broad river that flowed to adjacent Torrey Lake. The lake came alive in the twilight hours, with the large pisces population making themselves known to hopeful anglers. After several days of throwing every conceivable fish food into the local waters, the fishing tournament was ultimately won by the local osprey—who caught trout with ease, and mockingly discarded most of their bounty on the banks below our camp.
 |
| Ancient petroglyphs decorate ancient canvass |
Across from our campsite were several trails leading up to the towering cliffs above. While I was busy waterboarding worms, she explored the geological features and caves that overlooked our camp. It was on one of these expeditions that she discovered several ancient petroglyphs. Dating back thousands of years, this ancient "art language" depicts important aspects of human life during an era long past. These particular petroglyphs had only been discovered within the past few years; leaving novice archeologists with hopes of making their own discoveries.
 |
| Da Boyz in Dubois |
The winds moved across the mountains, swirling with such forceful unpredictability that a modest campfire was a chore to maintain containment. Red Flag warnings began to pop-up across the region, and scores of wildfires plagued The Great Northwest. As the jet stream moved the burning participates from near and distant wildfires, the local visibility significantly declined. It was too warm sequester ourselves inside a non-air conditioned RV; and there was too much dust/smoke particulates in the air to enjoy our outside space. With no end in sight for the wildfires and our (now clinical) mild respiratory symptoms, we returned to the Longhorn Ranch and prepared for our final push towards Yellowstone.
After purging our tanks and making reservations for our next stop, we pulled our sap-covered rig from under the cottonwoods and headed west. Dubois was a hidden gem that we stumbled upon by chance. Although not known as a destination location, we made a pact to return to this wild and wonderful town.
 |
| Lettin' loose at The World's Largest Jackalope Exhibit--Dubois, Wyoming |
wWw
