aeblog

Ucross #3 - arrival

This morning I awoke in my six poster bed at the Occidental Hotel in Buffalo. I was scheduled to arrive at the Ucross Foundation in the early afternoon, so my plan was to get into the Big Horn National Forest for a hike before heading northeast to the booming metropolis of Ucross. I got a recommendation from the extremely kind proprietor of the hotel to head up Crazy Woman Canyon Road into the foothills. How could I resist?!

Turns out the Cobalt isn't terrible on ice, but also isn't that good. I was able to get several miles up the canyon before getting stuck on a particularly lengthy stretch of icy road. No matter; time to hike. It was a brisk 45 degrees, but in the sun it felt great and the steep at times climbing kept me nice and warm.

It was so amazingly quiet and I didn't see one other person the entire time. Come to think of it, I didn't see any large wildlife either, though there was plenty of excremental (is that a word?) evidence that it existed.

I did a large circle around where I parked, experiencing both sides of the canyon and realized at the western edge of my loop that if I could just drive half a mile further, I could link up with another road for the return trip. I like to avoid back-tracking whenever possible, but alas, my Cobalt was not up for the task. I even tried getting a really good 'running' start, but the ice was too much for the American engineering and down I came the way I went up.

After a quick stop at the Buffalo post office, I headed out Route 16 to Ucross where I am right now, settling into my new rather remote surroundings.

It is beautiful, the facilities are more than adequate and the other residents seem really friendly and interesting. But the best part is this:

Where else can you get a bag lunch with your name on it delivered to you daily?! And they even remembered that I am vegetarian. I could get used to this!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update which will include an introduction to Jesse's Hideout, my new studio...