Arrived in Fort Bridger, Wyoming

We just arrived in Fort Bridger at 3PM. It was an OK drive through the high plains of Wyoming. We got up to about 8,000 feet today. Fort Bridger itself is at 6,600 feet and pretty much the middle of nowhere.

From the RV park, it's just a short walk to the Fort Bridger Historic Site. I spent a couple of hours exploring the site and taking pictures in the late afternoon. Fort Bridger was originally established by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez in 1843 as an emigrant supply stop along the Oregon Trail. It was obtained by the Mormons in the early 1850s, and then became a military outpost in 1858. I learned that Fort Bridger was a key stop for Mormons heading into Utah. The museum on-site gives you a great peek into the life of Jim Bridger and the history of the site.

The original trading post structures have been reconstructed on-site. It has a gift shop inside with momentos from the pioneering times. The majority of the structures in the park are military homes and facilities that you can walk through. There is a beautiful gazebo and grassy parade grounds that are bordered with mature birch trees and a creek. I enjoyed walking through the officers homes that have rooms that are staged with posessions and artifacts from the period. I also enjoyed walking through the compound where Judge William Carter lived. Among the buildings there are the first school house in Wyoming and a stable used by the Pony Express. There was also a very cool pioneer wagon near the front of the park that gives you a glimps of what it must have been like to travel in those days.

More Photos from Historic Fort Bridger

History of Fort Bridger

The weather here is pleasant at 75 degrees, a light wind and sunny skies. The cell phone coverage here is not that great, but the Fort Bridger RV Camp (below) now has decent WiFi so I'm able to make this post on my laptop (instead of by cell phone).

The drive here from Denver was pretty easy overall. Interstate 80, which connects the East and West coast of the US and runs the length of Wyoming, is jam packed with semi-trucks. So driving it today was a constant game of leap frog as we travelled from one hill to the next. I remember that I-90 through Montana was very similar.

At one point in Colorado (just north of Fort Collins) I noticed a field full of camels (yup like in Egypt) it was pretty weird to see that. We frequently saw deer grazing in the fields as well. Other than that the scenery on our 7.5 hour drive today contained miles and miles of open country. Southern Wyoming is pretty barren and dry (and a little windy) with miles and miles of open country. We passed by the Flaming Gorge Recreation area on the way. I had originally planned to spend a night dry camping along the river, but we opted to head back to Salt Lake City tomorrow instead for a day at the Lagoon Amusement Park before turning back towards Washington.

-T