The Snowy Range, Wyoming

When my husband I traveled back from visiting the Yellowstone National Park, and The Grand Teton National Park on a trip to the state of Wyoming, we drove along The Snowy Range Road, which is highway 130.  It connects Laramie to the Upper Platte River Valley. Begun in 1920, it took 6 years to complete and was called the "Great Skyroad."  It was designated the Second National Forest Scenic Byway in the United States.

 (All photos -- double click to enlarge)

An informational placard at a rest stop along The Snowy Range Scenic Byway which passes through the heart of the Medicine Bow National Forest and is peppered with crystal blue lakes and jagged gray granite peaks. The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend for 100-miles from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming.  Wyoming's northern portion of the range is often referred to as The Snowy Range.

The views of Snowy range Mountains is breathtakingly beautiful!  I was amazed by the large numbers of enormous boulders and stones that were scattered on both sides of the road way and on the valley floor, the result of glacier movement over the ages.

The grey mountain peaks are composed of Sherman Granite that dates back nearly 1.5 billion years. Due to the grandeur of these rock formations, many Native American people once revered this place as sacred.

We stopped at the Libby Flats Observation Point where we saw other visitors who were also viewing the beautiful scenery. 

Although the Libby Flats Observation Tower was only a few feet high, it was located at an elevation of 10,885 feet, and the town of Laramie, approximately 40 miles distant, was visible as were various lakes and mountain ranges.

Our view for the tower looking south toward Colorado.  With high power binoculars one could see Pike's Peak in the distance!

A sunny cup of coffee latte I had in a cafe in Laramie, Wyoming.

It's a beautiful country, and the Western part of the USA holds views that never cease to amaze and delight this East coast New York City girl!

Please come back Friday as I will have a special spring give away on my blog!

Linking this post to Susan blog's A Southern Daydreamer"Outdoor Wednesday" event.  Thanks Susan!