2013 Walker Vacation in Wyoming

Tom and Susan,

We'd sure love it if you'd spend part of your 2013 summer vacation with us! Sheridan, Big Horn, and the Big Horn Mountains are among the most beautiful places in the world in the summer. The wildflowers in the mountains are amazing in June. We have plenty of room for you to stretch out for a few days, weeks, or months.

Helen and David Haile
45 Eagle Ridge Drive
Sheridan, WY 82801
(970) 691-2766 (Dave cell)
(970) 223-4316 (Helen cell)

A few photos that I've taken are here

WYO Parade

WYO Rodeo

Hang Gliding

Great views from our patio

Don King Days

Jackson Lake, Grand Tetons

Suggested Activies

Outdoors

Yellowstone/Grand Tetons

Though lodging can be difficult without planning far ahead, we have a good friend who owns a sailboat that is parked in the Colter Bay Marina that we're free to use. It is fun for a day, but not much more than that. Dave and one or more kids goes to Colter Bay a couple of times a year. If driving through Montana on I-90, I'd suggest staying in MT and touring Yellowstone with a day trip, then back on I-90 to Sheridan, WY. You'll be amazed or depressed at the number of people and cars, motorcycles, and RV's around the Old Faithful lodge.

Hiking

Great short hikes up by Story, WY or out the back of Eaton's dude ranch. Longer hikes are in the Big Horns. It does not take a long hike to be above timberline. If we take a 45-minute drive in our 4WD SUV we can reach Little Goose Falls which is a fun cold and scenic location. Nobody will be there because nobody lives in Wyoming.

Fishing

Local and confirmed legend (Tom Balding) is 24-inch Golden Trout in at least one lake that can be reached in a half day hike. Several great small creeks are within 30-45 minutes of where we live.

Dude Ranches

Your horse-handling boys would have a lot of fun working on one of these ranches during the summer.

Eaton's - the one that started it all. Still retains the same charm and buildings and character that it had in 1879 when it began. We can drive through it if we want to hike up Wolf Creek. Eaton's specialty is knowing their herd of horses very well and matching you with a particular horse for your week, month, or summer-long stay. They still herd their horses through town to their winter pasture in the fall and spring. It is a 20+ mile drive.

NX Bar - 100,000 acres. I don't think we can visit but it is fun to know about.

Padlock Ranch - 435,000 acres.

HF Bar - Buffalo, WY

History 

Big Horn, WY - We live 2 miles from Big Horn and watch its activities from our patio.

Fort Phil Kearny - Not super-interesting by itself, but it was the only location where the US military was soundly defeated by the Indians. Only 6 months later another battle at the same location indicated the tide had turned. Many western films are based on events surrounding the history of this northern Wyoming/southern Montana area. The great Texas cattle drives came through here.

King's Saddlery - A store downtown that sells all sorts of cowboy and roping supplies. It has a great museum in the back of it and you can watch them make lariats and other cow-handling ropes.
Tom Balding Bits and Spurs  - Tom is a new friend of mine who also likes fly fishing and mountain biking. I helped him build a mountain bike pump track in a horse arena at his house near Sheridan.

Bradford Brinton Museum -  A small nice museum that is very close to where we live.

Events

WYO Rodeo - Summer in Sheridan pivots around WYO Rodeo Week, July 6-14, 2013. The parade is 10am Friday July 12th and is a very fun event that includes hundreds of horses and carts and wagons and possibly a marching band or two.

Crow Fair, Crow Agency, MT - Held mid-August, it is an amazing spectacle of Crow Indian history and dancing.

Thursday Night Bluegrass Jam at the Occidental Hotel, Buffalo, WY - it is a fun and very casual (usually crowded) way to hear decent sing-along bluegrass music in a historic bar in a historic hotel.

Polo

High Goal

Flying H Polo Club
The best polo players in the USA often stay and play at the Flying H during July and August.  Two polo matches per day 3-4 days/week. Their polo grounds are amazing!

Low Goal

Big Horn Equestrian Center
If you are local and have a couple of horses and want to learn polo you start at the Big Horn Equestrian Center. The games are Sunday afternoon and the weather is always gorgeous. It is also the location of the July 4th fireworks show and Don King Days, the last event of the season on Labor Day weekend.