Day three of our Bighorns adventure began with sunny and smokey skies, a prelude to another hot day. With the rooftop tent and the Kanz kitchen boxes it once again took less than 30 minutes to break camp and get our show on the road.
Ready to leave camp
Today our goal was Shell Lake and a some time on a 4 wheel drive road. The decent down to Hyattville took use through many of the ecozones of northern Wyoming, from the pine forest and high meadows to red rock and sage covered valleys.
Rock art at Paintrock Ranch
After passing through Hyattville we heading to Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site.
Medicine Lodge is a working ranch that the state has turned into a park to preserve the ancient rock art. One sandstone wall is covered with rock art dating back over ten thousand years. The ranch has camping available along with some displays covering the local history and environment.
Fixing tire leak
We left Medicine Lodge and headed back into the mountains following forest service road 344. Not being familiar with the area nor the ratings of the road this was or only venture onto a true four wheel drive route. We found the road to be very tame and the Toyota FJ Cruiser had no problems negotiating the route. I found our only problem when I got out of the FJ at our stop at an overlook. I heard a hiss coming from the left rear tire and found that a large bolt had caused a puncture. A few minutes with our ARB puncture kit and the problem was solved. A little air from our CO2 tank and we were ready to roll again.
Group photo with Cloud Peak in the background
Once road 344 topped out we found a turn out that provided a fantastic view of Cloud Peak and the surrounding wilderness. The stop provided a great spot to capture a photo of the hole crew.
Our one four wheel drive road of the trip
Once back on the graded gravel road it was time to start looking for a place to camp. With the sites full at Medicine Lodge Lakes we headed north towards Shell Reservoir.
Moon rise at Shell Lake
Leaving the main route we made our way to shell reservoir and found a pleasant and isolated camp site. After getting camp set we hiked up to Adelaid Lake and enjoyed the wonderful views. There is lots of camping available up the road at Adelaid Lake and the road is not that difficult. A wonderful moon rise over Cloud Peak brought our day to a close.