The Lunch Box Journals

Fall 2023 comes after a summer of extreme heat, forest fires, resulting smoke and frequent storms across the West. Joey and I decide to escape to the mountains, and nowhere do the mountains provide better scenery than the central Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains run vertically from the Canadian border on the north down to the southern border with Mexico in a loosely woven braid of mountains interspersed with broad valleys.

Our jumping off point for entering the central Rockies will be the university town of Laramie, Wyoming, before trekking across the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to Grand Junction.

The thin, dark line of the Pryor Mountains lurks to the south as I head east on I-90 out of Billings. 50 miles later at Hardin the interstate turns south into Wyoming and we pass by the cow town of Sheridan at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains. The Big Horns run north to south and form the easternmost front range of the Rocky Mountains at this point. Sheridan is a great little town of 17,000 where you can really see that working downtowns can still exist without sacrificing history on the altar of tourism (thought they clearly want the tourists!) This is definitely cowboy country.

Sheridan, Wyoming

Sheridan’s main street is the old highway as the interstate skirts above at the eastern edge of the valley. The only big box store in evidence is a new Home Depot, and the downtown area stretches for at least 20 blocks. This is the real west that works and plays in a community they are obviously proud of. The JC Penney’s is in the same downtown building that it has occupied for years, and there are very few empty store fronts in evidence. On virtually every street corner in the central historical district that is the core of downtown there are various works of art. It’s really impressive.

Continuing on our path veers directly south on I-25 across the rolling plains of eastern Wyoming. A stark and empty landscape rolls on with just a hint of the Rocky Mountains continuing to shadow us to the west. Eventually we leave the interstate and cut across a low spur of mountains to reach the Laramie Valley, home to the university town of Laramie.

Laramie, WY

The Laramie Plains are a broad valley rolling east of the Medicine Bow Mountains marking the border between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. A small river meanders across the broad valley, providing the last reliable source of water before heading into the mountains and barren lands stretching to the west. A French-Canadian trapper named Jacques La Ramee arrived in the area around 1817 and the river and surrounding plains were named Laramie after him. The area did not see much activity as the Oregon and California Trails ran farther to the north along the North Platte River. The valley remained relatively unpopulated until the establishment of a stage stop on Ben Holliday’s Overland Stage. Holliday was awarded the overland mail contract by the government in 1861 and, in order to avoid attacks by the Shoshone natives farther north, he established his route farther south through the Laramie plains. Fort Sanders was built nearby in 1866 but the real impetus for development occurred in 1868 when the Union Pacific Railroad came to the valley. The railroad decided that a spot on the eastern banks of the Laramie River would be the site of a major repair depot and the town of Laramie was founded in 1868. The railroad dominated the local economy for the next century and continues to be a force in the area. The historic downtown area runs parallel a block east of the railroad tracks. A pedestrian walkway allows one to survey the railyards.

Laramie was never a big tourist destination and so did not merit a grand passenger depot. The original depot was destroyed by fire in 1917 and the current relatively modest building (now housing a museum) was completed in 1924.

Facing the railroad tracks on First Street a block west of the depot is the grand Johnson Hotel, built in 1900.

While the railroad was the initial dominant factor in the local economy, in 1886 the current economic driver was founded about ten blocks east of the railroad tracks. The University of Wyoming is the premier educational institution in the state of Wyoming and as the influence of the railroad diminished its importance to the economy of the area grew. Second Street, the main street through historic Laramie, is lined with structures mostly completed around the turn of the 20^th century in the early 1900’s. Today those buildings house the retail and entertainment businesses often seen in a college town.

One of the most important founding citizens of early Laramie was Edward Ivinson. Ivinson opened a grocery store in the center of the new town in 1868 and went on to amass a fortune in banking. In his later years he built the first true hospital in the area, Ivinson Memorial, as well as other charitable efforts in Laramie. In 1892 he built a mansion that today houses the Laramie Plains Museum.

Just as with the pioneers and the railroad, Laramie is the jumping off spot for our entry west into the Rocky Mountains. Enjoy the drive as we leave the plains and head southwest towards our next stop, Granby, Colorado.

Remembering the Rockies resemble a loosely woven braid, once in the mountains occasionally a broad high alpine valley provides a break from the forest and mountains.

Granby is a small village on the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park in one of those small open areas. The area is all about outdoors tourism. Our rv park sits along an emerging Colorado River with the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park rising to the east and smaller hills to the west.

The actual village of Granby doesn’t have much to offer so we continue to head southwest towards our next destination, the Grand Valley and the city of Grand Junction. Our path initially closely follows the young Colorado River through a narrow canyon before emerging into a broad valley about an hour later.

At Kremmling we leave the Colorado River and head south across the heart of the Rockies to meet Interstate 70 at Silverthorne.

I-70 twist and climbs up to 10,662 feet at Vail Pass before descending down to rejoin the Colorado River. The western side of the Rockies is noticeably drier.

Descending down the pass the highway threads its’ way along the Eagle River Canyon. Frequent road construction occasionally backs up the traffic.

The Colorado River reappears from the north and absorbs the smaller Eagle River before turning west. The river threads through wide valleys and narrow canyons on its way through the Western Slope towards the city of Grand Junction.